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Dan Reles #4
The Last Jew Standing
His steadfast family life and praiseworthy career as the head of Austin Homicide thrown into turmoil by the arrivals of his mob-connected father and an escaped prostitute, Lieutenant Dan Reles finds the city besieged by a sociopath mobster who forces him to question his priorities.
- GenresFiction
289 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 2007
About the author
Michael Simon
90 books7 followersBorn in Levittown, Long Island, the birthplace of mass-produced housing, Michael Simon is a former actor, playwright, and Texas probation officer. He has taught at Brooklyn College and New York University.
In 2004, Viking published his first novel, Dirty Sally, which introduced the half-Jewish, New York Mafia-born Texas homicide detective Dan Reles. Dirty Sally was lauded by The Chicago Tribune as "A bloody and intriguing delight for noir aficionados." The Seattle Times called it "the finest crime-novel debut since Dennis Lehane's A Drink Before the War in 1994." It was named one of the Top Ten Thrillers and Mysteries of the Year by Amazon.com.
In 2005, the second book in Simon's Texas series, Body Scissors, was published, also to critical acclaim. The Rocky Mountain News called it, "Fast paced and suspenseful from start to finish."
Viking signed on for two more Dan Reles thrillers, Little Faith (2006) and The Last Jew Standing (2007).
To date, Simon's works have appeared in Swedish, French, Italian, Japanese, and on audio tape.
He lives in New York City.
In 2004, Viking published his first novel, Dirty Sally, which introduced the half-Jewish, New York Mafia-born Texas homicide detective Dan Reles. Dirty Sally was lauded by The Chicago Tribune as "A bloody and intriguing delight for noir aficionados." The Seattle Times called it "the finest crime-novel debut since Dennis Lehane's A Drink Before the War in 1994." It was named one of the Top Ten Thrillers and Mysteries of the Year by Amazon.com.
In 2005, the second book in Simon's Texas series, Body Scissors, was published, also to critical acclaim. The Rocky Mountain News called it, "Fast paced and suspenseful from start to finish."
Viking signed on for two more Dan Reles thrillers, Little Faith (2006) and The Last Jew Standing (2007).
To date, Simon's works have appeared in Swedish, French, Italian, Japanese, and on audio tape.
He lives in New York City.
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Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews
September 17, 2018
This was the best one of the three I read!!!
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July 25, 2009The Last Jew Standing, by Michael Simon, B. Narrated by Tom Spechschelte, produced by recorded Books, downloaded from audible.com.
Dan Reless is a lieutenant in the homicide division of the Austin Texas police department. He has a girl friend whom he has just gotten back together with, and a son he didn’t know about until he met Rachel again four years after their breakup. Dan is determined to make their relationship work this time, even though Rachel uses both drugs and alcohol, and even though she hates his occupation, a cop, because he’s never home. Their little boy, Josh, doesn’t even know his father because he had been raised, as well as abandoned on occasion, by Rachel when she went off drinking. Dan and Rachel moved back in together with their son, Josh, in a new house. But they had barely moved in when Dan’s father, a former enforcer for the New York Jewish mafia who had been on the run from them for 20 years and hadn’t seen Dan in most of that time, suddenly showed up on Dan’s doorstep with a prostitute in tow that he was rescuing from the mob and the slave trade. This unloosed upon Dan and his family, and the whole town of Austin, a mafia godfather, who referred to himself as the last Jew standing, (from the Jewish mafia days in New York). This is a thriller, and I guess I’m not so fond of thrillers. At first I thought this would be a good book, but there was too much blood and gore and mafia characters. Also, the ending was basically unsatisfying because we’re left with Dan and Rachel now married, with the signs of returning alcoholism clearly present, with Dan ignoring them as usual, and with one of the last sentences being: “the signs were there to see but I ignored them. I wish I hadn’t.” So, I assume there will be another book where we would learn what happened next to this alcoholic and enabler with a confused little boy. The narrator did a wonderful job of impersonating the various mafia characters, particularly the sociopathic godfather figure. A good thriller, but not my cuppa.
