Stone Kiss - Hardcover

Kellerman, Faye

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0446530387 ISBN 13: 9780446530385

Publisher: Grand Central Publishing, 2002

Synopsis

When a Manhattan rabbi is brutally murdered, an LAPD officer and his wife begin a dangerous mission to save a young girl from kidnapping -- and investigate a deadly new case that puts them both at great peril.



Rina Lazarus has some shocking news for her husband, LAPD Lieutenant Peter Decker. A horrible murder has occurred in the family of his half-brother, Rabbi Jonathan Levin. The rabbi's brother-in-law was found slain in a seedy hotel room in upper Manhattan, and the victim's 15-year-old niece, with whom he was spending the day, is missing. Decker, with Rina at his side, immediately heads out to New York to assist in the investigation. But what starts out as simple inquiries soon evolves into a twisted and perilous journey -- from the darkened slums of New Jersey and the deserted industrial streets of New York to the recesses of sexual perversity and the hidden meeting places of Hasidic outcasts.

Thrust into a deadly maze of deceit, lies, and danger, the couple can no longer trust anyone -- friend or family. And when salvation is finally within Decker's grasp, it can only be delivered by a depraved lone wolf, hell-bent on his own personal vengeance.

About this title

About the Author

Faye Kellerman is the author of twenty-six novels, including nineteen New York Times bestselling mysteries that feature the husband-and-wife team of Peter Decker and Rina Lazarus. She has also penned two bestselling short novels with her husband, New York Times bestselling author Jonathan Kellerman, and has teamed up with her daughter Aliza to co-write a teen novel entitled Prism. She lives in Los Angeles, California, and Santa Fe, New Mexico.

Reviews

Raw. Brutal. Ugly. And, of course, riveting. L.A. homicide detective Peter Decker, an orthodox Jew, answers a call for help from his half-brother, Jonathan, in this 14th tale (after 2001's The Forgotten) from bestseller Kellerman. Ephraim Lieber, Jonathan's brother-in-law, has been found murdered in a seedy Manhattan hotel. Ephraim's 15-year-old niece, Shaynda, who was supposed to be with him, is missing. Reluctantly, Peter agrees to fly to New York to assess the situation, advise the family and perhaps consult with the police investigating the crime. Wife Rina and daughter Hannah accompany him to make the trip something of a vacation as well. The bare questions of the case are difficult and delicate enough (had Ephraim, a recovering drug addict, backslid? was his relationship with Shaynda abusive? what part did other family relationships play?). Peter is quickly caught up in a desperate attempt to find and save the girl while battling an intransigent family, unfamiliar territory and reckless killers. Worse, his best ally in this impossible situation is Chris Donatti, first encountered in Justice (1995), a psychotic, mob-connected killer and maker of pornographic films. Whether Kellerman is depicting the ultra-Orthodox Jewish community or a pornographer's studio, she is utterly convincing. Amid the wreckage of lives taken or thrown away, Kellerman's heroes find glimmers of hope and enough moral ambiguity to make even her most evil villain look less than totally black.
Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

If Kellerman faltered slightly in her last Peter Decker/Rina Lazarus thriller, The Forgotten [BKL Jl 01], she more than makes up for it in this one, even though the calm, inquisitive Rina is mostly absent from the action. Responding to his half-brother Jonathan's plea for help in solving the murder of Jonathan's brother-in-law and the disappearance of his niece, LAPD detective Drecker finds himself in the middle of a cultural disconnect: on one side is the New York Orthodox Jewish community where the victims' family lives; on the other is Manhattan mobster and porn photographer Chris Donatti, whom Decker once put behind bars, then freed. Decker knows Donatti may hold the key to the crime, but he also knows the vengeful young man isn't going to give it up easily. The amoral Chris steals the show here; a great foil for the righteous Decker, he's viscous yet vulnerable, calculating, vengeful, and selfish, but with a skewed code of ethics that makes him pitiable, almost sympathetic. There's some steamy sex, and Kellerman ratchets up the action as Decker and Donatti alternately try to outsmart one another and punch each other out. High-voltage stuff about family ties and righting old wrongs. Stephanie Zvirin
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

Rina Lazarus and LAPD lieutenant Peter Decker are back, and have they got a problem: the brother-in-law of Decker's half-brother, Rabbi Jonathan Levin, has been found dead in a real dump of a hotel, and the man's young niece is missing.
Copyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Edition details

• Publisher: Grand Central Publishing
• Publication date: 2002
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0446530387
• ISBN 13: 9780446530385
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 400