Shaking Hands with Lefkowitz [Paperback]

Melvin Foster (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: November 26, 2003

When Alan Borman sees himself lying face down in the street, he has one problem. He doesn't remember dying. With the assistance of Detective Lefkowitz, he examines his life for clues--and finds one in an incident of teenage cruelty. Shaking Hands With Lefkowitz is a shocking, funny examination of life that reveals the profound meaning behind even the smallest moment.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"I could not put SHAKING HAND WITH LEFKOWITZ down. Melvin Foster is a gifted storyteller and an artist at crafting characters to carry out his plot and theme. Alan [Borman] is a perfect balance of fear, regret, resentment, self-righteous anger, and confusion. His guardian angel is a gift of love and understanding. Lefkowitz is a believable mix of gruff charm and satiric humor, a release valve for the deep emotions this story pulls forth. Shaking Hands With Lefkowitz is a delightful and entertaining escape. But I warn you, this is a stay up all night page-turner. The light will stay on until the last page is read." - Charlotte Austin at MS. ONLINE . . ."The debut novel of Melvin Foster, SHAKING HANDS WITH LEFKOWITZ is an original and entertaining novel that reveals how even the smallest personal choices can have dramatic, life-changing consequences. Alan Borman was a no-nonsense lawyer -- until he found himself standing over his own body lying in the street. Alan's search for his killer evolves into a journey of self-discovery enhanced with the realization that our every thought and action forms an intricate web involving every person we encounter. It's also how Alan finds that there is a rather complicated heavenly accounting system. Maybe it's not to late to make amends. Highly recommended reading." - MIDWEST BOOK REVIEW --This text refers to the Kindle Edition edition.

Product Details

• Paperback: 254 pages
• Publisher: Zumaya Publications (November 26, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1894942620
• ISBN-13: 978-1894942621
• Product Dimensions: 8 x 5.3 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 9.6 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,380,126 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Intriguing, entertaining, and will make you think., May 23, 2004

By 

Richard Pilcher (Parkville, MD USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Shaking Hands with Lefkowitz (Paperback)

I truly enjoyed this novel.(In the interests of full disclosure, let me say at the top that I know the author. Let me also say that it would have been easy for me to have avoided writing this review.) The other reviews have summed up the plot, so I will only say that I found myself touched more than once by the insights of the author (In fact, I found myself choking up on occasion, and I'm not all that easy a pushover). It's a common idea that our actions have effects far beyond what we perceive, but Mel Foster has found a way to make this concept come alive. It may be redundant to say that it's a metaphysical mystery, and not everyone (especially mystery fans) may be satisfied with the ending. But if you don't revisit some of the thoughtless moments from your life and determine to do better tomorrow, you're not paying attention. This is a book that will linger in your mind and may even affect your life with its "subtle energy."

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent! Enjoyable! Thought provoking!, January 29, 2004

By 

Charlene Austin (Las Vegas, NV United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Shaking Hands with Lefkowitz (Paperback)

In a shabby run down neighborhood, the Lexus-LS430 sits at the curb with its keys still in the ignition. An undisturbed wallet bulges in the back pocket of the victim's designer suit.

"You know him?" Lefkowitz asked.
"Yeah, I said, staring directly into the
corpses still-open eyes. "It's me."

Author Melvin Foster's Shaking Hands With Lefkowitz is delightful, stirring, and thought provoking, not only for Attorney Alan Boreman as he works with detective
Lefkowitz on a bizarre murder case, but for the reader as well. Shaking Hands With
Lefkowitz will take you on a journey of discovery and understanding.

Alan finds himself following the swarthy detective from the murder scene down
a seemingly endless corridor of impossibly white walls that seem to shift and change
with his thoughts. He cannot remember anything about the last hours of his life and has
no clue who might have killed him. In the interrogation room, they initiate the investigation by starting with Alan's "Ten Worst Deeds List".

Alan learns as he studies the volumes of his life for clues in his own death that every thought, every action, every deed and word has a stream of energy that leaves a trail of
un-thought-of never-imagined consequences through the lives of people he never even
met. Occurrence by occurrence, with the help of Lefkowitz and his guardian angel, he searches through the actions of his past to find the thread that will unravel the mystery
of his death.

How could he know his embarrassed, thoughtless refusal of Arlene Jaffe's gift when he was thirteen would lead to such horrible abuse? How could he know the effect his teenage fantasies about a woman in a magazine would have on her life and her children? Can Alan's heartfelt remorse and repentance, the gentle tear of his guardian angel, erase the damage as they do the deeds on his list and allow the victims of his deeds and thoughts to heal? And what effect might their healing have on his death?

I could not put Shaking Hands With Lefkowitz down. Melvin Foster is a gifted storyteller and an artist at crafting characters to carry out his plot and theme. Alan Boreman is perfect balance of fear, regret, resentment, self-righteous anger, and confusion. His guardian angel is a gift of love and understanding. Lefkowitz is a believable mix of gruff charm and satiric humor, a release valve for the deep emotions this story pulls forth. Shaking Hands With Lefkowitz is a delightful and entertaining

escape. But I warn you, this is a stay up all night page-turner. The light will stay on
until the last page is read.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars The "other side" of murder!, February 9, 2005

By 

Don In Fremont (Redmond OR) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Shaking Hands with Lefkowitz (Paperback)

Imagine, if you will, a dead body. A murder scene, not unlike many other murder scenes found in the mean streets of any American City. Police are there, emergency personnel have arrived to do their jobs. They turn the body over, and you see, in fully deceased lack of glory, yourself.

So begins Shaking Hands With Lefkowitz, a fairly interesting debut novel from Melvin Foster. With nods to everyone from Rod Serling to Neil Gaiman to Joss Whedon, Foster has crafted an intriguing novel, if not necessarily a great mystery.

Alan Borman, the recently deceased lawyer, has been assigned to solve his own murder, with the help of the titular Detective Lefkowitz. The road to knowledge is paved with some fairly stunning consequences of actions once thought inconsequential, and that's where Foster gets our mind working to greatest effect.

Frankly, this book is more of a metaphysical exercise than a mystery novel, but it's a valiant effort to blend a couple of fictional types into one. The end will not please most mystery readers, so if you go into it prepared to scratch your head, you'll have a good time. Regardless, it will most certainly force you to take a look at your life. And that's probably a more valuable result anyway, don't you think?