Stone Kiss

Let me start by saying this is definitely not one of of the best of the Peter Decker/Rina Lazarus mysteries by Faye Kellerman. Stone Kiss is the fourteenth of the series and builds on a character from Justice, an earlier novel featuring a colorful character named Chris Donatti. I recently decided to reread the books involving this complex character and his love/hate relationship with Peter Decker. So I won't recommend this as a starting point for anyone just starting the series. I recommend starting with Ritual Bath, the first of the series.

Lt. Decker is asked by his brother, Jonathan, an Orthodox Jewish Rabbi, to come to New York to help find the murderer of his brother-in-law. Peter and his wife Rina had planned a vacation, but they take this side trip to help family. The mystery actually gets overshadowed by the complexity of the relationships and the conscienceless Donatti. It's easy to see who the murderer is but the real draw here is the relationship between Peter and Chris. I enjoy the Jewish aspect and perspective of these books. I found the references to the Orthodox Jewish community to be quite interesting and I think the author did a good job in presenting them as whole characters, not all good or all bad.

Chris is definitely sadistic, egocentric and psychopathic. I like the way the author does show us his 1Cbetter 1D side making us wonder if inside this brutal man there's an abused child trying to connect with Decker.

Decker is called l to NYC to aid his found Jewish family when one of their members is found naked and dead. He runs into a veritable mishegoss of Orthodox and Conservative Jewish angst and guilt. He turns to Chris Donatti for assistance with the usual violence and accumulation of dead bodies that results from such contact. Much introspection by the Lieutenant before he can accept a final solution.

Total Points -- 96 out of 100 -- 5 stars
Taunt psychological thriller that keeps the reader on pins and needles.

1. Plot -- 19 out of 20 Points

The interwoven stories of various characters mesh with the psychological twists and turns in a thriller that keeps readers guessing. Unpredictable, tense drama unfolds in the life of Lt. Peter Decker's family, sucking him into an abyss from which there is no real safety net for all the peril. Unofficially working a case that involves his barely known half-brother, Decker doesn't have his normal law enforcement resources to work the case. Hamstrung, he's forced to hobble along, even as he has his doubts on the wisdom of making the effort to find a missing girl. Rejected by the victim's family, stonewalled as he tries to follow the scant clues, Decker, a man of conscience, has little choice but to stay on the case, lest he spend the future wrestling his demons.

2. Characters -- 19 out of 20 Points

Offering a glimpse into differences between Jewish sects, their philosophies, and even practices, the characters contrast on many levels. Some sexual predators hide behind their cloak of respectability; others are brazen in their embrace of criminal enterprise and flaunt their bad behavior, boldly inviting trouble. For Peter Decker, it must be like always walking on egg shells, navigating that difficult landscape where desperate people do desperate things. Wife Rina is a good partner for the burdened police lieutenant, offering him sanctuary from the grim realities of his work. When she is forced into contact with a very dangerous man, Rina manages to find her footing by using her wits and her knowledge of human behavior. Perhaps one of the best of the more minor characters in the book is the beleaguered rabbi, Decker's half-brother, Jonathan, because he plays the role of the decent man in over his head, forced to recognize the ugly truth about human nature again and again, even as he struggles to keep the faith. But the real villain of the book, Christopher Donatti, is Decker's nemesis. His pleasure in torturing the cop with a conscience, physically and emotionally, and deliberately (and sometimes menacingly) meeting with Decker's wife, puts the reader on edge as Donatti's intentions vacillate between helping and hurting the lieutenant he blames for destroying the only relationship that ever mattered to him.

3. Setting -- 19 out of 20 Points

Out of his normal California operating terrain, Lt. Decker must not only find transportation to and from crime scenes and witness locations in an unfamiliar state, sometimes relying on civilians, he's forced to deal with emergencies without his normal backup team. Some local cops are hostile to outsiders, others corrupt, but Decker still has to track down leads as he tries to cross a psychological mine field ready to explode as the tragedies pile up. Inclement weather just adds to his burden. As Decker's discomfort rises when he's forced to operate outside his comfort zone, it adds a jagged tension and unpredictability to the story.

4. Pacing -- 19 out of 20 Points

The non-stop drama moves rapidly through the pages, with no real down time. Constantly switching back and forth between character perspectives actually broadens the scope of the story, connecting the dots on a very human plane. At one point, the author writes in the "I" for a minor character. This simple change draws an important zigzag to one of the most dangerous characters in the book, that somehow makes him almost human, even at his most ruthless.

5. Tone -- 20 out of 20 Points

Faye Kellerman's strength is found in her ability to make readers connect to a very "unpretty" story of betrayal and brutality, through a variety of characters, good and bad, weak and strong. Decker's initial reluctance to take on the case shows his intelligence -- he knows that somewhere, somehow, this will end badly. And yet, the tone of the story always keeps the reader hoping that somehow, some way, Decker will at least manage to control the collateral damage, even as events spin out of his control. We trust this policeman to find some semblance of justice for the victims, even as we understand just how close to impossible that will be.

Unusual thriller set in a Hasidic community in New York.

This is the 14th in the Decker/Lazarus series and I really enjoyed this one. Having read the whole series I have found some of the series a bit lacking but overall I have enjoyed them. This was one of the better ones.

Back Cover Blurb:
The call is brief, but to the point. There has been a murder in the family of Lieutenant Decker's half brother, Rabbi Jonathan Levine. His brother-in-law, Ephraim Lieber, a Hassidic Jew and former drug addict, was found naked in a seedy Manhattan hotel, a single gunshot wound to his head. And his niece, fifteen year old Shaynda, is missing.
Jonathan pleads with his policeman brother to come to New York to help the family.
Reluctantly, Decker agrees, taking his wife, Rina, and their youngest daughter with him for company. But soon after arriving on the East Coast Decker is infuriated to discover that Shaynda's parents have changed their minds about involving him in the case. Faced with a hostile family, a city in which he's a stranger and a local police force mired in international problems, Decker is on his own. Moving from the darkened slums of New Jersey to the deserted industrial streets of New York, he is thrust into a world divided mercilessly into killers and victims.
And Decker must decide which he wants to be....

Murder hits close to home as one of Pete's relatives is found dead in a seedy Manhattan hotel room. Missing from the scene is the dead man's teenage niece - the last person to see the victim alive. It's been 10 years since Pete walked the street of New York, and now he has no choice but to return to the city's underground. When he finds the girl in the last place anyone would think to look, devastating family secrets emerge.

Another convoluted, absolutely ridiculous police procedural (?actually I'm not really sure how to classify this book) - more blood and gore than plot. Peter Decker and his family rush to NY from LA to help find the brother-in-law or Decker's half brother (confused yet?) - finds sex and drug dealing among the hasidic community, including his half-family; a gangster (or compatriot) named Chris Donadio who is an old adversary of Decker's and just coincidentally kidnaps Decker's half-neice twice removed for his stable of juicy young whores in training. Throw in a few corrupt cops and Bob's your uncle - a ridiculous mess of a lousy nove.