#TheGreatGimmelmans – Rosepoint Publishing

Rosepoint Reviews – February Recap – Welcome March (and spring?)!

Rosepoint Reviews-February Recap

Much as I bad-mouth this area (California it’s not!), I must admit that February wasn’t all that bad. Little of that cold white stuff and temps that ranged up to 74-75 degrees. In this area, anything above 50 is t-shirt weather, so February was pretty nice with the exception of a few throwback days to below freezing temps. Can’t wait to see what March will bring, besides winds and rain, the other problem with this area—wind. Chicago isn’t called “the Windy City” for nothing and the wind always wreaks havoc when trying to ride (whether bicycles or motorcycles).

February is also a month for getting everything caught up on the blog; still wrestling with that and doing the necessary yearly appointments. The CE volunteers with our son at the annual AARP tax service for seniors at a farming community library which gives him a nice outside interest for a short while and he always enjoys. Slows down his reading services though!

I’m always excited about March–Reading Ireland Month—that and my birthday—a big one last year. I am, however, increasingly dismayed at the treatment service people extend to seniors. I would argue that some gray hair does not always mean a loss of brain cells. (And no—not something I’ll just get used to without some blow-back.)

With all that and continuing to work with the little Pomeranian (now with us almost five months), we managed to provide reviews for twelve books. As always, links on titles are to our reviews that include purchase or source information.

February Recap

Death in the Ozarks by Erik S Meyers (CE review)
Where Butterflies Wander by Suzanne Redfearn
Being Henry by Henry Winkler (audiobook)
The Great Gimmelmans by Lee Matthew Goldberg
Someone Else’s Shoes by Jojo Moyes (audiobook)
The Wager by David Grann (audiobook)
The River We Remember by William Kent Krueger (audiobook)
Rich Justice by Robert Bailey (CE review)
The Longmire Defense by Craig Johnson (audiobook)
The Lost Pope by Glenn Cooper (CE review)
The Millionaire by Keenan Powell
Flight of Dreams by Ariel Lawlon (audiobook)

Favorite Book of the Month

Several great books in February caught our attention. Clyde loved The Lost Pope, while I gave five stars to both Henry Winkler’s book, Being Henry, and The Wager. I didn’t read The Lost Pope and feel Henry enjoyed professional and brilliant collaboration on his. So I have to give The Wager the nod for February. I didn’t want to shut down the audiobook and listened while grocery shopping, cooking, and cleaning. Okay—not vacuuming—I couldn’t hear it.

Book of the Month for February—The Wager

My Reading Challenges page… I’ve worked on the Reading Challenges page but am not completely up-to-date yet, nor have I been able to incorporate the Goodreads Challenge banner. Always a work in progress.

Miscellaneous Comments

Update on Punkin adopted the first week of October last year. At almost five months with us still prefers her crate to human companionship, but she is beginning to seek us out sometimes. We think she wants company or to play but has no idea how to do that. We’ve been trying to find ways to engage her. Still doesn’t want toys, doesn’t respond well to treats, or games. Being ever vigilant, we are catching her potty habits more often. Now if only we could tie those successes with her initiating the desire to go out.

I’ll be posting a list of books and activities tied to Reading Ireland Month shortly. Still getting that gathered and organized. Spoiler alert: Includes a Michael Connelly audiobook, of course.

Welcome to my new subscribers! I appreciate all my followers and love your likes and comments.

The Great Gimmelmans by Lee Matthew Goldberg – #BookReview – #HeistCrime

Book Blurb:

Middle child Aaron Gimmelman watches as his family goes from a mild-mannered reform Jewish clan to having over a million dollars of stolen money stuffed in their RV’s cabinets while being pursued by the FBI and loan sharks. But it wasn’t always like that. His father Barry made a killing as a stockbroker, his mother Judith loved her collection of expensive hats, his older sister Steph was obsessed with pop stars, and little sister Jenny loved her stuffed possum, Seymour.

After losing all their money in the Crash of 1987, the family starts stealing from convenience stores, but when they hit a bank, they realize the talent they possess. The money starts rolling in and brings the family closer together, whereas back at home, no one had any time for bonding due to their busy schedules. But Barry’s desire for more, more, more will take its toll on the Gimmelmans, and Aaron is forced into an impossible choice: turn against his father, or let his family fall apart.

