Writers and Readers Network -SHWL

Shaking Hands with Lefkowitz

By Melvin Foster

“Excellent! Enjoyable! Thought provoking!”

In a shabby run down neighborhood, the Lexus-LS430 sits at the curb with its keys still in the ignition. An undisturbed wallet bulges in the back pocket of the victim’s designer suit.

“You know him?” Lefkowitz asked.

“Yeah, I said, staring directly into the corpses still-open eyes. “It’s me.”

Author Melvin Foster’s Shaking Hands With Lefkowitz is delightful, stirring, and thought provoking, not only for Attorney Alan Boreman as he works with detective Lefkowitz on a bizarre murder case, but for the reader as well. Shaking Hands With Lefkowitz will take you on a journey of discovery and understanding.

Alan finds himself following the swarthy detective from the murder scene down a seemingly endless corridor of impossibly white walls that seem to shift and change with his thoughts. He cannot remember anything about the last hours of his life and has no clue who might have killed him. In the interrogation room, they initiate an investigation, starting with Alan’s “Ten Worst Deeds List”.

Alan learns as he studies the volumes of his life for clues in his own death that every thought, every action, every deed and word has a stream of energy that leaves a trail of un-thought-of never-imagined consequences through the lives of people he never even met. Occurrence by occurrence, with the help of Lefkowitz and his guardian angel, he searches through the actions of his past to find the thread that will unravel the mystery of his death.

How could he know his embarrassed, thoughtless refusal of Arlene Jaffe’s gift when he was thirteen would lead to such horrible abuse? How could he know the effect his teenage fantasies about a woman in a magazine would have on her life and her children? Can Alan’s heartfelt remorse and repentance, the gentle tear of his guardian angel, erase the damage as they do the deeds on his list and allow the victims of his deeds and thoughts to heal? And what effect might their healing have on his death?

I could not put Shaking Hands With Lefkowitz down. Melvin Foster is a gifted storyteller and an artist at crafting characters to carry out his plot and theme. Alan Boreman is a perfect balance of fear, regret, resentment, self-righteous anger, and confusion. His guardian angel is a gift of love and understanding. Lefkowitz is a believable mix of gruff charm and satiric humor, a release valve for the deep emotions this story pulls forth. Shaking Hands With Lefkowitz is delightful and entertaining escape. But I warn you, this is a stay up all night page-turner. The light will stay on until the last page is read.