My novel The Great Gimmelmans is about a family of Jewish bank robbers who lose all their money in the Stock Market Crash of 1987 and start robbing banks, kids and all, out of the only thing that hasn’t been repossessed: their gas-guzzling RV. The Gimmelmans begin as a secular, reform Jewish family, but by the end, after the FBI, loan sharks, and the mob come after them, each member discovers God and their connection to Judaism in different ways to make it through. I was inspired by many other Jewish crime thrillers, although the list is a short one, from modern novels like The Yiddish Policeman’s Union by Michael Chabon, all the way back to The Chosen by Chaim Potok.
Michael Chabon, The Yiddish Policeman’s Union
In The Yiddish Policeman’s Union, Michael Chabon imagines an alternate historical reality. He creates a safe haven for Jews in Sitka, Alaska after the Holocaust instead of the state of Israel, but now the District is being reverted back to Alaskan control. When a homicide detective investigates the murder of his neighbor, the book becomes less a who-done-it and more about the fear of the Jewish people in their last days before they become displaced and how they ban together to survive. Mixing Yiddish humor with a dark aura, the novel is a stunning noir crime drama and even more topical today fifteen years after its release.
Josh Weiss, Beat the Devils
Beat the Devils by Josh Weiss is another alternate history novel, imagining Joseph McCarthy becoming president, elected by xenophobia and barely-concealed antisemitism. Holocaust survivor Morris Baker is tasked to solve a double-homicide of a young John Huston and Walter Cronkite before they were able to reach their full potential. Baker sets out to achieve justice in an era where free speech is a sin and uncovers a deep conspiracy. A frightening tale with an anti-hero to root for that reads as a classic noir, setting up a sequel Sunset Empire that follows Morris Baker during the Korean War.
David Benioff, City of Thieves
David Benoiff, one of the creators of Game of Thrones, also wrote a spectacular novel City of Thieves, set during the Nazi’s brutal siege of Leningrad. When Lev and Kolya are arrested, they are given a shot at saving their lives by securing a dozen eggs for a Soviet colonel for his daughter’s wedding cake. A novel about the endurance of friendship where a shy Jewish boy and his older friend bond during terrible times. In the midst of suffering, the two friends discover what it means to be brothers in the midst of the harsh winters of Russia and the cruel nature of war.
David Hopen, The Orchard
I love a good cult novel and in David Hopen’s The Orchard, a charismatic rabbi pushes the moral boundaries of his students. It follows Ari Eden, who grew up in ultra-Orthodox Brooklyn, his life dedicated to studying and intense religious rituals. At his new elite school, he just wants to impress his new friends, testing his ethics as he descends down a darkened path. Dealing with existential angst, loneliness, blind devotion, hero worship, and the meaning of God, The Orchard is shocking and meaningful, a thick tome to get lost in that echoes the great classic A Secret History by Donna Tartt.
Chaim Potok, The Chosen
The Chosen by Chaim Potok was first published in 1966 about two boys, Reuven and Danny, growing up in the Jewish neighborhood of Brooklyn in the 1940s. Their lives revolve around the study of the Talmud set during the backdrop of World War II. The boys grow closer over their love of baseball during these trying times. The two families ultimately come to an impasse when the Holocaust and the creation of the state of Israel come to light as Reuven’s father embraces Zionism and Danny’s refuses Ben Gurion as a secular leader. A tightly-paced novel that fosters the idea of forgiveness and reconciliation.
Marcus Zusak, The Book Thief
Lastly, The Book Thief by Marcus Zusak is a YA novel set in 1939 Nazi Germany and follows Liesel, who finds a book in the snow, her first act of book thievery. With the help of her foster father, she begins a love affair of reading and is soon stealing books from Nazi book-burnings and the mayor’s wife. Her world opens up even more when her foster family hides a Jew in their basement, the story narrated by Death itself. An enduring tale about the survival of language and life during one of darkest times of American history.
While the list of crime novels with Jewish characters is a short one, I hope The Great Gimmelmans can be added to that list, a rip-roaring tale that combines humor and pathos with crimes to boot.
***
