Book Review: Innocent Spouse, Spookily Prophetic Re:Today's Gaza War vs Israel and Unabashed Anti-Israel Campaign

Over a month ago, we heard from Leonard Getz, a member of our "Betar circle of friends," who said that he and his wife would be in Shiloh to see the archeological site and hoped to see us, too.  A neighbor and I took them around to give the "grand tour" of Shiloh, including picking grapes from my mini-vinyard. Before they left, Len mentioned that he had just written and published a book. I was immediately interested and told him that I review books, so he offered me Innocent Spouse book to review, I had no idea then that Innocent Spouse  would have such timely relevance. 

I began reading Innocent Spouse just before Hamas attacked Israel in such a shockingly brutal and perverse way.  Unlike my memories from the 1967 Six Days war of Jewish unity praying for Israel, and silence from others, this there are now virulent massive anti-Israel propaganda and demonstrations all over the world, including the United States, on the streets, universities and media.

Innocent Spouse is a murder mystery. Sandra Wolf, an ambitious young journalist is suddenly incommunicado the same time that a series of controversial articles of hers are published in a rival newspaper to the one she works for. Liz, her friend/student/protégé is determined to find her, especially since the police refuse to get involved. Liz's father is an IRS agent who audits businesses trying to discover what they're hiding. Liz, her father and her boyfriend end up discovering not only that Sandra was murdered, but also that a neighborhood Islamic group is not quite what appears on the surface plus its connection to the newspaper Sandra had worked for. 

Innocent Spouse alludes to the growing power Moslem Americans, which is more obvious now than ever before. I decided that I had to ask Getz a few questions.

1-Did you write Innocent Spouse to reveal a reason for the massive anti-Israel demonstrations in the states?   I began working on this novel in 2015. It took me 7 years to write it, so the answer to this question is no.

2-Are you surprised by the grassroots American sympathy for the Hamas terrorists, which seems stronger than for their Israeli victims?   Most, if not all of the vocal support in America for Hamas is from leftists and, not surprisingly, Islamists. I am surprised by its intensity, exemplified by tearing down posters of hostages including children.

3-How did you come up with the idea of exposing radical Islam's insidious influence on American life?  You write about what you know. Having worked for the IRS for 40 years I know about taxes and the workings of the IRS; after retirement I worked part time for the Middle East Form focusing on Islamists in Philadelphia. I’ve been writing about media bias for many years as well. I put all this knowledge in a pot and stirred until ready.

4-Had you foreseen that the book would be so timely?  Two recent events in Philadelphia were so uncannily similar to my novel that several readers commented that they thought about my book when they took place point, some even calling it prophetic. One, a 17 year old who had been radicalized over the internet had purchased bomb making materials etc. and was arrested by the FBI. Two, a young journalist was found murdered in his home. But as far as events in Israel now, that I did not foresee. I don’t think anyone has.

I must congratulate Leonard Getz on his retirement profession as mystery writer. Innocent Spouse is a fascinating book, which was a finalist for the Silver Falchion Award for Best Mystery in 2022. And it was also a finalist in the Killer Nashville Silver Falchion Award for Best Mystery. I look forward to reading his next one. Innocent Spouse is available in both paperback and kindle.

Product details

• Publisher ‏ : ‎ Conservatarian Press (November 10, 2022)
• Language ‏ : ‎ English
• Paperback ‏ : ‎ 339 pages
• ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 1957586206
• ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1957586205

Book Review- Charred: A Whipped and Sipped Mystery

Charred: A Whipped and Sipped Mystery by G.P. Gottlieb is a rather contemporary mystery. It takes place when COVID reigned, and people had to deal with lockdowns and more. Kids were being schooled by computer screens, and the Whipped and Sipped Café couldn't let customers inside to eat. Food and drinks had to be ordered online or by phone and delivered to their customers waiting outside the door.

