Daily Archives: December 16, 2015
Book Reviews: Gangsterland by Tod Goldberg and Shark Skin Suite by Tim Dorsey
Gangsterland
Tod Goldberg
Counterpoint Press, August 2015
ISBN: 978-1-61902-578-3
Trade Paperback
The idea of juxtaposing the mafia, a hit man, and a Reform Jewish temple in Las Vegas forms the basis for this outrageous but satisfying novel. It is filled with a variety of characters and a plot that carries the theme with aplomb. While the concept may appear to be beyond the realms of reality, the author carries it out with grace and humor.
It all begins in Chicago, where Sal Cupertine is an extraordinary hit man for the mob, efficient, careful and never caught. Until one day he is assigned to meet with some purported drug sellers who turn out to be FBI agents and, for the first time, his face becomes known, so he has to kill them for self-preservation but has to flee the Windy City hidden in a refrigerated truck. Sal ends up in Las Vegas, undergoes facial surgery and, because he has a retentive memory, is turned into Rabbi David Cohen, part of a new racket.
While many of the Talmudic and Biblical references, which colorfully emit from David’s (Sal’s) lips throughout the novel, may be questionable, they set the tone for the incredible plot. If there is one drawback to the novel it is the final passages which to this reader did not ring true, although, supposedly, are intended to provide a morality to this mafia story.
Recommended.
Reviewed by Ted Feit, August 2015.
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Shark Skin Suite
Serge Storms #18
Tim Dorsey
William Morrow, January 2015
ISBN: 978-0-06-224001-9
Hardcover
From the publisher: “Bottom feeders beware: The Sunshine State’s favorite psychotic killer and lovable Floridaphile, Serge Storms, has found a new calling, legal eagle, and he’s going to make a killing as a crusading attorney – – and star as a dashing lawyer on the big screen – – in this madcap escapade . . . When it comes to swimming with the sharks, there is no bigger kahuna than Serge Storms. Binging on a marathon of legal movies set in Florida, Serge finds his vocation: the law. Never mind law school or that degree; Serge becomes a freelance fixer – – wildcat paralegal and pilgrim to the hallowed places where legal classics of the big screen such as Body Heat, Cool Hand Luke, and Absence of Malice were filmed practically in his own backyard.”
I found it nearly impossible to summarize the plot of this book; suffice it to say that I began and ended the book with a silly smile on my face, which was the default display for much of everything in between. As stated above, much of the novel is an homage to those classic films; to say that Serge is a movie buff is a huge understatement. In addition, the author captures the feel of the Florida streets in, e.g., downtown Miami: “The foot traffic was determined in the midday heat. Folded newspapers, briefcases, take-out bags with Cuban sandwiches. A teenager sprinted up the middle of the street with a fistful of wristwatches. A whiskered man on the corner of Flagler had been screaming and kicking his own bicycle for five minutes. A shopowner chasing the shoplifting teen was hit by an ambulance. One of the folded newspapers told of a mysterious eyeball the size of a cantaloupe that had washed upon the beach. Everything was normal. Pedestrians continued chatting on cell phones.”
The author’s writing style is certainly unique, and the resulting work is recommended. Just what I needed after a fairly steady recent diet of dark, death- and danger-filled books. (Although I should perhaps add that there are a couple of dead bodies before the book comes to a close.)
Reviewed by Gloria Feit, September 2015.
Buried Under Books 