Book Review: Under the Eye of God

The Overnight Bestseller is pleased to host the Tribute Books November 2012 blog tour for Under The Eye of God: An Isaac Sidel Novel, by Jerome Charyn.

Under The Eye of God: Book Summary

After decades of madness in the Bronx, Isaac Sidel visits the craziest state in the country.

Isaac Sidel is too popular to be America’s vice president. Once the New York Police Department commissioner, he became the most beloved mayor in the city’s history—famous for his refusal to surrender his Glock, and for his habit of disappearing for months at a time to fight crime at street level. So when baseball czar J. Michael Storm asks Sidel to join him on the election’s Democratic ticket, the two wild men romp to an unprecedented landslide. But as the president-elect’s mandate goes off the rails—threatened by corruption, sex, and God knows what else—he tires of being overshadowed by Sidel, and dispatches him to a place from which tough politicians seldom return: Texas.

In the Lone Star state, Sidel confronts rogue astrologers, accusations of pedophilia, and a dimwitted assassin who doesn’t know when to take an easy shot. If this Bronx bomber doesn’t watch his step, he risks making vice-presidential history by getting killed on the job.

Paperback
Price: $14.99
Release: October 30, 2012

Jerome Charyn: Biography

Jerome Charyn (b. 1937) is the critically acclaimed author of nearly fifty books. Born in the Bronx, he attended Columbia College, where he fell in love with the works of William Faulkner and James Joyce. After graduating, he took a job as a playground director and wrote in his spare time, producing his first novel, a Lower East Side fairytale called Once Upon a Droshky, in 1964.

In 1974 Charyn published Blue Eyes, his first Isaac Sidel mystery. Begun as a distraction while trying to finish a different book, this first in a series of Sidel novels introduced the eccentric, near-mythic detective and his bizarre cast of sidekicks. Charyn followed the character through Citizen Sidel (1999), which ends with his antihero making a run at the White House. Charyn, who divides his time between New York and Paris, is also accomplished at table tennis, and once ranked amongst France’s top Amazon10 percent of ping-pong players. 

Our Review of Under The Eye of God
Jerome Charyn's Under the Eye of God is the eleventh novel to feature his beloved character Isaac Sidel, who in his various incarnations has progressed from detective to commissioner to mayor and now to the VP-elect of the United States. The novel follows the “Big Guy with the Glock” from New York to Texas as he dodges bullets while dealing with love, betrayal, corruption, conflicting loyalties, and self-doubt.  The story contains enough plot twists and conspiracies to keep even Oliver Stone fans delighted.   Along the way, Sidel attracts a motley crew of misfits and reluctant assassins, who are “madmen and freaks”drawn into the “undercurrent of his [Sidel's] own mad wake”  (p. 112).  At risk is Sidel's (and Charyn's) beloved Bronx, which faces a threat in the form of a land grab from the highest levels of power: the White House and the Pentagon. 

This novel will appeal not only to devotees of the Sidel novels, but also to readers  who enjoy clever and colorful prose, fast-paced action, and manic misadventures in the style of Donald Westlake.

Related Sites
Jerome Charyn's web site:
http://www.jeromecharyn.com/

Jerome Charyn's Facebook:
http://www.facebook.com/#!/jerome.charyn

Jerome Charyn's Twitter:
http://twitter.com/jeromecharyn

Isaac Sidel's Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/IsaacSidel

Isaac Sidel's Twitter:
https://twitter.com/#!/IsaacSidel

Tribute Books Blog Tours Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Tribute-Books-Blog-Tours/242431245775186

Under the Eye of God blog tour site:
http://undertheeyeofgod.blogspot.com/
Video Trailer: