After a long and lauded career in the Boston PD – 34 years, two medals of honor, two medals for valor, three medals for merit, and a Commendation from the Mayor to boot – Eddie Perlmutter was finally forced into retirement for medical reasons.
Though he’d love to stay in the old neighborhood, the traumatic arthritis in his knuckles and bum knees just isn’t tolerating the cold Boston winters very well. So what’s a New England Jewish retiree to do? Move to Boca Raton of course!
A friend lines Eddie up with a cushy security job at a posh country club, but as Eddie soon learns things are anything but laid back in sunny south Florida. Before he knows it Eddie is roped in to trying to solve the year-old murder of one of the gated community’s residents.
Along the way he stumbles upon a counterfeiting ring, which is funding a meth lab, which happens to be run by the Russian mafia. Oh, and there’s the small matter of the white supremacists that have moved in and are terrorizing the neighborhood. Hardly a relaxing, carefree retirement.
Forman’s depictions of the petty posturing and backstabbing involved in country club politics are literally laugh out loud funny. When Eddie’s not dealing with “Boca Bullies” (“Men who simply hadn’t mellowed with age. They maintained an aggressive attitude and turned every situation into a confrontation.”), he’s juggling “Boca Babes” (“An unmistakable combination of a bad attitude, chic clothing, beauty-parlor magic, and surgical surprises.”). And Eddie tackles it all with a matter-of-fact demeanor and wicked sense of humor that turns the little corner of Boca Raton he’s settled in on its ear.The only slight quibble I had with the book is that the ending was a tad on the feelgood side for my tastes. Not that I’m against happy endings per se, but I found this one to be just a little over-the-top. Then again, I am admittedly a bit on the bloodthirsty side in my normal reading, so it could just be me. And that’s not to say there isn’t plenty of action and some downright nasty violence in Boca Knights. Eddie has a very deep-seated sense of honor and justice, with an almost compulsive need to fight – literally if needed – for the little guy and those who can’t fight for themselves. His encounter with the Russian mafia thugs in the meth lab is as explosive and brutal as you’ll find in any crime fiction.
With Boca Knights author Steve Forman has introduced a wonderfully original character into the modern crime fiction / private investigator genre. Though he’s a sixty-year-old, arthritic, Jewish retiree, Eddie Perlmutter is also a tough talking, wise cracking, former cop who’s still ready, willing and able to throwdown when needed. I for one hope Eddie keeps kicking ass and making me laugh until I’m receiving AARP mailings. Long live the Boca Knight.Savannah Morning News
Boca Knights is a can’t-put-down read, full of laugh out loud humor, fast paced hijinks, and lore. Part Robert Parker, part Carl Hiaasen, Eddie Perlmutter is a high-testosterone, no-nonsense detective with a tender core, and makes turning sixty a carnal, tropical ride.
Andrew Gross bestselling author of The Blue Zone
Anyone who has read Steve Forman's humorous mysteries "Boca Knights" and "Boca Mournings" have become fans of his 5 foot 6 inch hero, Eddie Perlmutter, ex Boston cop, now retired in Boca Raton, Florida.
In his latest eBook novella titled "Eddie the Kid", Forman gives us a glimpse into Perlmutter's backstory beyond the Russian grandfather we met in Boca Knights. It's 1974 and 29-year-old Eddie, just six years on the police force and already a legend, catches a case that will test his investigative skills. Known as the Shotgun Man, a tall, thin masked man dressed in a floor length trench coat and a wide brimmed hat, has been killing relatives of Mafia leaders in Boston and Chicago. While Eddie figures out that this is an old world vendetta, the reader learns more about Eddie's personal history. Forman jumps back and forth from 1968 when "puny" Eddie beats a Krav Maga master and meets his partner Mickey O'Toole, to 1959 when he falls in love with Irish Catholic Patty McGee who marries Eddie despite her family's distrust of anyone Jewish, back to 1974 and the first day of busing in Boston when Eddie helps Patty's cousin Shannon Collins deal with an abusive and bigoted husband.
"Eddie the Kid" is a must read companion to Forman's delightful Boca series. Forman fleshes out his character so that we better understand some of the life events that ultimately make him the "fearless, ferocious, unbeatable and incorruptible" hero of Boca Raton. Stay tuned to his newest treat coming soon: "Boca Daze.”
Deb Shlian