Lieberman's Law (Henry Holt Mystery Series) [Hardcover]

Stuart M. Kaminsky (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 1996 | Series: Henry Holt Mystery Series

In the fifth book in this richly woven and satisfying series, Chicago police detective Abe Lieberman is reminded just how deep the roots of hate and revenge can go when the local temple is vandalized. As Abe investigates, he finds that the conflict strikes close to home and may tear apart a piece of his personal world.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

A thick layer of tension and a seething urban hostility mix with the droll verbal shenanigans that distinguish this series (Lieberman's Day, etc.). The old Jewish men in the deli find it hard to crack wise when a synagogue is defaced and the priceless Torah is stolen. Aging Chicago cop Abe Lieberman takes the vandalism as a personal affront: it's his shul, and his wife, Bess, is its president. Meanwhile, he's also dealing with a Korean gang and some black kids who want him to stop sitting in their park after dark. He's fighting the effects of runaway cholesterol; his grandkids are living in his house; his prodigal daughter is coming home with her new black husband; and Hanrahan, his partner, is fixing to wed a Chinese woman. Helped by the favor mill of the streets, Abe hits the trail of a perverse alliance of white skinheads and Arab militants acting out, respectively, blind idiot racism and a 20-year-old vendetta. Multi-ethnic Chicago could hardly ask for a better ventriloquist than Kaminsky. The city comes warmly alive when hardened gang members wax sentimental over the Cubs and in the erudite speech of Abe, which contrasts markedly with the sudden, savage force he can apply to a kneecap when necessary. This is more cop drama than mystery. But such categories don't matter. This is a taut suspenseful tale, animated by a sometimes dark but decidedly moral vision.
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Booklist

Like Ed McBain, Stuart Kaminsky is so prolific that it's possible to lose sight of just how good he is. Readers who pick up this one, the fifth in the Abe Lieberman series, won't make that mistake again. Sixtyish Chicago PD detective Abe really has his hands full in the roiling ethnic stir-fry of Chicago's North Side, and the trouble is hitting very close to home. His temple has been vandalized and its torah stolen; the vandals, possibly Arabs or skinheads, seem to be planning something even worse. A Korean gang has threatened Abe's wife and grandchildren. His daughter may be getting ready to marry a black Gentile--and his taste in food is at odds with his cholesterol level. Abe is a character who will endure in readers' imaginations. He's smart, tough, empathetic, and just a tad crazy when circumstances require. His North Side will ring true to anyone who knows the Rogers Park or Uptown sections of Chicago, and the many subplots create a narrative pace like a car chase. This is a wonderfully rich cop novel. Thomas Gaughan

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 309 pages
• Publisher: Henry Holt & Co; 1st edition (April 1996)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0805037497
• ISBN-13: 978-0805037494
• Product Dimensions: 8.1 x 5.6 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,726,903 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:

5.0 out of 5 stars A procedural with heart as well as action, August 23, 2004

By 

Lynn Harnett (Marathon, FL USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Lieberman's Law (Henry Holt Mystery Series) (Hardcover)

This third Abe Lieberman procedural involves a heavy dose of the personal. The mugging-murder victim on this frigid January Chicago morning is police sergeant Lieberman's nephew, David, son of his brother.

The novel opens with the muggers and the crime itself - the shots that killed David and wounded his very pregnant wife. It then moves to Lieberman, his insomnia, family worries, encroaching age, all shoved into the background with the telephone call from his partner, Hanrahan.

Hanrahan himself is quite a character - a former alcoholic sheltering the battered wife of a previous case, who contemplates remarriage to a Chinese woman while still awaiting his former wife's return.

Kaminsky seamlessly weaves all this and more into a coherent plot, with plenty of suspense, much of it generated by activities Lieberman and Hanrahan are unaware of - danger to David's wife, and the crazed fanatic who stalks the partners with a shotgun. And the ending is a shocker.

Kaminsky, Edgar-award-winning veteran writer, writes with warmth and melancholy humor; a layered book which works on all levels.

4.0 out of 5 stars Lieberman's Law, May 25, 2010

By 

Peggy L. Mcintyre "PM Designs" (St;. Louis, MO) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Lieberman's Law: An Abe Lieberman Mystery (Paperback)

Although I am a huge Lieberman fan, I felt this book did not measure up to many of the others I have read. It was hard for me to "get into it", seemed to drag for me. However, I will always buy Kaminsky's book about Lieberman, because for the most part they have been real winners.