cover image The Wrong Abraham

The Wrong Abraham

David S. Brody, . . Martin and Lawrence, $22.95 (353pp) ISBN 978-0-9773898-0-3

In Brody's third Boston-based thriller (after 2003's Blood of the Tribe ), Abraham Gottlieb, an elderly Holocaust survivor who has set up a secret cabal to defend the Jewish people, launches an elaborate plan to remind the American public that the threat of terrorism remains significant. Gottlieb aids Muslim terrorists in their effort to target a natural gas tanker scheduled to arrive in Boston harbor, both to showcase the country's vulnerability and to boost insurance revenues to keep his covert group liquid. Gottlieb doesn't hesitate to manipulate his niece, attorney Shelby Baskin, to further his warped ends. Some awkward prose (e.g., "Twenty-four hours ago, walking into her apartment and seeing a giant Hasid sprawled on her couch with a bloody towel held over his nose would have stunned Shelby") won't help readers suspend disbelief. (Nov.)