Don't Ever Look Back: A Mystery (Buck Schatz Series, 2)

Do people retain their moral beliefs as they age? Do they see the outside world in the same way as that world changes and expands around them while their own world shrinks and they lose their mental and physical faculties? Daniel Friedman, in his new book, "Don't Ever Look Back", tries to answer those questions. This book is the second novel about long-retired Memphis policeman Baruch "Buck" Schatz.Friedman's first novel, "Don't Ever Get Old", introduced 85 year old Buck Schatz in a bit more rollicking plot. Buck and his young grandson, chase an old Nazi, hiding in the US, from Memphis to St Louis in an attempt to find some hidden gold. The humor was broader and the characters were a bit "stock". It was a fine read, a good first novel, and I think I gave it four stars in my Amazon review. Friedman has returned in his second book with a much more serious look at aging and how now-88 year old Buck, living in an assisted-living facility with his wife, has NOT "learned" to give up the ghosts of the past.Buck Schatz has been contacted by a long-ago criminal, "Elijah", who he remembers with no fondness after "Elijah" has master-minded a bank heist in Memphis in 1965. Elijah wants to give himself up to the current-day Memphis police for his part in that robbery. However, on the way to the meeting, Buck and the Memphis police officer he enlists to help him, and Elijah, have their car rammed by drug runners, who kidnap Elijah. Buck, though injured, tries to find Elijah and the book goes back and forth between 1965 and 2009.Buck Schatz is basically the same man in 2009 he was in 1965. With his own interpretation of the law, according to his own moral code, he is still shooting - and getting away with it - bad guys. But in this second book, author Daniel Friedman adds a Jewish component to his story. In 1965, his 12 year old son, Brian, is preparing for his Bar Mitzvah. Buck has an uneasy relationship with the rabbi at his temple and his rough actions as he attempts to find out about and then stop the coming bank robbery have caused Brian and the rabbi to question Buck's morality. Brian was killed years later and Buck has had difficulty coming to terms with his son's death. His "moral conduit" seems to be Brian's lawyer-son, William."Don't Ever Look Book" is a serious book that has some funny parts. I'd say Daniel Friedman's first book was just the opposite. Both make for good reading, but this second book might make you think about morality, aging, and what memories last as a person nears the end of his life.

Don’t Ever Look Back by Daniel Friedman – Buck Schatz, the amazing character and retired Memphis police detective, is back in another adventure that takes place four months after the events of Don’t Ever Get Old. The 88-year old in struggling to overcome the injuries he suffered in the previous book. He now must use a walker to get around and is suffering some dementia. An old criminal nemesis surprisingly asks Buck for help, which entangles Buck in more violent crime. The story jumps back and forth between 2009 and 1965 enabling the reader to experience Buck’s character in his prime as well as in his senescence. Like the previous book, this is another very good novel with an engrossing story that provides another fascinating look at the incredibly brutal, but still lovable, Buck Schatz.

I almost stopped listening to the book at the end of the first five minutes - not at all what I was expecting. However, after listening for another 20 minutes I was intrigued. I've listened to both books and am hoping for another in the series. As we age, the infirmities pile up. Not only does this book examine these issues, but it also provides us with a still capable and thinking crotchety old man as the main character. He lives by his own ethics in a socially explosive time. Buck Schatz is an endearing and entertaining character. The book is an experience not to be missed.

The second book in the series DON"T EVER LOOK BACK by Daniel Friedman stand up to the second novel in a series test. Great read. We continue the saga of Buck Schatz, a legend of the police department in his day. Now 87 and long long retired we follow his life ands adventures. What a guy. These books scream movie...let a young actor play him for the flash back ! Funny and well written, this series stands out. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED book and series.

I liked the first Buck story, a lot! It was a solid mystery well put together with the story of the lead character. The unique perspective of a very old, very Jewish and very caring Memphis detective was charming and funny. This one not so much; working the Elijah symbolism too hard, the author lost track of Buck's previous personality. I felt a sense of loss, and I hope the next Buck Schatz recovers from the tedious aspect of a (retired) police procedural.

