Day of Atonement (1991)

Peter Decker and Rina are spending their honeymoon in Brooklyn with the inlaws when a boy disappears and Decker volunteers to track down not only the boy, but his psychopathic companion as well. Even though the crime-part is seriously creepy, perhaps the creepiest in the series so far, this installment in the series is also one of the funniest. Decker trying to be comfortable while being hosted by his wife's deceased husband's family in cramped quarters in Brooklyn makes for some interesting situations. There are also a few surprises when it comes to family relations that put a different spin on the story. A high-stakes mystery with some interesting insight into Orthodox Jewish life.

It's been a few years since this book's original publication, but the series is turning out to be remarkably undated, perhaps because it partially takes place in the Orthodox Jewish world which, let's be honest, doesn't change very much. Ever. The only time I noticed anything amiss was when Decker promises to buy tickets to Disneyland and agonizes over the fact that they cost $21.50. $21.50? Really? Last time I went (end of February this year), they were $80.00!! Well, what can you do, it is the Happiest Place on Earth after all. :) ( )

Fourth in the series. Powerful reading.

Back Cover Blurb:
When Police Sergeant Peter Decker agreed to spend his honeymoon - and his New Year - with his wife's former in-laws in the most rigidly respectable Jewish district of Brooklyn, the worst he thought it could be was dull. He was wrong. For when Noam, the teenage son of a close family friend, goes missing Decker finds his honeymoon is suddenly over.
Noam appears to have taken off across America with a shadowy individual who has a penchant for knives - and for dominating vulnerable adolescent boys. Up to now he has channeled his anger into his favourite hobby, gutting fish. But his inner violence is expressing itself more and more openly. Time is running out for Decker - and for Noam. And they both know there are only ten days between New Year and the Day of Atonement. ( )

From Library Journal
When Los Angeles detective Peter Decker and new wife Rina Lazarus visit her Jewish kinfolks in Brooklyn, startling events disturb their honeymoon. Quite unexpectedly and with great antipathy, Decker--an adoptee--recognizes his natural mother at a holiday gathering. Before he can confront her, though, her troubled 14-year-old grandson goes missing and Decker, fortuitously on hand, begins the search. Soon after he learns that the boy has taken up with a dangerously disturbed and vicious young man, the scene switches to Los Angeles. Hard-hitting details, vignettes of Jewish life, and uncomfortably close glimpses of a cold-hearted psycho make this an entrancing page turner. Not to be missed.
Copyright 1991 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title. ( )

I'm really enjoying reading through the Decker/Lazarus series. In this one, Decker and Rina have just married, but their honeymoon is far from ordinary. They go to New York to visit with some of Rina's family and suddenly Decker is involved with a family crisis involving a missing teenage boy and a possible psychopath. I love the blend of the relationship between Decker and Rina that continues to develop and the actual thrill of the chase as Decker hunts down the bad guy. Rina asserts herself and want to help out and even tote a gun, to which Decker does not react well. Yet having Rina along may be a lot better idea than he thought. And the stuff about the Jewish culture/religion that comes out in these books is really fascinating. Highly reccomended for fans of gritty mysteries and good relationship stories. ( )