This one was a little cheezer compared to the first book in the series. A lot of the things in the plot were just a little too contrived, and the attempts at humor were heavy-handed. Still an enjoyable enough quick read, though. The story takes place in 1981. Moe Prager sets out to discover what really caused a fire at a resort in the Catskills that killed 16 people in 1965.

This was my first "hard-boiled P.I./Detective" novel. It was an enjoyable read. Coleman's main character was thoroughly fleshed out and I felt like I knew the man.Interesting story about murder in the Catskills, which brought back memories of visiting that area and staying at the Concord years ago. The author really nailed description of that area.Easy for me to recommend this novel to readers who love this genre.

Second in the Moe Prager series. Short, sweet and complicated. Easy read and great for summer. Like the main character...Moses Prager...flawed and real, and loves his wife and daughter. Lots of political issues in this one too -- racism, religion. What is also interesting is that Moe is keeping a secret from his wife, a secret revealed in the 1st book (as it flash forward to 1998). However, in book 2, 1981, secret is not revealed, so, we know the secret, we are keeping it. Interesting device by

Redemption Street by Reed Farrel ColemanMy Review I thoroughly enjoyed this book. It had a "comfy" feel to it, like the narrator was a friend. The retired detective (Moe) turned wine-store owner in the 1970's New York City takes his first P.I. case, not because someone asks him to do it; but because someone offers him money to not take it. Right away I knew that I would like this character and he didn't disappoint anytime. As he investigates an old fire in a Catskills hotel that killed 17 people...

This series is fantastic. Short, very well written mysteries. Very glad I'm reading this in order (not that I ever would purposely not read a series in order) but so many references to Moe's father in law would be missed by not having read the series in order. Moe's first official PI case he goes to the Catskills to investigate a fire that killed his high school crush, and 15 other people, some 20 years before. A lot of focus past and present on the Jewish culture. As with the first book Moe fig...

Second in the Moe Prager series and another solid entry. Prose has a nice flow to it. Very descriptive style rather than a thriller where the pace picks you up and pulls you along. This entry is sandwiched between the two elements of the first book which was set both in present day and 20 years ago - this can make things seem a little weird at times because Moe doesn't know things that we have learnt from the first book. While the key perpatrator is integral to the story the focus only shifts to...

#2 in the series. I am so hooked. this character's development from book one to two, is awesome. where will he go next? can't wait to find out. thanks to my friend Dee (with a smack also) for once again starting me on the path through a new series. I will repeat this every so often: never will I have enough time in this world to read every book I'd like to!

I saw a review of a different book by this author that got my attention so I looked him up and thought I might like him. I picked this one up on Kindle Unlimited and I really did like it. Moe is a retired cop and a non-practicing PI. He gets pulled in to a case that is 16 years old and for all intents and purposes already solved out of guilt and curiosity and boredom.It is interesting reading and fairly unpredictable how he bumbles around and discovers the truth. There is also some deep dialogue...

Reed Farrel Coleman is such a tremendous gift. His protagonist, Moe Prager, is a study of how a multi-dimensional a character can be; complex, concerned, troubled, and ultimately at peace with his decisions; good or bad. Yes, this is a mystery at its core, but it's really an opportunity to see a masterful example of how an evolving character can connect with a reader. I'm not always sure when it happens, that moment, when you suddenly realize that you are 100% invested in the lead character. But...

Even though he's only in his 30s, Moe Prager was forced to retire from his job as a New York City cop because of a bad knee. It's 1981, and he and his brother own a wine shop in Manhattan. Although the business is doing well, Moe is beginning to feel bored. That feeling dissipates quickly when Arthur Rosen comes in to the shop and begs Moe to solve the mystery of a fire which occurred in 1961 at a hotel in the Catskill Mountains, one which supposedly was started by someone smoking in bed. Rosen'...

