I have been very impressed with Chabon, esp. The Amazing C&K;, but his work can tend to bloat a bit. That is the case with this novel as well, but boy, what a world he has imagined for us! The post-WWII Jews have been settled in Alaska, not Israel, and Chabon sets us at the center of a murder investigation of the son of a famous Hassidic rabbi, whose murdered son ranged far from the fold.Just a bang-up job in general, but again like with C&K; it is draggy in the second half.