Lieberman's Folly (Curley Large Print Books) [Large Print] [Hardcover]

Stuart M. Kaminsky (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: June 1994 | Series: Curley Large Print Books

Sixty-year-old Chicago police detective Abe Lieberman is having all the troubles he can handle when Estralda Valdez, a stunning Mexican prostitute, comes to him with a proposition he can't refuse: Estralda will help him with valuable information if he'll get a john off her back. But Lieberman's good intentions pave the way for a brutal murder. A murder that will lead Lieberman into the darkest depths of Chicago crime and corruption, and into the kind of trouble that could get him killed . . .

--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

An overabundance of irrelevant character vignettes impedes Kaminsky's (Toby Peters and Inspector Rostnikov series) procedural, which features the partnership of Chicago cops Abe "Rabbi" Lieberman and Bill "Father Murphy" Hanrahan. When prostitute Estralda Valdez, a past informer, asks the pair for protection, tippler Hanrahan agrees to watch her apartment from a Chinese restaurant across the street. After Valdez is murdered during Hanrahan's watch, he and Lieberman investigate her death, despite the objections of their captain, who is unhappy about negative publicity; they were off duty while they were protecting Estralda and she was only a prostitute, after all. In pursuing the case, the cops encounter a variety of characters, each supplied with copious background. Yet because of the profuse but scattershot surface details, no one-- not even the major characters-- is believable. In fact, the wealth of unfocused information tends to irritate rather than illuminate. Inconsistencies also plague the story, especially when Valdez's mysterious sister, a key ingredient to the plot, is found among a group of characters with whom the detectives should have been familiar. Edgar Award-winner Kaminsky ( A Cold Red Sunrise ) is a facile writer working over a trite tale.
Copyright 1991 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From the Inside Flap

Sixty-year-old Chicago police detective Abe Lieberman is having all the troubles he can handle when Estralda Valdez, a stunning Mexican prostitute, comes to him with a proposition he can't refuse: Estralda will help him with valuable information if he'll get a john off her back. But Lieberman's good intentions pave the way for a brutal murder. A murder that will lead Lieberman into the darkest depths of Chicago crime and corruption, and into the kind of trouble that could get him killed . . . --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 290 pages
• Publisher: John Curley & Assoc; Lrg edition (June 1994)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0792719794
• ISBN-13: 978-0792719793
• Product Dimensions: 8.6 x 5.4 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #4,362,037 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars It's a nice story, a nice story, May 9, 2006

By 

Grey Wolffe "Zeb Kantrowitz" (North Waltham, MA United States) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: Lieberman's Folly (Hardcover)

Abe "Rabbi" Liberman is a sixty year old Chicago PD Detective with bad knees. His partner Bill "Father Murphy" Halloran is a lapsed catholic, separated from his wife, and too familiar with the bottle. When one of their long-time informants asks them for protection, they agree... then she's murdered. Abe and Bill need to find her killer.

Everything in this book is linear. The story moves ahead at a decent pace, and the clues are easy to find. No one in this book is a genius or a crime fighting avenger. Everyone just does their job.

The weakness of the book is the characters. And there are many of them.. maybe too many. No one becomes a person because there just isn't enough time. But this is a series by a very fine writer and hopefully, everything will work out, and flesh out as the series unfolds.

3 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Lieberman's Folly, May 29, 2000

By 

"hoffasa" - See all my reviews

This review is from: Lieberman's Folly (Mass Market Paperback)

I thought that this book was fairly interesting. There wasn't too much blood and guts in it, yet there wasn't too little. The author uses great methods in his description of the setting. I also adore his lack of fear to use vulgar language in the novel, making it more exciting, fun, and daring to follow along. Overall, I was fairly impressed with the book.