Winterwarnung

Isaac Sidel #12

by Jerome Charyn

Reflecting our own world like a volatile funhouse mirror, Winter Warning lures us back to the 1980s, an era that could have been ripped right out of our most recent political upheaval. Isaac Sidel should have been vice president, banished to some far corner of the West Wing, but the president-elect has been forced to resign or face indictment for his crooked land deals—and Sidel becomes the accidental president. He’s a maverick, a crusader with a Glock in his belt, who defies both the Republicans and the Democrats. He seems haunted by Lincoln’s ghost, and the presidential palace becomes his own “great white jail,” as it did for Harry Truman.



There’s never been another president quite like Isaac Sidel, New York’s former police commissioner and mayor. There’s a secret lottery created by some bankers in Basel to determine the exact date of Sidel’s death. And Sidel has to outrun this lottery in order

to save himself. His greatest allies are not the Secret Service or the DNC, but a former Israeli prime minister who was a explosives operative during the British occupation of Palestine . . . as well as a mysterious billionaire who belongs to a brotherhood of killers and counterfeiters. His only companions in the capital are the captain of his helicopter fleet and a sexy naval intelligence officer who realizes that something has gone amuck at Camp David, when a band of mercenaries arrive with their sights trained on Sidel.

Hardcover

First published January 20, 2017

About the author

Jerome Charyn is an award-winning American author. With more than 50 published works, Charyn has earned a long-standing reputation as an inventive and prolific chronicler of real and imagined American life.

Pulitzer Prize-winning novelist Michael Chabon calls him "one of the most important writers in American literature." New York Newsday hailed Charyn as "a contemporary American Balzac," and the Los Angeles Times described him as "absolutely unique among American writers."

Since the 1964 release of Charyn's first novel, Once Upon a Droshky, he has published thirty novels, three memoirs, eight graphic novels, two books about film, short stories, plays, and works of non-fiction. Two of his memoirs were named New York Times Book of the Year.

Charyn has been a finalist for the PEN/Faulkner Award for Fiction. He received the Rosenthal Award from the American Academy of Arts and Letters and was named Commander of Arts and Letters by the French Minister of Culture. Charyn is Distinguished Professor Emeritus of Film Studies at the American University of Paris.

In addition to writing and teaching, Charyn is a tournament table tennis player, once ranked in the top ten percent of players in France. Noted novelist Don DeLillo called Charyn's book on table tennis, Sizzling Chops & Devilish Spins, "The Sun Also Rises of ping-pong."

Charyn's most recent novel, Jerzy, was described by The New Yorker as a "fictional fantasia" about the life of Jerzy Kosinski, the controversial author of The Painted Bird. In 2010, Charyn wrote The Secret Life of Emily Dickinson, an imagined autobiography of the renowned poet, a book characterized by Joyce Carol Oates as a "fever-dream picaresque."

Charyn lives in New York City. He's currently working with artists Asaf and Tomer Hanuka on an animated television series based on his Isaac Sidel crime novels.

Reviews

[Faith Flaherty · Rating 5 out of 5]

W e have a President Isaac Sidel. He has no political experience. But he has the skills he needs: he used to be a cop. Here in the white house he can’t trust anyone and he has to be alert to deflect physical danger besides the dirty machinations of political maneuvering.

The story begins with the president being under surveillance. He is shuffled into rooms that have more bugs than a greasy spoon on a truck route. His chief of staff, Ramona Dazzle hates him and reigns from a palatial suite in the white house. Poor Sidel finds a room once relegated as a beauty parlor--his only safe refuge.

Surprisingly, the people he can rely on are a former Israeli official and a Russian tattoo artist, who is a Russian mobster. He has two close friends: his helicopter pilot and a naval officer. Everything he does and says is misconstrued.

The characters are my favorite part of this book. I love the way the author draws them. They’re perfect for their role. If this story is made into a movie, the makeup people will be in demand. What characters!

