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Four Generations, Three Families, One Fateful Night
by Lisa Belkin
The multigenerational tale of three families whose paths collide one summer night in 1960 with the murder of a police officer.
Independence Day weekend, 1960: a young cop is murdered, shocking his close-knit community in Stamford, Connecticut. The killer remains at large, his identity still unknown. But on a beach not far away, a young Army doctor, on vacation from his post at a research lab in a maximum-security prison, faces a chilling realization. He knows who the shooter is. In fact, the man—a prisoner out on parole—had called him only days before. By helping his former charge and trainee, the doctor, a believer in second chances, may have inadvertently helped set the murder into motion. And with that one phone call, may have sealed a policeman's fate.
Alvin Tarlov, David Troy, and Joseph DeSalvo were all born of the Great Depression, all with grandparents who'd left different homelands for the same American Dream. How did one become a doctor, one a cop, and one a convict? In Genealogy of a Murder, journalist Lisa Belkin traces the paths of each of these three men—one of them her stepfather. Her canvas is large, spanning the first half of the 20th century: immigration, the struggles of the working class, prison reform, medical experiments, politics and war, the nature/nurture debate, epigenetics, the infamous Leopold and Loeb case, and the history of motorcycle racing. It is also intimate: a look into the workings of the mind and heart.
Following these threads to their tragic outcome in July 1960, and beyond, Belkin examines the coincidences and choices that led to one fateful night. The result is a brilliantly researched, narratively ingenious story, which illuminates how we shape history even as we are shaped by it.
"Outstanding.... Belkin's judicious research parlays into an engrossing, expansive narrative that reads like a real-life Greek tragedy. It will spur contemplation and debate in an audience far beyond just true crime diehards."
―Publishers Weekly (starred review)
"[Belkin] masterfully builds hand-wringing anticipation.... [and] creates an impressive work of in-depth narrative journalism that artfully conveys the countless paths a life can follow and exposes the instinctual human desire for alternative endings. An absorbing, thought-provoking inquiry into what it means to change and defy the odds."
―Kirkus Reviews
"Journalist Belkin offers a historical example of the 'Butterfly Effect'.... [that] true-crime aficionados will savor." —Booklist
"[A] riveting true crime account." —New York Times
"Lisa Belkin has taken an incredible story and unraveled it in the most masterful way. This is an intensely readable, fascinating book that will be with you for a long time."
―Julie Klam, author of The Almost Legendary Morris Sisters: A True Story of Family Fiction
"A generational saga both exquisitely detailed and majestically sweeping.… This wonderful book by master storyteller Lisa Belkin carries the reader effortlessly along, revealing profound truths about the history of our country, the intertwined nature of our personal stories, and the forces―often hidden―driving our own lives, our own loves, our own times."
―Liza Mundy, author of Code Girls: The Untold Story of the American Women Code Breakers of World War II
"In this riveting narrative, Lisa Belkin brings history to life. Weaving philosophical, psychological, historical, and personal threads, she dissects how the past shapes us and makes us who we are. Meticulously researched and beautifully constructed, this book reads like historical fiction―though it is, almost unfathomably, true."
―Christina Baker Kline, author of Orphan Train and The Exiles
"Genealogy of a Murder is a deeply researched, intensely personal investigation that bristles with tension from start to finish. Masterfully composed and remarkably courageous, it is a hauntingly powerful story that's impossible to forget."
―Gilbert King, Pulitzer Prize–winning author of Devil in the Grove: Thurgood Marshall, the Groveland Boys, and the Dawn of a New America
This information about Genealogy of a Murder was first featured
in "The BookBrowse Review" - BookBrowse's membership magazine, and in our weekly "Publishing This Week" newsletter. Publication information is for the USA, and (unless stated otherwise) represents the first print edition. The reviews are necessarily limited to those that were available to us ahead of publication. If you are the publisher or author and feel that they do not properly reflect the range of media opinion now available, send us a message with the mainstream reviews that you would like to see added.
Any "Author Information" displayed below reflects the author's biography at the time this particular book was published.
Lisa Belkin is an award-winning journalist and the author of narrative nonfiction books. Her career at the New York Times includes stints as a national correspondent, medical reporter, and contributing writer for the New York Times Magazine. She lives in Westchester, New York.
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