David S. Brody The Wrong Abraham

The Wrong Abraham

David S. Brody

Martin and Lawrence Press, Jun 2006, $17.95

ISBN: 0977389804

Boston attorney Shelby Baskin receives a letter from her mother years before she died, asking her daughter to help her Uncle Abraham should he ever need assistance. When Abraham contacts his niece, she agrees to meet with him and other members of his organization, Kidon. Abraham, a Holocaust survivor, formed the group with the objective of never again watching a Holocaust grow. Kidon protects the Jewish people from their enemies by watching, warning and then taking action against the hate mongers.

Shelby is appalled by some of the tactics employed by the group against people who have hurt the Jews. She feels her Uncle's team is a vigilante organization that takes the law into their own hands. Still when Abraham informs Shelby he has information about a terrorist plot in Boston, she agrees to help him by spying on her friend, who is a client also, and report back to her uncle. However, Abraham omits much of what he knows forcing his niece to go it alone to prevent the terrorists from succeeding.

Although many readers will not agree with Abraham's tactics that includes abduction, castration, and worse, they will understand why he is driven into doing what he does. He lives life with a siege mentality that makes him see everything through the eyes of hardliners. He believes people are for him or they are the enemy. His niece is a moderate who sees a world of rainbows not two types of drab grays like her uncle perceives life. The values comparison between relatives turns a fast-paced thriller into a riveting fascinating read.

Harriet Klausner