[Elisala · Rating 3 out of 5]

Comme d'habitude: des personnages frappadingues, des changements de direction incompréhensibles, un rythme soutenu.
Comme d'habitude: je ne comprends pas tout, je confonds certains personnages, mais j'aime bien.
Dommage: le préambule par l'auteur divulgâche inutilement, c'est ridicule.

[Dale · Rating 1 out of 5]

A president armed with a Glock…

My thanks go out to my contacts at Pegasus Books, Iris Blasi, Katie McGuire, and Maia Larson, for my copy of this book! Rock on!

Isaac Sidel is currently POTUS. He comes from the rough streets of New York where he served as Police Commissioner and later Mayor. He has a smashmouth way of dealing with problems, and he intends to continue this as leader of the United States.

But the Democrats want him reigned in, and all efforts to make the improvements that he wants end in sabotage by Ramona Dazzle, his unwanted Chief-of-Staff, and his vice-president Bull Latham. Ramona and Isaac are having a physical struggle in her office, an office more opulent than the Oval Office, mind you, which is witnessed by Bull. Isaac will be forced to resign as President to make way for a President the DNC can control…

I must say that I found the book to be difficult to read. The author drones on through many long paragraphs that are broken up by insufficient periods of conversation. It seems to me that Charyn is more concerned with background items than the interaction of his characters. Isaac Sidel is a great character, and I note that this is the 12th novel in this series, so Sidel must have a strong fanbase. It just doesn’t speak to me at all.

In Charyn’s introduction, he mentions that in this novel he isn’t providing a bible, unlike the ones that have gone before. Perhaps that is the reason that this novel seems so lifeless. A new reader like myself is lost in Sidel’s world that has been built over 11 previous volumes. New readers are thrown into the deep end of the pool and expected to swim or die.

And in this case, I drowned in the deep end. All efforts to finish the book, even by jumping ahead chapters didn’t have the holding ability I needed. I read half the book and jumped ahead closer to the end to no avail. For me this book is incomprehensible. Sorry.

I only give this book one star, and that is because, with 11 previous novels, the character has to have appeal to quite a lot of readers. Unfortunately, I am not one of those readers.

Quoth the Raven…

[L'atelier de Litote · Rating 4 out of 5]

Première lecture de cette série et il s’avère que je commence par la fin mais cela n’a pas grande importance car chaque livre se suffit à lui-même selon l’auteur. Pour ma part, il y a eu quelques moments de flottements même si l’introduction et les personnages avant la première partie nous mettent dans l’ambiance et pose le cadre. Isaac Sidel un ancien commissaire de police devenu maire de New-York, accède au titre suprême de Président des Etats-Unis sans l’avoir voulu puisqu’il remplace le Président Storm qui a dû démissionner. Certes il manque d’expérience politique, mais il a bien d’autres qualités. Saura-t-il échapper à une organisation secrète de banquiers suisse qui joue à la loterie avec la date de sa mort ? Depuis il est victime de nombreuses tentatives d’assassinat. Il faut dire qu’il est un président hors norme, il ne respecte pas les règles et se fait des ennemis au sein de la maison blanche. Il est intrépide et tente de survivre par tous les moyens. Sa façon d’appréhender la politique en aidant les plus pauvres à réussir fait de lui l’homme à abattre. Le personnage d’Isaac est un peu un antihéros dans l’âme, juif et clairement de gauche, il porte le souvenir des camps de concentration. Il est profondément intègre et résiste à toutes les attaques avec une force étonnante. Les rebondissements s’enchainent rapidement nous laissant attentifs et captivés par le scénario. Bien qu’il soit un peu brut de décoffrage, j’aime ce côté provocateur chez lui, mais prêt à tout pour faire bouger les choses. Les personnages auprès desquels il pourra trouver du soutien ne sont pas ceux que l’on pense et ils sont plus que rafraichissants. Il faut dire que la galerie des personnages est importante et l’auteur possède un véritable talent pour les faire vivre pleinement. La psychologie des personnages nous donne matière à réflexion, avec de nombreuses références à des personnages historiques comme Lincoln ou FD Roosevelt. Bonne lecture.

