Evening's Empire: The Story of My Father's Murder

by Zachary Lazar

When he was just six years old, Zachary Lazar's father, Edward, was shot dead by hit men in a Phoenix, Arizona parking garage. The year was 1975, a time when, according to the Arizona Republic , "land-fraud artists roamed the state in sharp suits, gouging money from buyers and investors." How did his father fit into this world and how could his son ever truly understand the man, his time and place, and his motivations? In Evening's Empire , Zachary Lazar, whose novel Sway was named one of the Best Books of 2008 by Rolling Stone, the Los Angeles Times, and other publications, brilliantly attempts to reconstruct the sequence of events that led to his father's murder.

How did Ed Lazar, a fun-loving but meticulous accountant, become involved in a multi-million dollar real-estate scandal involving politicians and Mafia figures? How much did he know about his colleagues' illegal activities? Why had he chosen to testify against his former business partner, Ned Warren, Sr.? Warren was "a mystery man," according to 60 Minutes , widely known as "the Godfather of land fraud." The day before Ed Lazar was scheduled to appear in front of a grand jury he was killed in a "gangland-style murder," as reported by Walter Cronkite on the CBS Evening News . Four hundred mourners attended a memorial service for him the next day. Evening's Empire is based on archival research and interviews--introducing a cast of characters as various as Senator Barry Goldwater and Cesar Romero--and is clarified by scenes imagined in the context of this evidence. It is a singular and haunting story of American ambition and its tragic cost.

Of Zachary Lazar's previous book, Sway , the reviewer for The New York Times Book Review wrote, "This brilliant novel is about what's to be found in the shadows." The same can be said of Evening's Empire's true story, but here the shadows are very close to home.

Genres: True Crime, Nonfiction, Biography, Memoir, History, Mystery, Crime

240 pages, Hardcover

First published October 21, 2009

Reviews

[Shannon · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was a fascinating read for me since I remember when Ed Lazar's murder occurred in Phoenix, and am familiar with many of the local characters in the story. However, even though I think the author is a good writer, I did not care for the intermittent use of first and third person. I found it confusing. While this is a true crime story, I found it strange that the author would presume to write about thoughts in the characters' minds when the story took place over 30 years ago. Compelling, but could have been presented in a better manner.

[Koren · Rating 2 out of 5]

I am not a fan of the fiction based on true events genre. I didn't know this was what it was when I ordered the book. The author is at least honest in telling us that if he didn't know the details or the conversation he just makes it up. The cover looks very much like a memoir but it is not. I think if the author would have delved more into the facts of this case, which revolve around shady land deals in Arizona in the 70's, it could have been a 5 star book. This book is based on his father's murder in a gangland-style shooting right before he is set to testify before a grand jury.

[Susan · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is written by a man whose father was found shot dead in a parking lot in Phoenix. The dad was an accountant and he was shot the day before he was due to testify in a case brought against his client. The client was a big time land developer in Arizona in the 70's who sold a lot of unbuildable rocky lots to soldiers in the Korean War, selling each plot more than once. Desert described as paradise. What I really loved about this book is that it gives a great picture of land development in Arizona and the corruption involved and it implicates known politicians including Barry Goldwater. The murder was a mafia murder. I live in Arizona and this book was of extraordinary interest to me. The thing that I liked less was that the book did not really focus on the details of what actually happened. Part of that is that many of those details are not discoverable. And the author did a fabulous job of uncovering many truths. But the tone and focus is often more about his coming to terms with his father's life and murder. In fact I greatly admire him for taking on this task. He did an extraordinary job of it given his emotional involvement. But the fact is he's a really good writer and I, as a reader, got caught up in wanting to know what happened. And I got lost on a number of occasions. The way it was written I did not understand what was going on. He didn't give enough details about the transactions--graft etc. You just "got the idea" but no more. It was like reading a book that was had a veil over it. I guess that's the best info he can get. I would recommend this book to anyone living in Arizona. Aside from the wonderful descriptions of men wearing pastel colored leisure suits with pointy collars overlapping over their jacket lapels, it gives you a great picture of Arizona in the 70's.

[David Carniglia · Rating 2 out of 5]

It must be incredibly difficult to write a book about your dad's murder--so although the book was a bit of a disappointment, I respect the author's perseverance and courage in wrestling with this narrative.

Like some other reviewers, I was confused and sidetracked by the perspective. The story of the crooked real estate business is fascinating; I would've liked more of that: the deception, intrigue, salesmanship, and delusion built upon delusion.

