Abe Lieberman

Review: Not Quite Kosher

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Cover image of "Not Quite Kosher by Stuart M. Kaminsky

Not Quite Kosher

Not Quite Kosher (Abe Lieberman, 7), Stuart M. Kaminsky. Forge Books (ISBN: 9781429912631) 2002

Summary: Lieberman juggles two murder cases, one with multiple deaths including a cop, a bar mitzvah, a partner’s wedding and more.

Sometimes a lot of life happens at once. At home, Lieberman is involved in bar mitzvah plans for his grandson, mainly in figuring out how to stretch the family budget to pay for everything and leave something to repair the roof. Meanwhile, his partner Hanrahan is moving up his wedding date to marry Iris Chin–to this week, with a reception at the Liebermans! This, despite Iris’s family disapproval and threats which Lieberman cleverly handles through the leader of one of Chicago’s gangs. And he even manages to book Senator Joe Lieberman (no relation) to speak for a synagogue fund-raiser.

Then there is the work. A group of young thugs attacks a depressed store owner. Only it doesn’t turn out so well. The man, Arnold Sokol, defends himself well enough to chase two of the young men off and land the other in the hospital. Lieberman and his rabbi help settle things with the young man in the hospital, or so they think. But the next day, Sokol’s badly beaten body washes up in the lake.

Actually, that’s just one of two bodies that wash up. The other is a man called Pryor, involved in Lieberman’s other case. Him and Michael Wychovski rob a jewelry store–the same one they robbed a year ago. Only this time, things don’t turn out so well. On the way out, Pryor stumbles and his gun goes off, killing the owner. Then, while Wychovski drives, he fires on pursuing police, killing one of them. But they manage to elude capture-until Pryor’s body washes up along with Sokol’s.

I love the great relationship between Lieberman and Hanrahan, punctuated with food stops and ever-present reminders about Lieberman’s cholesterol. Each has gotten the other out of trouble on more than one occasion. I also love the philosophic decency of Lieberman–his companionable marriage, his acceptance of his difficult daughter, and his loyalty to his brother Maish and the alter cockers. He’s a man people trust, from Kearney, his boss to a somewhat unstable gang leader.

The reader trusts him as well, even to catching the real killer of Arnold Sokol. My only regret is that Kaminsky only wrote ten installments in this series. Having read most of the Rostnikov and Lieberman stories, perhaps it’s time to check out Toby Peters and Lew Fonseca, his two other crime solvers.

Review: Lieberman’s Choice

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Cover image of "Lieberman's Choice" by Stuart M. Kaminsky

Lieberman’s Choice (Abe Lieberman Number 2), Stuart M. Kaminsky. Open Road Media (ASIN: B00AYRI5HY) 2013 (first published 1993).

Summary: A cop kills his wife and the cop who is sleeping with her, and threatens to blow up a city block unless one demand is met.

Abe Lieberman can’t get to sleep. And then the phone rings. A fellow policeman walked into his apartment with a loaded shotgun and blew away his wife and the cop she was sleeping with. When his partner, recently “on the wagon” arrives, the scene is so awful he needs a drink. The officer, Bernie Shepard, has barricaded himself on the roof with his dog. He’s armed to the teeth. And he’s rigged up enough explosives to blow away not only the building but a city block.

Abe is the first one who talks to him and size up the situation. Shepard wants a TV reporter to interview him. Eventually, he gets his wish. He has one demand. Specifically, he wants to talk to Captain Alan Kearney at midnight, after a day-long siege. In his mind, Kearney is the one who had corrupted his wife.

There are lots of people who want to make this go away as quickly as possible, from a mayor facing re-election to the chief of police. And there are the civilians. First, a couple of hard-up bounty seekers living in the building attempt an assault on the rooftop nest only to end up splattered on the street below. Then a gang leader who Shepard had arrested wants to take a crack. Incredibly, they let him and he manages to wound Shepard. But Shepard has positioned himself so well that no chopper, no sniper, can take him out.

If Lieberman had his choice, he’d just hang out with the Alter Cockers at his brother Maish’s deli. Or he would be home with his family. Instead, he is on point negotiating with a man who has already killed four–one who has nothing left to lose. And if that is not enough, he has to deal with a religious crazy, Frankie Kraylaw. who is abusing his wife.

As the hours tick down and the pressure increases, will they find a way to avoid a confrontation with Kearney or a catastrophic explosion? Amid it all, Lieberman, the veteran of Chicago’s streets seems the wisest and sanest. But will it be enough?

Review: Lieberman’s Day

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Cover image of "Lieberman's Day" by Stuart M. Kaminsky

Lieberman’s Day, Stuart M. Kaminsky. Open Road Media (ISBN: 9781480400207) 2013 (first published in 1994).

