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Fiction. Literature. Mystery. HTML: Los Angeles Police Detective Peter Decker had grown very close to Rina's young sons, Sammy and Jake, as he had to their mother, and he looked forward to spending a day of his vacation camping with the boys. A nice reprieve from the grueling work of a homicide cop-until Sammy stumbles upon a gruesome sight... Two human skeletons, charred beyond recognition, are identified by a forensic dentist as teenage girlsâ??and for Decker, the father of a sixteen-year-old daughter, vacation time is over. Throwing himself professionally and emotionally into the murder case, he launches a very personal investigation: a quest that pulls him deep into the crack dens of Hollywood Boulevard and painfully close to the children of the streets and a nightmare world he must make his own.… (more)
User reviews
Peter Lazarus, police detective was taking the sons of his orthodox Jewish girlfriend on a camping trip in a Los Angeles park. One of the
Peter really wants to marry Rita. He is taking classes so that he can convert and marry Rina. Peter is having trouble learning Hebrew but there are several differences of belief and opinions that arise later in this book. He has some interesting discussions with the Rabbis. I thought that information about Orthodox Judaism added depth to this book.
One of the murder victims was identified as a normal and pretty but not wild girl of sixteen. The girl reminded Peter of his own daughter from his first marriage. He made the decision to stick to the case instead of going back to Juvenile Division, his usual assignment. Peter has to go into the seamy underside of Hollywood, to uncover the tragic and obscene acts of the underworld that portrayed with short descriptions and are reflected by Peter Lazarus’ visceral reaction to them. At the same time as his investigation, his relationship with Rina encounters serious obstacles. Since I cared about this couple, I was really hoping that things would work out.
I highly recommend this police mystery that is doesn’t dwell on the violence but poses important religious and philosophical issues.
I received this book as a win from GoodReads but that in no way influenced my review. My thoughts are my own.