The Golem of Paris by Jonathan Kellerman and Jesse Kellerman, G.P. Putnam Sons © 2015, ISBN 978-0-399-17173-4; 497 pages.
By Donald H. Harrison
SAN DIEGO –The Kellermans have teamed up on a multi-generational novel that combines old fashioned gumshoe detective work with the supernatural and the bad old days of the Soviet empire. The result, in my opinion, is a mishmash not up to the high standards of previous works.
I’m one of those readers who believes an investment of 500 pages into a mystery story should pay the dividend of answers by the time all is read and done.
Unfortunately, some of the basic questions of the story—like the why—go unanswered. So notwithstanding sorties into the mystical world of the Maharal and the Golem he created to protect the people of Prague, and notwithstanding the updating of that legend with a new metamorphosis of the creature, the basic detective story is lacking.
We want to know not only who did the crime, but what the perp’s motivations were. The latter is never made explicit.
Sometimes on television, a half hour show is elongated into a two-hour special. Yet, the special offers no more depth, just more and more of the same. I’d liken that to this novel. I’m sorry I invested the time.
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Harrison is editor of San Diego Jewish World. He may be contacted via donald.harrison@sdjewishworld.com
I think I’ve read most of the Kellerman books, both his and hers, and I’ve always found them to be real page turners. It would be a shame if their new joint thriller was as disappointing as you say. But I’ll have to agree that to go all the way through a book and not get the answers needed to solve the mystery would be extremely frustrating. Kellermans, you can do better than that.
–Lana Fayman, San Diego