[Cheryl Malandrinos · Rating 5 out of 5]

Winter Warning is not my first Sidel novel. Blue Eyes introduced me to Sidel who had fallen from grace due to a corruption scandal. While I haven't read the books in the series between Blue Eyes and Winter Warning, Sidel came right back to life for me the minute I opened the page of this final book in the series.

Raw, edgy, humorous, and action packed, you know you can expect the unexpected from the street cop who winds up Commander in Chief. The reader can't help in some ways draw parallels to our current political arena; except its the "Decade of Greed" instead of the Trump era.

Having read Charyn more than once, I can never decide if his ability to develop the perfect setting or his talent at creating such captivating characters is his greatest strength. As one who enjoys the psychology of characters, Charyn's novels provide tons of fodder for me to consider why certain characters act the way they do. With every book, I can't help but dive right in and be pulled deeper and deeper into the story's murky depths.

Winter Warning is a fascinating conclusion to the Sidel series.

[Julie Barrett · Rating 4 out of 5]

Winter Warning by Jerome Charyn
First book I've read in this series and it's the final one. Wish I had read from the very first book. A lot to me didn't make sense til towards the end.
Characters were introduced by the bundles as things were being brought into the plot.
Reminds me a lot of the Last Survivor a story on TV where a man was pushed to take over for the president who died in a white house bombing.
So much, as in that show were brought forth in this book and took it to the next level as we learn about other things in the past and present and future that will make a difference to the country.
Love the travel and all mercenary and wild things, super natural beings but they are explained. Nicknames for some were hilarious but they fit the picture in your mind.
Love hearing of the razzia and can't wait to teach my grandson about it as we play army guys.
Received this review copy from the author and this is my honest review.

[Faythe Millhoff · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent additional to this great series. I am never disappointed by Mr. Charyn. I"ve been reading him for decades and have always loved everything. This novel is no exception. Great characters and superb plotting.

[George Reedy · Rating 2 out of 5]

Utterly forgettable. Author spent 20 pages recapping his career before even getting into the story, which is preposterous in every way. Glad I read his latest first, saves me from digging deeper into his past work.

[Rachel · Rating 2 out of 5]

See my review at http://www.thereportergroup.org/Artic...

[Lissette · Rating 5 out of 5]

Isaac Sidel has learned that being president of the United States isn't easy. He has to contend with life in the White House, an attendant that doesn't quite like him, as well as keeping the US as safe as possible. When numerous attempts on his life are made, he soon realizes that things are not quite what they seem. Despite the fact that his tenure as president is far different than those who have gone before him, he's determined in making a difference in both his life and that of the people he's sworn to protect. To do that, he'll have to do everything to survive while drawing out those intent on doing away with him for personal gain.

Though I've come into this series via the twelfth book, I must say that this book has captured my attention in more ways than one. It's refreshing to see an era I've grown up in painted in such a different light. Granted, this is an alternate reality that mimics life as it was then. The twists and turns, however, keep us riveted from start to end.

We meet Isaac, a man determined in surviving, no matter the cost. Though his becoming president was accidental, he's done his damnedest to show the masses he's nothing like what they think he is. His different ideals have set him apart from those who have come before him. Isaac wants nothing more than help the poor succeed. To make America a place where anyone can feel safe and achieve each and every one of their dreams.

Jerome has shaped the era of the 80's to suit Isaac's needs. Though he's not conventional in the way he does things, Isaac has proved his resilience through every adversity he encounters. He's a man who refuses to bend to another's will. Though he may detest having to accept help from outside sources, he knows it's the only way to ensure his survival.

The author has given us a man who can't be bought. A man who's willing to do everything necessary to make a change in the world around him. I like Isaac's brusque manner. He's not afraid to speak his mind. Mind you, it often gets him into to trouble, but it also allows him to get things done. No matter what happens, he's willing to give those who need it the helping hand they seek. Jerome has shown us this with every step Isaac takes. It makes him a man unlike any that has come before him.

[Pauline · Rating 2 out of 5]

Short, clipped sentences. This was a lot of work to read. I finished it, but will not read another on purpose.