Summary: Abe’s nephew is killed and his wife shot in a mugging while a murderer stalks the abused ex-wife Hanrahan is sheltering.

Moments after walking out the door from a dinner party on a cold winter night, David Lieberman and his wife Carol confront two muggers. Things go awry and one mugger shoots David, the other, Carol. David dies, but Carol, critically wounded and pregnant, survives. Abe Lieberman, who hasn’t yet fallen asleep gets the call at 12:02 am. David is Abe’s nephew.

The book chronicles the next twenty-four hours as Abe, and his recovering-alcoholic partner Bill Hanrahan track down the killers. At the same time, Abe must try to comfort his brother and sister-in-law in the loss of their son, drawing on the help of his tight-knit Jewish community, including the Alter Cockers, a group of older men who hang out at his brother’s diner.

Abe relies on his street connections, cutting a deal with El Perro, a drug kingpin, to find the killers. Shooting a pregnant woman is an offense even to them. Meanwhile Hanrahan learns that the violent ex-husband of an abused woman and her son, who he has sheltered, is back in town. Will Hanrahan find him before he finds them?

Both men also struggle with domestic issues. Abe’s daughter’s marriage has broken up but now she struggles as her former husband is seeing another woman. Abe is loyal to his daughter while liking the father of his grandchild. He’s met the woman he’s seeing and likes her as well. Bill’s wife walked out some time ago. Despite a relationship with an Asian woman who is ready for more, he cannot let go.

Meanwhile the plot is building toward double climaxes in Bill’s apartment and Carol’s hospital room. For one of the killers, Carol, while alive, is a threat.

This is a relatively short novel. The fast-paced double plot unfolds in the span of one very long day during a very cold Chicago winter. Amid all this, I enjoyed Lieberman’s street-savvy wisdom combined with the restraint that accompanies others in their grief, never saying the stupid thing.

Review: The Last Dark Place

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Cover image of "The Last Dark Place" by Stuart Kaminsky

The Last Dark Place (Abe Lieberman #8), Stuart M. Kaminsky. Mysterious Press/Open Road Media (ASIN: B00AYRI5DI), 2013 (originally published in 2004).

Summary: Who ordered the hit on the hitman? That’s what Lieberman, who was transporting him back to Chicago tries to figure out as he tries to head off a gang war and pay for his grandson’s bar mitzvah.

Over thirty years ago Abe Lieberman’s prayers at shul were interrupted by Connie Gower, seeking to avenge his brother, who Lieberman, then a young cop had killed. Lieberman escaped that situation. Now, a much older Lieberman sits in the Yuma airport, along with a local cop, handcuffed to Gower. He’s bringing him back to Chicago to stand trial for a “hit.” Gower has made a career of killing people for hire.

All hell breaks loose when an elderly airport worker opens fire on Gower, killing him, getting badly wounded by the local policeman in the process. The worker survives but won’t give Lieberman much. He tells him he was paid by a man with a darkened thumb, money that would go to a granddaughter’s college fund. Now, Lieberman returns to Chicago to find the man who ordered the hit.

He faces far more than this on his return. Two ethnic gangs, one Latino and the other Asian, are on the verge of an all-out war. Meanwhile, an obsessed Falun Gong cultist is stalking his partner Hanrahan’s pregnant wife, who is Asian. And Hanrahan is under pressure to quickly find three youth who raped a rising Black detective’s wife. The detective is on the mayor’s shortlist for a top police slot. No one want’s that detective to find those youth first. And while all this is happening, a disillusioned sign painter is plotting to kill a country star who has disappointed him, thinking that for a moment he will be a hero. Just another week in Chicago.

While Lieberman cherishes his family, homelife is a challenge. His wife is zealously guarding his diet because his cholesterol is high. His daughter blames her failed marriages and troubles in life on Abe. Yet she wants his help with her son’s bar mitzvah, including financial help, stretching his detective’s salary further. And his responsibilities at the synagogue keep calling. The only thing that mitigates any of this is the deep fellowship and banter with the alter cockers, the men he prays with, and eats food forbidden by his wife, at the local deli.

This is my first Abe Lieberman (yes I know I’m reading out of order!). My son introduced me to Kaminsky’s Russian detective, Porfiry Rostnikov. I loved those stories and so downloaded this to my Kindle when it came up as a bargain. And what a treat to discover this veteran, street smart and self-deprecating detective. He show compassion for the men of his shul and for his wayward daughter, even while he mentors his grandson as he makes an important life passage. The book is a quick and engaging read that gives one sympathy for the personal and professional challenges facing any policeman in one of our major cities. Abe Lieberman, whatever his faults, navigates these pretty well. I have a feeling this won’t be my last Abe Lieberman story.