Lieberman's Day

Abe Lieberman #3

by Stuart M. Kaminsky

"Beautifully rendered . . . Kaminsky is extraordinarily attuned to the domestic minutiae of his detectives' lives." The New York Times Book Review
Aging Chicago cop Abe Lieberman's day begins with a predawn phone his nephew, David, has been killed in a mugging, and David's wife is seriously wounded. From there it's all downhill for Lieberman, as a day of terrifying confrontations with duty and desire unfolds, shocking the cop who thought he'd seen it all with revelations he could never have foreseen, or wanted to . . .

Genres: Mystery, Crime, The United States Of America, Procedural, Fiction

10 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published February 1, 1994

About the author

Stuart M. Kaminsky wrote 50 published novels, 5 biographies, 4 textbooks and 35 short stories. He also has screenwriting credits on four produced films including ONCE UPON A TIME IN AMERICA, ENEMY TERRITORY, A WOMAN IN THE WIND and HIDDEN FEARS. He was a past president of the Mystery Writers of America and was nominated for six prestigious Edgar Allen Poe Awards including one for his short story “Snow” in 1999. He won an Edgar for his novel A COLD RED SUNRISE, which was also awarded the Prix De Roman D’Aventure of France. He was nominated for both a Shamus Award and a McCavity Readers Choice Award.

Kaminsky wrote several popular series including those featuring Lew Fonesca, Abraham Lieberman, Inspector Porfiry Petrovich Rostnikov, and Toby Peters. He also wrote two original "Rockford Files " novels. He was the 50th annual recipient of the Grandmaster 2006 for Lifetime Achievement from the Mystery Writers of America.

Received the Shamus Award, "The Eye" (Lifetime achievement award) in 2007.

His nonfiction books including BASIC FILMMAKING, WRITING FOR TELEVISION, AMERICAN FILM GENRES, and biographies of GARY COOPER, CLINT EASTWOOD, JOHN HUSTON and DON SIEGEL. BEHIND THE MYSTERY was published by Hot House Press in 2005 and nominated by Mystery Writers of America for Best Critical/Biographical book in 2006.

Kaminsky held a B.S. in Journalism and an M.A. in English from The University of Illinois and a Ph.D. in Speech from Northwestern University where he taught for 16 years before becoming a Professor at Florida State. where he headed the Graduate Conservatory in Film and Television Production. He left Florida State in 1994 to pursue full-time writing.

Kaminsky and his wife, Enid Perll, moved to St. Louis, Missouri in March 2009 to await a liver transplant to treat the hepatitis he contracted as an army medic in the late 1950s in France. He suffered a stroke two days after their arrival in St. Louis, which made him ineligible for a transplant. He died on October 9, 2009.

Reviews

[Marty Fried · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wow, this one was a surprise. Quite a bit different than the earlier ones, I thought.

It started with the murder of Abe Lieberman's nephew, and ended with a surprise I never saw coming. Because of the murder, the overall tone was not as light as the earlier books. Despite the darker tone, I enjoyed this book a lot, and added a star for the surprise ending.

There are a couple of other crimes going on in the book. One ties in with the general theme of following the letter of the law vs doing what seems right. The other seems to be just filler, more or less, unless I missed something.

There are some references to the earlier books in the series, but I think this could be read without reading them. However, it's more enjoyable to know what has happened along the way.

[H (trying to keep up with GR friends) Balikov · Rating 5 out of 5]

This may be THE BEST POLICE PROCEDURAL EVER WRITTEN. Stuart Kaminsky flies under the radar compared to other mystery writers even though he has received his peers highest accolades and awards. His experiences: growing up in gritty Chicago; serving as a medic in the Army; on the Northwestern University faculty teaching film; and, writing over 50 novels.

So, what's it to you? If you watch TV, you have had your fill of this genre since before The 87th Precinct featured Robert Lansing, Gena Rowlands, Ron Harper, Gregory Walcott, and Norman Fell (which was based on the books by Ed McBain). Great writers such as Joseph Wambaugh, Tony Hillerman and Georges Simenon have also focused on this type of detective fiction that often has a group of police trying to track down different criminals doing a variety of crimes while getting support from a variety of specialists to aid in their efforts to capture those "perps."

If you like that stuff, Kaminsky has built his series around two detectives: Abe Lieberman and Bill Hanrahan. Both are tough, ethical cops who have challenging personal lives that they have to balance with work out of a precinct on Chicago's Northside.

This is the third book in the series, but it can stand on its own. It focuses on 24 hours in Abe's and Bill's lives when they have the job of tracking down the killers of Abe's nephew. They are also involved in protecting a wife and child from an violently abusive father and finishing a sting of con artists who prey on the elderly. We get a very three-dimensional view of all of this including: the strategies of prosecutors and public defenders; the use of forensics; negotiation with informers; and the intrusion of home life.

