The latest Jonah Geller novel begins, improbably, at summer camp, where Geller assists a sports-challenged kid in the finals of a softball tournament. It’s a long shot from Geller’s last outing, which found him nearly dead in Boston, and events there mean he’s not returning to the U.S. of A. any time soon. So it’s Toronto and Sammy Adler, that nerdy kid from back when. But the halcyon camp days turn dark when Geller’s grandfather calls to tell him that Adler is dead, murdered. He was beaten to death, a Star of David carved into his chest.
That’s all it takes to get Jonah and his pal Dante on the 401 east and it’s more than enough to power the plot that Shrier builds. Alongside the thrills, we get a trip through a city that Shrier knows intimately and loves utterly. Montreal is more than a background, it’s a character in the novel, as L.A. is to Chandler or Boston to Parker. This is the best Jonah Geller book yet and there are more to come. — Margaret Cannon, The Globe and Mail