Aline, the cafe's owner, manages a lot more socializing than most during the lockdown. Besides working with the café staff and customers, she has her children and father to take care of. In addition to that she's also in a serious relationship with Frank, a homicide detective and is also very involved in the lives of a few of her neighbors. There is one very Jewish character in Charred, Aline's best friend and Whipped and Sipped Café pastry chef Ruthie Blum Rosen, who is a Sabbath observer and vegan, too. All of the pastry she makes is vegan.

Charred is the third in a series of murder mysteries by G.P. Gottlieb featuring the same characters, and I'd love to read the others, too. An added bonus to the series is the inclusion of recipes prepared in the Whipped and Sipped Café.

As the story begins, Aline starts her day by doing her neighbors Kacey and Kofi a favor by driving them to the site of a burnt building, so Kofi could find interesting charred wood for his artwork. But instead of some wood, he brought back a mystery. He quickly returned panicked and empty-handed back to her car. It took awhile until Aline discovered what was bothering him; he saw a dead body. Then she was forced to promise that she wouldn't tell anyone, including Frank.

The police are suspicious of a possible connection between the body and Ruthie Blum Rosen, because the dead person is found wearing a jacket with the Rosen's nametag which has things from the café in its pocket. It has never occurred to Ruthie to remove the nametags of clothing before donating to charity.

G.P. Gottlieb has created a wonderful group of characters, each with a distinct personality. We quickly find ourselves involved in the community of the Whipped and Sipped Café, the staff, customers and local eccentrics who hang out by its door. We also discover that Aline's father has recently been hearing from his brother who had been jailed for many years and wants to see him. 

To be honest, when I was a good three quarters finished with the book, I began to think that there were too many threads and wondered if G.P. Gottlieb would tie them all together. And then suddenly, rather miraculously the author very neatly crocheted them all into a wonderful conclusion.

I highly recommend Charred: A Whipped and Sipped Mystery, and as I said earlier, I'd love to read the earlier books in the series. The book does stand well on its own; I'd like to read the others, because no doubt I'd enjoy them. 

The Last Words We Said, A Book Review

The Last Words We Said by Leah Scheier was written for teenagers, but I must admit that I enjoyed it. It's not a childish book. It deals with issues that aren't exclusive to teenagers. 

The dynamics between good friends change over the years, but nothing puts friendship under more stress than the disappearance and probable death of one of them. In this case, no body has been discovered. 

Leah Scheier succeeds in a difficult format, telling the story from two timelines, alternating between after Danny's disappearance and before he disappeared. This format could be disastrous from a less talented writer, but Scheier makes it seem like the only sensible way to write the story.

Danny was Ellie's boyfriend, so most everyone is focused on her difficulties in accepting his most certain death in an accident. But her two best friends, Rae and Deenie, are also seriously affected by his disappearance. The three surviving friends must help each other to fully heal.

The Last Words We Said can also be considered a mystery, because only at the end do we discover what really happened the night of the accident.

Danny, Ellie, Rae and Deenie aren't just regular American suburban teenagers. They are from Modern Orthodox Jewish families and study in Jewish Day School, one with mixed- boys and girls together- classes. So besides the regular teenage issues, we're dealing with families that keep Shabbat, Kashrut and expect the girls and boys to keep their hands off of each other. 

Scheier does an excellent job writing about realistic characters and universal issues. I highly recommend the book. To paraphrase an old ad: 

"You don't have to be Jewish to read The Last Words We Said."

Product details

• Publisher ‏ : ‎ Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers (August 31, 2021)
• Language ‏ : ‎ English
• Hardcover ‏ : ‎ 320 pages
• ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 1534469397
• ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1534469396
• Reading age ‏ : ‎ 12 years and up

Mystery to Me, Too

This week's theme/challenge on 52Frames was What is it??

By chance I spotted something very strange. I photographed it from a few angles, in its real color and also sepia. I chose the sepia and cropped it a bit.

Mystery to Me, Too

Can you guess what I photographed? Please post your guess in the comments. In a few days I'll tell you what I know about it.