Redemption - Hardcover

Howard Fast

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0709063695 ISBN 13: 9780709063698

Publisher: Robert Hale, 1999

Synopsis

Howard Fast has written over 40 novels, everything from April Morning , a historical novel about the Revolutionary War, to An Independent Woman , the last book in his series about an immigrant family in California. In Redemption , the author dabbles in the world of suspense fiction. Ike Goldman, the smart and gentle 78-year-old retired law professor who is the heart of the novel, is probably a version of Fast's current self--a veteran of all kinds of political and social wars who has opted for a quieter life of non-involvement. When he spots a woman about to jump from the George Washington Bridge late one night, he stops almost automatically to talk her out of it "because I've opened that door myself a hundred times..." But he knows that you can't really save a life that easily. What he's not prepared for is falling in love with a woman 30 years younger than him. Elizabeth Hopper, the depressed and abused former wife of a crooked Wall Street wheeler dealer, is equally surprised and delighted by her growing love for Ike. They overcome differences in age and religion and plan a wedding. Then, six weeks after they meet, Elizabeth's ex-husband is found shot to death. A note written in lipstick matches her own brand; the gun used in the crime belongs to Ike, missing after a robbery. Goldman recruits one of his former students to defend Elizabeth, but as evidence of her apparent guilt accumulates his own doubts increase. We share those doubts, even though in our hearts we know that Howard Fast the novelist is too shrewd to let Ike Goldman live out his remaining years without the woman he loves. --Dick Adler

About this title

Review

Howard Fast has written over 40 novels, everything from April Morning, a historical novel about the Revolutionary War, to An Independent Woman, the last book in his series about an immigrant family in California. In Redemption, the author dabbles in the world of suspense fiction.

Ike Goldman, the smart and gentle 78-year-old retired law professor who is the heart of the novel, is probably a version of Fast's current self--a veteran of all kinds of political and social wars who has opted for a quieter life of non-involvement. When he spots a woman about to jump from the George Washington Bridge late one night, he stops almost automatically to talk her out of it "because I've opened that door myself a hundred times..." But he knows that you can't really save a life that easily. What he's not prepared for is falling in love with a woman 30 years younger than him.

Elizabeth Hopper, the depressed and abused former wife of a crooked Wall Street wheeler dealer, is equally surprised and delighted by her growing love for Ike. They overcome differences in age and religion and plan a wedding. Then, six weeks after they meet, Elizabeth's ex-husband is found shot to death. A note written in lipstick matches her own brand; the gun used in the crime belongs to Ike, missing after a robbery. Goldman recruits one of his former students to defend Elizabeth, but as evidence of her apparent guilt accumulates his own doubts increase. We share those doubts, even though in our hearts we know that Howard Fast the novelist is too shrewd to let Ike Goldman live out his remaining years without the woman he loves. --Dick Adler

About the Author

Howard Fast's most recent novel is An Independent Woman. He has written more than forty books, including the novels Spartacus, Citizen Tom Paine, April Morning, and The Immigrant's Daughter. His books have been translated into eighty-two languages and have sold tens of millions of copies worldwide. He has received numerous awards, including an Emmy Award, a National Jewish Book Award, and the Schomburg Award for Race Relations. He lives in Greenwich, Connecticut.

Edition details

• Publisher: Robert Hale
• Publication date: 1999
• ISBN 10: 0709063695
• ISBN 13: 9780709063698
• Binding: Hardcover
• Language: English
• Number of pages: 240