I fell in love with Faye Kellerman and her Peter Decker/Rina Lazarus series from the first word I read, long, long ago. The earlier books, especially, truly relied on the couple’s Jewish roots, and that was a plus, for I’ve been fascinated with the Jewish culture ever since I saw Robbie Benson in The Chosen and subsequently read all of Chaim Potok’s books within a three week period. On the Jewish front, Kellerman has never dissatisfied, even as her characters have aged and the books have focused more on the crimes than the cultural elements. Peter and Rina are still Orthodox, and Peter, as a police lieutenant, sometimes has a hard time honoring Shabbos because murderers don’t follow a schedule with their murders (well, I guess, some do if they are serial killers or have a reason to do so.) The Beast is almost all murder-solving and has very little of the Jewish element, but the murder itself is so outrageous and so compelling that I loved the book just as much as all the rest in the series…and even more than a couple of the others. This book also continues the story of Gabriel, the foster son/concert pianist/still teenager that Peter and Rina “acquired.” Gabriel’s father is one-time hit man Peter Donatti, now a pimp in Las Vegas with a stable of brothels. Gabe’s mother fell in love and just up and left her son to move to India and start another family. So Gabriel has responded to Peter and Rina’s love and support, and in this novel, is dealing with the aftermath of a beating he took in the previous novel. Gabe also is trying to continue his relationship with his much younger girlfriend who also was a victim in the previous violent incident, but her mother is completely against her daughter having a relationship outside of her faith, also Jewish, and her ethnicity, Persian. So the drama of young love is a perfect respite from the developments in the murder case, one involving a fabulously wealthy Howard Hughes-type recluse who keeps a Bengal tiger in a small apartment. I will say no more so those who like murder mysteries and particularly those who love Peter and Rina as I do will will not be crying “spoiler alert.” Not the best Peter Decker, but it involves exotic animals and I do love tigers!In this case a wealthy recluse who kept a tiger as a pet in an apartment building, are you with me?...is found murdered and the rest of the story is about the wild animal sanctuary whose director did the vet work and some of the maintenance, the back story on the recluse, etc. In this book, Rita Lazarus is shoved into the corner, doing her good Jewish wife stuff, and is not included in the sleuthing. That weakens the novel considerably...She's one-dimensional here, where she is so interestingly involved in other books.
What do You think about Predator (2013)?
A little strange. I guess Jonathan has rubbed off after all those years together.
—kessa_m97
twisty - turney and the gang is getting older
—michellehopper45
