Review
At the risk of sounding pretentious, don’t judge this book by its cover. The Meaning of the Murder by Walter B. Levis is suspenseful, thought-provoking, and a poignant reminder of how one fatal mistake has rippling effects that last a lifetime.
Eliana’s father had been trying to do the right thing. And the people in charge only cared about the dollar signs. Unfortunately, it was the Golden family who paid the price. The disappearance of Eliana’s father shaped the lives of her and her sisters from that day forward. Additionally, her mother lost her faith altogether.
On the other hand, the person responsible for what happened all those years ago is also clearly troubled by the events of that night. Through his POV, readers get insight into the human psyche of an effective undercover operative – one who completely understands Eliana’s inability to move on. Ultimately, the mystery isn’t if this man – Savoyian – played a role in her father’s disappearance. But rather, the mystery is how did one job go horribly wrong, and why? What is the life of one man worth, and on what scale?
The author doesn’t shy away from the gritty, graphic details of violence and criminality in The Meaning of the Murder. Readers should be beware of potentially triggering content. Additionally, Eliana’s tunnel vision into finding out the truth leads her down a dark path. She takes justice into her own hands and erodes her integrity as a person and law enforcement officer. The story also involves commentary on government corruption, racism, capitalist greed, imbalance of power in America, and the flawed justice system. However, these musings are delivered by Eliana’s mentally unstable and substance abuser younger sister Charlotte. In my opinion, this could cheapen the message – why would anyone take the thoughts of a drug-addled psych patient seriously?
In any case, the author paces the story well, offering a multilayered and engaging narrative. Though, the book does contain some filler that could have been cut out, and moments dragged on at points. Even so, I needed to know what happened and how it would all play out. I’m adding this to the top of my thriller/suspense recommendations.
Walter B. Levis joins the Cantina Book Club Podcast to talk about how his background as crime reporter fueled this story. Keep an ear out for the episode and pick up a copy of The Meaning of the Murder, available now.
Book
The father of a modern orthodox Jewish family works as a compliance officer at a bank in New York. When he discovers that his bank is violating OFAC laws and funding terrorists in the Middle East he alerts the bank’s top brass. They ignore him. After struggling with the conflict between his position as a fully assimilated member of his professional community and his moral obligations as a man and a Jew, he turns whistle-blower and goes to the DOJ. The night before his deposition he disappears.
Eliana Golden was thirteen when her father disappeared. Years later, after surprising her family by joining the NYPD, Eliana meets a mysterious and alluring soldier, a man who is far more dangerous than Eliana—and everyone except those at the highest and most secret levels of the U.S. government—understands. And he knows exactly what happened to her father.
What follows is a journey into the darkest depths of America’s covert war against terrorism and the horrific moral compromises it can entail.
The Meaning of the Murder is a psychological drama and a meditation on the moral ambiguity of violence, telling the multi-layered story of a family recovering from trauma, a detective determined to solve a crime, and the price we pay for safety in the war on terror.