What makes this special is that Abe and Bill struggle, as we might, with the ethics of each piece. Does might make right? Does the end justify the means? Do you cut a deal with felons to get a killer? What is justice? And, can you sleep at night? These are "real" people, not cardboard heroes. That they get the job done is sometimes a miracle in itself. And, Kaminsky does not ignore the price that the police pay for doing their job --- something that their families may or may not accept. Abe and Bill have developed a unique working relationship. They spend more time with each other than they do with anybody else. They care about and support each other in ways that are often intuitive.

Kaminsky brings us all this and the thrill of the chase while throwing in some humor and surprises along the way. Magnificent.

[Sallie Dunn · Rating 4 out of 5]

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Another reading adventure with my better half. We listened and read along. This is the third in a series of ten by this author. The hero is Abe Lieberman, a 60 something Jewish cop, who is really starting to feel his age. His Irish partner is Catholic Bill Hanrahan. The setting is Chicago. The banter between these two produced more than a few chuckles.

The story begins at 12:02 am when Abe gets a call. His nephew and pregnant wife have been shot leaving a gathering and his nephew is dead. Despite all the family duties for this Jewish family, Abe and Bill are on the case. Throw in a couple other ongoing cop dilemmas and this becomes an entertaining chase - all solved before the next midnight.

I’m not sure what the first two books in this series are like, but this one was fine as a standalone. Also somewhat of an introduction to some Jewish and Catholic traditions.

ATY Goodreads Challenge - 2023
Prompt #43- A book that involves a murder

[Helen · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love these books by Kaminsky. These are as good if not better than his Toby Peters stories which are wonderful. Great characters. I wish he would write more.

[Cindy B. · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting character development in this episode of the series, lots of twists and turns in the storyline. Narrator did his usual excellent performance.

[Jeanette · Rating 4 out of 5]

This one is sadder and more personal than the first two of the series.

Regardless, it follows the case of the abused wife and child from the 2nd book and it is also just as well paced. You get a deep dive into some of the series under characters, as well. Especially the crowd at Lieberman's brother's deli and the Mexican supreme thief and his gang compadres. And it does a magnificent job on the crux/core of Hanrahan's soul, life, bridge he crosses at 50. He is Lieberman's partner. But the main core surrounds the crime against Lieberman's nephew and his pregnant wife. TWO plots.

IT"S COLD. This one lets you know exactly the quality of cold in winter. Believe me, curb parking Chicagoans still do the chair or furniture piece occupying their shoveled out space to park THEIRS. Also frequent, the push help to rock it out of the ice troughs is not unusual either. Nor for women shovers, as well. There were a couple of references in this one that truly made me grief laden, equal to the demise/murder of his nephew's murder street scene tragedy. Marshall Field's was one. I am not a crier but visiting that building now could set me off for an hour. Travesty what the physical itself has become inside compared to what it was, let alone the merchant fare held within it. Also his mentioning / story lines with the Rabbi several times re the strong, almost universal, fight against anti-Semitism in any and all forms within Chicago. And within media. ALL the media. VISIBLE support and do I remember it. Man, is that gone. Talk about a flipside!

The book has many era references and places that are now voids. SAD as this tale of a man murdered so young for NOTHING? It seems so.

But triumph for some minutia parcel of justice in the end here and it is on to #4. And I doubt Lieberman will get any sleep then either.

If only the crazy, insane murdering ear biting off idiot could be dealt with as he was here in this book. That time is gone, as well. Now he would be knifing his son as a sacrifice (Abraham/Isaac style) or/and cutting his wife up the very next week after his car thaws out enough to get to them. Probably with a follow up of getting a group to protest his temporary incarceration with signs that it isn't fair to the insane just for having a couple of very bad days. TRUTH. Wonder if he wouldn't even need any bond to do it all again either. I'm sure he would not with Kim Foxx in the job.

[Bob · Rating 4 out of 5]

Summary: Abe’s nephew is killed and his wife shot in a mugging while a murderer stalks the abused ex-wife Hanrahan is sheltering.

Moments after walking out the door from a dinner party on a cold winter night, David Lieberman and his wife Carol confront two muggers. Things go awry and one mugger shoots David, the other, Carol. David dies, but Carol, critically wounded and pregnant, survives. Abe Lieberman, who hasn’t yet fallen asleep gets the call at 12:02 am. David is Abe’s nephew.

The book chronicles the next twenty-four hours as Abe, and his recovering-alcoholic partner Bill Hanrahan track down the killers. At the same time, Abe must try to comfort his brother and sister-in-law in the loss of their son, drawing on the help of his tight-knit Jewish community, including the Alter Cockers, a group of older men who hang out at his brother’s diner.