From Jersey, down to an Orthodox Jewish community in Florida where they hide out, and up to California, The Great Gimmelmans goes on a madcap ride through the 1980s. Filled with greed and love and the meaning of religion and tradition until the walls of the RV and the feds start closing in on the family, this thrilling literary tale mixes Michael Chabon and the Coen Brothers with equal parts humor and pathos.

BUCKLE UP!

My Review:

Well, knock me over with a feather.

I’m speechless.

Well, almost.

Nothing here I expected. Caught off-guard, more than once, the way this very well crafted, fast-paced narrative followed the thoughts of middle child Aaron Gimmelman. Aaron has an older and younger sister. His younger sister Jenny is a bit (no—a lot) different than other folks. But then, so are his mother and father.

Having been a successful and upper middle-class family, Aaron’s father Barry lost his job as a stockbroker in the crash of 1987. Not prepared, no clue what to do, where to go, or how to proceed, Aaron takes it upon himself to steal a few things for the family.

But his father, seeing a success replace the failures, takes on more and Aaron discovers he cannot close that Pandora’s box. The 80s grips his mom and dad and creates a monster he could not have foreseen. Caught between his father and the family, he goes along for the ride—literally—as the only remaining asset they have left is used to escape, first to Florida (and relatives) and then to California.

There is humor, but the humor is permeated with pathos. My mind kept reeling as the plot continued to spiral down into ever-deepening crevices into which none would scale unscathed. Disbelief rises and the reader is rooting for some way out, hoping for sanity to win out—the children to prevail—but this dysfunctional family has already gone too far.

I read with horror wondering how the parents could have degenerated this completely. The youngest child is scary—in fact, the characters are very well developed. Perhaps that was the problem, so real, could this actually happen? The writing style is poignant, the tragedy searing, the humor genuine.

“The sun peeking over the horizon, an orange flame mixed with purple dust.”

It’s a strongly mixed emotional message, using coming-of-age, humor, noir and thriller elements in themes of religion and family. No ending would satisfy everyone and my heart was crushed, the injustice of it all. Or was it? I kept going through the “what ifs.” What would you have done with Jenny? This book will hook and grip through the last heavy sigh. Brilliant, captivating storytelling. I’ll look for this author again.

Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with the opportunity to read and review this book. Recommended!

Rosepoint Publishing: Four point Five Stars

Book Details:

Genre: Heist Crime, Heist Thrillers, Suspense
Publisher: Level Best Books
ASIN: B0CCSPZD8Z
Print Length: 442 pages
Publication Date: November 14, 2023
Source: Publisher and NetGalley

Title Link(s):

Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Kobo

The Author: Lee Matthew Goldberg is the author of twelve novels including THE ANCESTOR and THE MENTOR along with his five-book DESIRE CARD series. His YA series RUNAWAY TRAIN is currently with actress Raegan Revord from Young Sheldon attached to develop his original written pilot. THE GREAT GIMMELMANS comes out in 2023. He is a finalist for an Anthony Award and nominated for the Prix du Polar. After graduating with an MFA from the New School, he’s been published in multiple languages and his writing has also appeared as a contributor in CrimeReads, Pipeline Artists, LitHub, The Los Angeles Review of Books, The Millions, Vol. 1 Brooklyn, LitReactor, Mystery Tribune, Monkeybicycle, Fiction Writers Review, Cagibi, Necessary Fiction, the anthology Dirty Boulevard, The Montreal Review, The Adirondack Review, The New Plains Review, Maudlin House and others. His pilots and screenplays have been finalists in Script Pipeline, Book Pipeline, Stage 32, We Screenplay, the New York Screenplay, Screencraft, and the Hollywood Screenplay contests. He is the co-curator of The Guerrilla Lit Reading Series and lives in New York City. Follow him at LeeMatthewGoldberg.com

His favorite authors are classic writers like F. Scott Fitzgerald, Ernest Hemingway, Hermann Hesse, Emily Bronte, W. Somerset Maugham and Raymond Chandler. For modern authors, he’s been influenced by Jay McInerney, Bret Easton Ellis, Denis Johnson, John Irving, and Paul Auster.

Enjoy Your Sunday