I disliked the main character who is an 88 or so retired policeman. From the beginning of the book, he brags about having shot 35-36 people 18 of whom died. He talks about beating up people with enthusiasm and relish. The only difference, between criminals and this policeman. I can see is that this retired cop has the justice system and the law backing up his actions. He was just as bad a character as the criminals he was supposed to protect society from.

Author Daniel Friedman's grandfather, Harold Friedman, lived to age ninety-seven and was the inspiration for Buck Schatz. He is the eighty-eight year old retired Memphis police detective/protagonist of Friedman's two novels "Don't Ever Get Old" and "Don't Ever Look Back". Original and well-written, the stories engage and entertain so much so that you don't want them to end. Buck has several good years left to treat his fans shenanigans and adventures. More, please.

A great sequel to "Don't Ever Get Old." Excellent plot, lots of surprises. Sad, funny, sweet, all at the same time. Believable characters, right-on dialogue. As I get toward the end of this kind of book I read slower because I don't want it to be over. Please, Mr. Friedman, at least one more.

Funny, biting, well written and sharp. I was not disappointed with this follow-up to "Don't Ever Get Old". Thoroughly recommend.

前作は87歳の元刑事が孫と一緒にドタバタするというもので、ミステリーとしての面白さもさることながら、認知症の一歩手前の爺さんと孫の掛け合いがコメディー的でいい味を出していた。その続編となる本作では主人公は前作より一歳年を取ったにもかかわらず、歩行器を使いつつも、頭の方は至極明晰で、孫の助けもほとんど不要となっており、コメディー的要素が減った分、仇敵との対決に関するミステリー的面白さに加えて、アメリカ社会におけるユダヤ人の立場といった文化的な側面への言及もあり、前作とは別の小説といっても過言ではない読後感を得た。ユダヤ人というと金融、法曹、芸術といったいわば頭脳労働で活躍しているイメージがあるが、この爺さんはどこへ行くにもマグナムを持ち歩き、すぐにそれをぶっ放す危険なユダヤ人で、通常の日本人の持つユダヤ人のイメージと全く違う。まあ、イスラエルがパレスチナでやっていることを思えば、それを個人レベルでやっているとも言えるが。ちなみに、前作でも不明であった息子の死因は今回も明らかにされなかったが、それに何らかの関わりを持つに違いない（と私が思う）仇敵が逃走中のまま本作が終わっているところから、Buck爺さんはまだまだ死ねない。三作目を期待しよう。Buck, don’t ever die.

If you are in your late eighties, there’s a fair chance that your day to day life is not choc full of adventure. Not so with Buck Schatz. An ex-cop, Buck was pretty brutal in his day and did not always give the criminals he came up against a fair hearing before dispensing his own brand of justice.Fading and suffering from short term memory loss in an assisted living accommodation, Buck is shaken from his stupor when an old nemesis rocks up and beseeches Buck to offer him police protective custody. “Most of the people I knew back then are dead” explains Buck but that defence falls on deaf ears so Buck makes a call and a plan is born.There are flashbacks throughout the book going back to Buck’s time in the force.These take you through some of the key events that have led up to the present day scenario. I must say that having two octogenarians fighting each other is a master stroke and lets the author’s imagination let rip with walkers, dentures and impaired limbs all coming into play.Aside from the plot aspects about Buck and the old criminal meeting and what is behind this, there’s a lot of exploration of what it means to get old. Not just the obvious physical limitations and associated humilities but the social and societal aspects that may make you feel as if we are still a long way off from giving elderly people the respect and time they have earned. Just think if one of them had the same sort of tales to relate that Buck does. I remember my Nan saying ‘don’t get old’ to me. If I do, I can only hope that my life is even half as exciting of that of the legendary Buck Schatz.