But the author puts himself in the story, which doesn't really add anything, as he was just a little kid when all of tragedy broke. On the other hand, he refers to himself in the third person, as though he's not really present.

It doesn't make for a good narrative flow. Plus there's enough challenging sentences and fragments to obscure the meaning and intent in places.

Some of the scenes and incidents are great drama: you can't beat having Cesar Romero making an appearance at a tacky promotional event in the middle of the desert north of Phoenix amid the Chino whatever estate; and then there's the audacity of an invented endorsement letter from Barry Goldwater, targeting US servicemen overseas, no less.

I think there was enough material for two books here; a more private treatment of Lazar's reaction to his father's death, and a full-blown expose of a tawdry time in land speculation in the Southwest. It just seemed that the diverging purposes of the book didn't really blend very well.

The oddest result is that Ed Lazar doesn't fully emerge as a character. It's hard to identify or empathize with him as he's not described as well as his friends and associates. That impacts the nuts and bolts of the business ventures too; there's no tracking of Ed's change from a regular accountant to a shadier role.

It's a drama that lacks focus. Why did Ed go down the oath that he did--that ultimately led to his death? Of course the author couldn't know this, especially given his perspective as a child at that time. But there's little speculation or legacy of opinion and research from those who would know more about the enigmatic Lazar.

A intriguing and tragic topic. If nothing else, it does stimulate interest in studying the stories and history of get-rich-quick schemes.

[Jreader · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a well researched book, written by his son with heart and respect.

I moved to Phoenix in early 1979 after a contract with the Army. While stationed in Korea in 1976 there was a really hard sell to purchase some land (either in AZ or WA). I could not imagine living in AZ and was considering the WA plot and pulled out at the last minute because it seemed fishy--even to a 19 year old.

Phoenix was just weird during those days. I was a fry cook at a Jewish deli and I think I may have made breakfast for one or two of the characters in this book. There were always stories and rumors, stuff that regular people just shrugged off. So, for me, it was fun to have all of those references from 40+ years ago. The author just nailed that aspect. And he did it subtly--all of a sudden you'd be recalling Bill Close. I don't know how this would relate to folks not familiar with the area. Jon Talton published a book, The Bomb Shelter, around the same time period focusing on Don Bolles (fantastic book--different approach).

Mr. Lazar's book was more from the perspective of a kid who just wanted to play in the backyard with his mom and sister, watch his dad shoot some hoops, and everything went wrong. This was more about how life just unraveled for all of them. Was there something missing from his dad that he got swept into this--why wasn't that moral compass working in so many seemingly off situations.

So, I upgraded my review to 4 stars because I admired that level of work, dedication, and the process of the grieving unresolved losses. Good job, Mr. Lazar. From your documentation, I don't know if your dad would have said he was proud of you for this but it was an exemplary effort in documenting human history of those times in Phoenix.

Part of me wants to say thank God no one is writing a novel about Ev Mecham.

[Chris Schaffer · Rating 2 out of 5]

It was pretty good..gave a glimpse of the seediness of Phoenix in the 1960s and early 1970s. I wonder how the author, who is the victim's son..I wonder what his technique in drafting the work. It might've been helpful to have a better understanding. Like whether he based of it actual conversations and sequences of events. Also there were times when it was hard to keep track of the characters or other times where he would just use interviews in place of text. All in all a good book though and no doubt a hard one for the author to write.

[Michael · Rating 4 out of 5]

I picked up this book after enjoying Lazar’s ‘I Pity the Poor Immigrant’ and really enjoyed both. EE is about Lazar’s father’s murder ordered by the so-called king of Arizona land fraud. It’s a true crime story with a literary bent. The heart of the crime is phony real estate deals. EE explores the nature of greed, truth and evil. Turns out it’s all pretty elusive and mundane but Lazar lays it out in this compelling, understated and sardonic way that stays with you.

[Susan Merrell · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wonderful, startling mix of the imagined and the factual. I think Lazar's ability to manage the blurry area between fiction and fact is pretty unparalleled among living writers. Highly recommend this poignant, strange, well-made memoir of the life and murder of a father Lazar was too young to actually know.

[David · Rating 1 out of 5]

I thought this would be an interesting perspective on a curious story. Unfortunately I could not get past the awful awful writing. I gave up inside of ten pages.

[Matt · Rating 3 out of 5]

"At all times, the most unlikely situations are unfolding all around us. It is our own luck that allows us not to see it. Our luck allows us not to see the people in the shadows, or not to see them as they really are. It is the people in the shadows who see us as we really are."

