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Title: The Yiddish Policemen's Union

Subtitle: A Novel

Author: Michael Chabon

Narrator: Peter Riegert

Format: Unabridged

Length: 12 hrs and 38 mins

Language: English

Release date: 07-05-16

Publisher: HarperAudio

Ratings: 4.5 of 5 out of 493 votes

Genres: Sci-Fi & Fantasy, Fantasy: Contemporary

Publisher's Summary:

For 60 years Jewish refugees and their descendants have prospered in the federal district of Sitka, a temporary safe haven created in the wake of the Holocaust and the shocking 1948 collapse of the fledgling state of Israel. The Jews of the Sitka District have created their own little world in the Alaskan panhandle, a vibrant and complex frontier city that moves to the music of Yiddish. But now the district is set to revert to Alaskan control, and their dream is coming to an end.

Homicide detective Meyer Landsman of the district police has enough problems without worrying about the upcoming Reversion. His life is a shambles, his marriage a wreck, his career a disaster. And in the cheap hotel where Landsman has washed up, someone has just committed a murder - right under his nose. When he begins to investigate the killing of his neighbor, a former chess prodigy, word comes down from on high that the case is to be dropped immediately, and Landsman finds himself contending with all the powerful forces of faith, obsession, evil, and salvation that are his heritage.

At once a gripping whodunit, a love story, and an exploration of the mysteries of exile and redemption, The Yiddish Policemen's Union is a novel only Michael Chabon could have written.

Members Reviews:

Beyond Noir

I loved this book. Chabon's phrasing and descriptive written make me want to write again. While reading this book I found myself looking at the world around me and trying to describe it they way Chabon describes the world he creates in Sitka. I will be looking for more novels by Michael Chabon.

Great story and voice but what's with the music?

I love the story and the narrator was perfect. The only thing that struck me as odd the whole time I was listening was the addition of music introducing certain chapters. The music felt out of place for style and was allowed to play under the narration for the first sentence or two of each chapter which was really really strange. Other than that strange stylistic choice, it was great.

Totally hooked

Michael Chabon tells a totally believable detective story about a Jewish community in Alaska. It is told with humour - under current. I especially loved the part where our hero is dashing across the freezing cold Alaskan countryside driving a snow (I'll say) scooter in his underwear. It reminds me of the movie Fargo . Totally different characters and story, but written with the Jewish view point and character. I would love to see this book made into a movie.

The narrator, Peter Riegert was fantastic. I would easily listen to another book narrated by him. It would also be great if they did this book as a movie that he would cast as one of the actors.

I also enjoyed listening to the author's interview at the end about writing this book. It was most interesting to listen to his process. I hope he writes a second book about these Jews in Alaska. I am from Northwestern Ontario, so I got the cold and the animals and the moose dishes. Great Book!!!!

I'd prefer reading this

I love listening to books, but I do other things while I listen. This book has such rich prose and so much information in each sentence that I found I was missing too much by listening. It helped to find a synopsis, but even then it was challenging to follow. I'm a visual learner, so think I would have done fine if I'd actually read it instead of listening.