Title: Turf Wars
Author: A. Greenfield
Published by: Menucha Publishers
What do you get when you cross an intense, life altering search for self with a bookkeeper who disappears off the face of the planet?
When Yonah Katz disappears, his sons turn over the world to find their father, to no avail. With no enemies, no debt, and in perfect health, there is no reason for him to have gone missing.
But he has.
On the other side of town, Gabe, son of a Mafia boss, is being pressured to join his father’s business, but he already knows there is more to life than money, power, and hurting people. Isn’t there?
The book contains multitudes, all woven together so beautifully. The story is complex, as are the characters. It is fast-paced and character-driven. A page-turner.
It also contains a lot of humor, I laughed out loud many times while I was reading it, which roused a lot of intrigue from my family members.
It is also deeply meaningful and I love how the characters develop throughout the story.
I loved the creation of “The Gabe.” His quest to find the “I” is very inspiring and it is so funny and made my heart happy. Here is a couple of paragraphs that just explain The Gabe so well:
What have you been doing since you dropped out of college?”
“Trying to get away from my dad,” said Gabe. “Also, I tried to get into self-discovery. It’s tough, man. It’s really tough, when you wanna discover the I, and there is no information on the I. Meditation didn’t work for me. Yoga didn’t work for me. Chinese medicine didn’t work for me. Homeopathy and kinesiology didn’t help me center the Me. I still have no idea what or who the Gabe is.”
“Gabriel—”
“I wish I could get my hands on the Manual of Gabe,” said Gabe. “It’d probably be a couple of thousand pages long, for I am this really difficult person to understand. And I’d read the Manual of Gabe and everything would make sense. I would understand the Me.”
“There is no Manual of Gabriel,” said Dr. Warg.
“Sure there is,” said Gabe. “And if it isn’t out there, I’ll write it myself. I just don’t know where to start. That’s why I’m here. You still haven’t given me any good advice.”
I was pretty much sucked into the story. You know a book is good when the character comes to life and you find it hard to put it down because you must know what happens next. The characters feel real and the reader gets to feel what the characters are going through.
I also loved seeing how the author included hashkafa from the Mesilas Yesharim. Truly, a book to learn from.
I definitely hope to read more books by this author in the future!