The funny thing is, well before I read this book I sometimes thought to myself that the whole middle east conflict would maybe go away if we just opened up our country to all the Israelis and had them give up Israel (I know--a huge leap) to whomever wanted it and move here. Maybe we could let them have Kansas or Wyoming, although Mississippi or Utah might be more interesting choices. Texas? Possibly. Wasn't Rick Perry, Texas's fine governor (and presidential candidate for a day) talking of seceding anyway? But with this book, Michael Chabon beat me to the punch, at least in a literary sense, with his story of the Jewish state, rather than setting up in Israel, locating to Alaska after World War Two. It's well imagined and authentic in its depiction of what a large Jewish settlement/state would look like in Sarah Palin (vice presidential candidate for a day) country. Once the author gets you firmly established in the improbable setting and what is for most readers a somewhat foreign or at least exotic culture, he weaves in a story of a diligent but troubled cop sniffing out the residue of a crime and at the same time trying to cope with shady characters and his own personal problems. Interesting and engaging stuff, and Michael Chabon pulls it off well. His talent takes an appealing but complex premise and makes it work.