Abe relies on his street connections, cutting a deal with El Perro, a drug kingpin, to find the killers. Shooting a pregnant woman is an offense even to them. Meanwhile Hanrahan learns that the violent ex-husband of an abused woman and her son, who he has sheltered, is back in town. Will Hanrahan find him before he finds them?

Both men also struggle with domestic issues. Abe’s daughter’s marriage has broken up but now she struggles as her former husband is seeing another woman. Abe is loyal to his daughter while liking the father of his grandchild. He’s met the woman he’s seeing and likes her as well. Bill’s wife walked out some time ago. Despite a relationship with an Asian woman who is ready for more, he cannot let go.

Meanwhile the plot is building toward double climaxes in Bill’s apartment and Carol’s hospital room. For one of the killers, Carol, while alive, is a threat.

This is a relatively short novel. The fast-paced double plot unfolds in the span of one very long day during a very cold Chicago winter. Amid all this, I enjoyed Lieberman’s street-savvy wisdom combined with the restraint that accompanies others in their grief, never saying the stupid thing.

[Burns Cheadle · Rating 4 out of 5]

4 stars: The author, Stuart M. Kaminsky, had a well-developed sense for character. As was the case with his entertaining Porfiry Rostnikov series, Kaminsky unfurled the conflicts and charms of his main character, Chicago detective sergeant Abe Lieberman, over the course of the first few books in the series. By the time the persistent reader reaches book 3, Lieberman's Day, they are rewarded with a deeply conflicted yet utterly charming protagonist. Nobody will confuse this novel with great literature, but the clever dialogue, exceptional pacing, and vivid exposition makes this book a real treat for fans of the police procedural fiction genre.

[Mike Harper · Rating 4 out of 5]

I may be getting soft, or maybe this short crime novel really is awfully good. Lieberman himself is a great character, a short, skinny Jewish cop full of Jewish wisdom, and a powerful left jab. The rest of the cast of characters are entertaining and believable. The plot seems pretty obvious, but ends with a twist sensed only by Lieberman himself.

[James S. · Rating 3 out of 5]

A middle-of-the-road police procedural, readable but not exceptional. There are a little too many mundane details for me, and the two main cops take way too many personal liberties for it to be completely believable.

[Wendy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Abe Lieberman is such a likable guy and his crime fighting is eminently realistic--love this character and his wife.

[BradMD · Rating 4 out of 5]

Brilliant. Some small things keep it from being a perfect book, but overall it's a special to great book. It was hard to put down, except when it changed POV too much. Enjoyed it.

[Raquel Santos · Rating 4 out of 5]

O rabino e o padre enfrentam um agressor doméstico.
O rabino perde um sobrinho e nada é o que parece.

[Denver Jones · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book had some twists and turns near the end that left me dumb struck. I never in 1 million years could’ve seen that kind of ending coming. I love this authors creativity.

[Kellie · Rating 4 out of 5]

-#3 of the Abe Lieberman Series-The thing I like about these books is the characters. Abe, a Jew, is partnered with Bill, a Catholic. The setting is Chicago. This book is about a murder that hits close to home. Abe’s nephew is shot and killed and his pregnant wife Carol is seriously wounded. Intermingled with this investigation is some other ones Abe and Bill are involved in. This book definitely kept my attention until the very end. I enjoyed the banter amongst Abe and his family and friends. The story line was good although with the minor story lines intertwined, it was sometimes difficult to follow. The ending is good, although a bit unbelievable and there didn’t seem to be enough clues to figure make it legitimate. With that being said, I still enjoyed the book and will continue thru the series.

[Richard Thompson · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read the whole Abe Lieberman series aloud to Maggee years ago, along with several others from Kaminsky's other series.

We were both pleasantly surprised at how well this one stood the test of time. We will quite likely reread the whole series.

This is the one in which Abe's nephew is shot and killed and his pregnant wife is shot and wounded by two men late on a bitterly cold Chicago night. The action — which includes another major and a couple of minor plot lines — happens in a single twenty-four hour period.

LIEBERMAN'S DAY was #9 on our Read-aloud list for 2016.

[Beverly · Rating 4 out of 5]

Abe Lieberman is called in the middle of the night with the news that his nephew David has been murdered and David's pregnant wife Carol has been shot. Abe and his partner Bill Hanrahan spend the next 24 hours trying to find the shooters while also dealing with other cases. Over the course of the day each partner has to come to terms with how far they are willing to go in order to see justice done. Well done.

[Rob · Rating 4 out of 5]

I like the character in this series and the stories are entertaining; however, they're not spectacular...but neither is the life of Abe Lieberman. I thought this one was the best written of the five I've read so far.

[Fran Prisco · Rating 4 out of 5]

great series of police "who done its"!

[M. · Rating 5 out of 5]

An excellent police procedral with fully developed characters and a surprise twist at the end. Well worth a read or listen...