I've just finished this novel and I have mixed feelings about it. It's very slow in the first half and then tumbles downhill like a rolling stone pushed over a cliff. It reminds me of my second novel in this respect and I suspect got similar reviews. But I also understand the authors love of this work because it says why the author is writing these stories. I appreciate that. I did find the back and forth to family cumbersome, contributing to the jerkiness of the first half. And the deal of the

REDEMPTION STREET – VGReed Farrel Coleman – 3rd in seriesMoe Prager—retired New York City cop-turned-wine shop owner—still possessed of his vintage police savvy, and is, perhaps, the only Jewish licensed PI in the five boroughs, Moe wonders if he’s really meant to be a merchant and not a cop. Redemption Street finds him in 1981, lured into the mystery of a 1966 hotel fire—one that killed seventeen people, including his first love—by a long-grieving brother and Moe’s own restless determination to...

While I wouldn't go so far as to call this a sophomore slump, REDEMPTION STREET lacks some of what made the first Moe Prager book so strong. By removing some of the personal stake in the investigation, the momentum of the story slows and at some times feels forced.The emotional story and the humanity of the hero is as fresh as it was in the first book, but the whodunit elements combined with the fish out of water premise didn't play to the Coleman's strengths.A keen observer and a writer interes...

Redemption Street is the second book in the Moe Prager series. Moe is a former NYPD cop out on a disability and now part-time PI and co-owner of a wine shop in New York City with his brother. In this outing, Moe gets involved in looking into an old fire in which two school mates of his (one whom he had a crush on) and several others were killed in a resort in the Catskills. During the course of the investigation, Moe rediscovers his Judaism and what it means to him. I greatly enjoyed this book.

Moe Prager a retired NYPD officer enjoys his work with his brother Aaron in their wine store partnership but when a demented man on the brink commits suicide after begging for Moe's help his detectival juices are stirred up. Prager takes on the old case of a fire in a Catskills summer resort which killed many youngsters working there for the summer. The story is well told and is very engrossing as it brings back memories of another time and place.This is one of the best stories I have read in a

This is the second of the Moe Prager mysteries. I hadn't read the first, but there's enough reference to it/background given that that's not a problem.Moe is an ex-cop, wine shop proprietor, and sometime private eye. The novel fits into the noire sub-genre, but Moe himself is a bit too nice to be truly hardboiled. (He's a family man, for one thing. Not so usual with fictional PI's.)This time out he's away from his home in "upstate" New York, specifically Old Rotterdam, which was in the Borscht B...

I certainly can understand why this was a commercial and critical failure upon it's initial release. Not nearly as strong as the previous "Walking the Perfect Square." Moe Prager is a strong detective character and made all the more interesting considering how different he is from most other sleuths (a loving family, doesn't drink too hard, owns his own business) but the never ending parade of wise-crack witticisms gets tired real quick. Still makes for pleasant subway reading for the most part,...

Moe Prager is back in the 2nd book in the series. In the Catskill's, at a hotel in the Borsht Belt trying to find evidence that a girl he was sweet on, back in the day, survived a hotel fire that killed 17 young people. All things point to her not having survived, but someone is hindering the investigation.

I read and really enjoyed the first Moe Prager book about a year ago; Coleman hit home with me with the reluctant PI angle and when I saw this at the library I figured it was about time to follow up with the series. Apparently, this volume was doomed from the start. I don't know the exact history but it went from distribution to bargain bin very quickly. It didn't sell well and got none of the accolades the next installment, The James Deans received.Moe hasn't worked a case since the first book

#2 in the Moe Prager series. Reed Farrel Coleman, for some unknown reason, is one of a handful of writers whose books keep being displaced on my To Read list and then when I finally start them, I find them utterly enjoyable. Of the Coleman books that I have read, this one stands as the most memorable. Highly Recommended.Moe Prager is asked by a psycho to find his sister, a high school classmate of Moe's, who perished in a hotel fire 16 years earlier. Moe goes to the halfway house where the man i...