[Anna Ligtenberg · Rating 3 out of 5]

ISBN 0316037680 - Simply as a human being, it's easy to understand what would motivate someone to write a book like this. A parent who died when you were a child is a loss you're going to feel forever; for that parent to have been taken from you by violence has to leave a hole and a lot of questions, especially for a young child who was probably shielded from the details at the time.

Ed Lazar's murder in the 1970s is only the end of hard-to-understand events. Described as a fun-loving, quiet family man and accountant, Lazar hardly seems like the kind of guy who would throw himself into illegal activities with enough fervor to bring the wrath of the legal system and the Mafia down on his head. Still, that's exactly what appears to have happened as, on the eve of his grand jury testimony, he is silenced. More than thirty years later, his son returns to the story to find out more about what happened to his father.

Seeking answers and understanding is probably the most normal of responses to the murder of a parent - putting that quest out in book form is a step beyond and it's a step most people never take. I don't come away from this book entirely sure of author Zachary Lazar's purpose in taking that step. Two reasons come to mind and I discard making money, if only because that's distasteful. That leaves me with the suspicion that the reason is to paint a different public picture of his father to replace the "criminal accountant" image of three decades ago. The problem with this is, and Lazar might not be aware of it, that few people had ever heard of Ed Lazar, so few people had a negative opinion of him. This book simply throws more light on him and - because there is so little here - leaves him looking more like a criminal participant than before I opened the book.

As a genealogist, I can understand how hard it is to build a picture of a person whose life ended before yours really began. For that reason, I can appreciate the need to bolster the story with obviously made-up conversations and events. Lazar has taken people and known facts and drawn on the known to create details that seem in character and in keeping with the facts to flesh out the story. The disclaimer for this is hidden away, in tiny print, on the copyright page: "The events in this book are based on my research of what happened to my father over thirty years ago. Where the record was incomplete, I have written what I think might have taken place." This turns out to be the reason that I don't really like this book - the majority of it has the feel of being made of whole cloth and there are few reference points (articles, testimony, etc) to anchor it in reality.

The writing style is easy to read, if periodically awkward. The author veers, now and then, from telling a tale to being a part of it. It's not hard to follow, it's just awkward because it's a bit random. Had Lazar chosen to write the story of his own journey, it would probably have been a superb read. It might have cost him more in personal pain, but the payoff for the reader would have been tremendous. That might sound callous, but that's sort of the point - books are for readers. This book feels like it's for the author.

- AnnaLovesBooks

[Judith · Rating 3 out of 5]

I registered a book at BookCrossing.com!
http://www.BookCrossing.com/journal/12975923

An odd combination of memoir, journalism, and fictionalized biography. The author was six when his father was murdered in a stairwell in his office building. His memory of his father, therefore, was not very strong growing up. But he was haunted by this murder. Why? What kind of man was he? Were the stories about him true?

So he set out to do a lot of research and try to put it together so it made some sense.

His father, Ed Lazar, was an accountant who became involved in a series of real estate scams. While not the head of the operations, he was a brilliant accountant and could not have been entirely unaware of what was going on. The author paints his father in perhaps the kindest light that he reasonably could, attributing to him doubts and misgivings that may not actually have occured to him. He bases this characterization on what he learned from Ed Lazar's many friends and acquaintances, most of whom simply did not see him as willingly entering the criminal world.

Beyond the personal story we are given the bones of the real estate scams, the mechanisms by which governments and everyday folks and, especially, overseas servicemen, were fooled. I did not follow every detail but I got the gist of it.

This was the early seventies, and companies were eagerly gobbling up contracts and selling them to other companies. They were not looking as closely as they should have at the paper.

The method of telling the story was a little disjointed to me, and I never really connected with the portrayal of Ed Lazar.

[Amanda · Rating 3 out of 5]

Would have actually given this 3 1/2 stars if I could. Very, very atmospheric and interesting story and a great writer. It lost me a few times though...

[Joel · Rating 2 out of 5]

good book but not the most interesting subject matter to me

[Chris Baker · Rating 2 out of 5]

bizarre story, don't think I would have finished the book if we didn't live near phoenix. Phoenix history was somewhat interesting.

[Rachel Jones · Rating 3 out of 5]

The ripple effects of one sociopath.

[Laura · Rating 3 out of 5]

a little hard to follow all the names/business schemes, but really captures a mood/era/place

[Mitchell Feero · Rating 2 out of 5]

A boring telling of a very tragic event