Dan Reless is a lieutenant in the homicide division of the Austin Texas police department. He has a girl friend whom he has just gotten back together with, and a son he didn’t know about until he met Rachel again four years after their breakup. Dan is determined to make their relationship work this time, even though Rachel uses both drugs and alcohol, and even though she hates his occupation, a cop, because he’s never home. Their little boy, Josh, doesn’t even know his father because he had been raised, as well as abandoned on occasion, by Rachel when she went off drinking. Dan and Rachel moved back in together with their son, Josh, in a new house. But they had barely moved in when Dan’s father, a former enforcer for the New York Jewish mafia who had been on the run from them for 20 years and hadn’t seen Dan in most of that time, suddenly showed up on Dan’s doorstep with a prostitute in tow that he was rescuing from the mob and the slave trade. This unloosed upon Dan and his family, and the whole town of Austin, a mafia godfather, who referred to himself as the last Jew standing, (from the Jewish mafia days in New York). This is a thriller, and I guess I’m not so fond of thrillers. At first I thought this would be a good book, but there was too much blood and gore and mafia characters. Also, the ending was basically unsatisfying because we’re left with Dan and Rachel now married, with the signs of returning alcoholism clearly present, with Dan ignoring them as usual, and with one of the last sentences being: “the signs were there to see but I ignored them. I wish I hadn’t.” So, I assume there will be another book where we would learn what happened next to this alcoholic and enabler with a confused little boy. The narrator did a wonderful job of impersonating the various mafia characters, particularly the sociopathic godfather figure. A good thriller, but not my cuppa.
March 5, 2014
This is the fourth Dan Reles book and although I would recommend reading them in chronological order it's not imperative. (Similar to Reed Farrel Coleman's books the time line is not a straight one from book to book.) Dan is an Austin, TX police officer and to put it mildly is an outsider - Jewish and originally from NY - a loner and somewhat of a brooder. The glass is always half empty for Dan and one gets the impression that's just fine with him. He has settled into his own version of domestic tranquility with a young son who doesn't know him and a wife that needs some periodic space when his estranged father unexpectedly shows up at his doorstep ( his window actually), with a very young woman in tow. The plot thickens as the Reles' NY past and "connections" find their way to Texas for a showdown.
The Last Jew Standing is dark but stays above downright depressing with Dan's, (Simon's), sardonic sense of humor. The much alluded to NY past in the previous books is front and center and as with any good series the reader gleans another level to Dan through the "reconciliation" with is father. Also, as in the previous Reles books, Dan continues fighting crime in his day job while battling a personal crisis which become one and the same by the conclusion of this book. And this is the only down side of the book - the ending is very reminiscent of a James Bond movie which besides being hokey just doesn't fit. The good news is that this is still a very good book - and series - and I look forward to more.
The Last Jew Standing is dark but stays above downright depressing with Dan's, (Simon's), sardonic sense of humor. The much alluded to NY past in the previous books is front and center and as with any good series the reader gleans another level to Dan through the "reconciliation" with is father. Also, as in the previous Reles books, Dan continues fighting crime in his day job while battling a personal crisis which become one and the same by the conclusion of this book. And this is the only down side of the book - the ending is very reminiscent of a James Bond movie which besides being hokey just doesn't fit. The good news is that this is still a very good book - and series - and I look forward to more.
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September 1, 2011I listened to this book, and the narrator is one of my favorites. A cop story about Austin, Texas. Who knew?
A little gritty, but it exposes a side of Austin that most visitors rarely experience.
A little gritty, but it exposes a side of Austin that most visitors rarely experience.
November 30, 2009
Great narration by Tom Stechschulte.
July 7, 2010
Good mystery
March 23, 2012
Veers between unrealistic to very stupid with a hefty side of cliche. What a letdown in quality from the earlier books in the series.
August 20, 2015
Two and a half stars. Kept my interest. Scary villian. Central character's depressing family dynamic has me feeling ambivalent and unsure if I'd read another by this author.
DD@Phila
DD@Phila
July 31, 2012
Enjoyed it.
Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews