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13 of 13 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
An Excellent Suspense Thriller & An Extraordinary Character Study!, September 2, 2005
"Sacred and Profane," the second Peter Decker/Rina Lazarus novel, proves to be even a better read than "The Ritual Bath," Faye Kellerman's first book in this outstanding mystery/sleuth series. This is a stand-alone novel, and one can easily get to know the cast of characters and their history without having read prior books. Ms. Kellerman provides a terrific change of pace from my usual fiction fare. Although these mysteries have their share of violence, gruesomeness and unsavory individuals, the ethnic/cultural aspect of the stories and the sheer humanity of the characters are refreshing. LAPD Detective Sergeant Peter Decker met Rina Lazarus, a young and very beautiful widow, while investigating a rape at a yeshiva in Deep Canyon, CA, where she lives and works. Rina is an Orthodox Jewess and the mother of two small sons, Samuel and Jacob. Attracted to each other from their first meeting, Rina and Peter, feel their relationship is "bashert," meant to be or predestined. Raised a Baptist, Peter is studying with Rabbi Aaron Schulman to become an observant Jew, both for his own spiritual needs and in order to marry Rina. At times, however, he has doubts about the course he has chosen, although he never doubts his feelings for Rina. The couple are very much in love. Besides her beauty, outside and in, Decker is drawn to her total lack of guile. Decker has become very close to Rina's sons and takes them on a camping trip where one of the boys discovers the charred remains of two corpses. Peter, who works in juvenile crime, is temporarily assigned to homicide to investigate this case. The skeletons, two women in their teens or early twenties, are identified through complex dental work and their murders are found to be connected to a grisly pornography ring which deals in "snuff" films." The case forces Decker to deal with the dregs of humanity, and although he is a hardened combat vet who served in Vietnam, and for years with the police, he becomes increasingly agitated and depressed. The fact that he is the father of a teen-age daughter, from a prior marriage, only increases his despair and anger. Seriously questioning the existence of God and the purpose of religion in his life, he becomes ambivalent about continuing his religious studies and practices. As he delves more deeply into the complex, macabre case, Peter becomes more and more isolated from Rina. And Rina, who in no way wants to pressure him, needs to find out how committed her finance is to their relationship and to becoming an observant religious man. The author deftly handles the workings of the intense personal relationships between Peter, Rina and their children plus crime solving with apparent ease. As with the other Kellerman books I have read, her characters are her strength. They are truly three-dimensional and their dialogue is extremely realistic. I thoroughly enjoyed the mystery, the humanity of the characters, and details of the Orthodox Jewish customs and lifestyle. I plan to read more of this excellent author's work and highly recommend it to others. JANA
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9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
NARRATOR AND LEAD CHARACTER A PERFECT MATCH, March 10, 2008
Every once in a while, for this listener, an audio comes along on which the book's lead character and the audio narrator seem as one. In other words, the voice perfectly replicates the way I imagine a character would and should sound. Such is the case with Mitch Greenberg's reading of Sacred and Profane, another in Kellerman's popular Peter Decker/Rina Lazarus novels. Greenberg's voice is deep, strong, mature. And, I discovered in listening that "mature" was important to me. After all LA Police Detective Decker has seen a lot (some of it very unsavory) and done a lot. He's no longer the new kid on any block, and Greenberg captures him perfectly. Set in Los Angeles during the holidays, we hear Decker say, "Hell, here it was the day of Christmas Eve and he was out camping in the foothills, isolated from civilization, playing big brother to two little boys with yarmulkes. Christmas had never been a big deal to him but still it felt strange. Some habits were hard to shake." Decker may have gotten more than he bargained for when he became involved with Rina - she is an orthodox Jew and the mother of two young sons. Yet, he can't deny what he feels in his heart and has grown close to all of them. It's his vacation and he's decided to take her two boys, Sammy and Jake, on a camping trip - peaceful, relaxing, and fun. Their adventure is none of the above as Sammy discovers a hideous sight - the charred remains of two young girls. Decker is a homicide cop through and through as well as being the father of a 16-year-old daughter, so he finds himself involved both professionally and emotionally. He's an intrepid tracker the trail that he follows leads him into one of the worst parts of his city - the drug hangouts that line Hollywood Boulevard and the children who try to live there. Descriptions of this area and its denizens are frightening. Again Kellerman has crafted a suspenseful story, gritty and real. - Gail Cooke
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12 of 13 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Second book in series excellent!, December 10, 1997
"Sacred and Profane," the second novel in the series, opens with Decker camping in the foothills above Los Angles with Rina's sons, Sammy and Jake. Decker is thrown into a deadly case of murder when Rina's oldest son stumbles on two charred human skeletons. A forensic dentist determines that the victims were teenage girls. This rattles Decker and gets him emotionally involved in the case because he is the father of a sixteen year old daughter, living back east with his ex-wife. Detective Decker had two problems. He has to find the killers of two young women from the incredibly seamy world of L.A. porn. and crack dens of Hollywood Boulevard. Although Peter is "technically Jewish" because his birth Mother was a Jew he has to learn to follow Rina's faith or else lose her forever. He begins to take instruction with the rabbi of the Yeshiva. Projecting what will follow in future Decker/Lazarus novels one knows what he outcome will be. No unlike here first book, "The Ritual Bath," this book make very interesting reading.
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