Writing Style - 3/5 
 Characters - 2 
 Storyline - 1 
 Resonance - 2 
 The Not-Too-Revealing Synopsis 
 A murder that no one wants to talk about takes place in a alternate history-Jewish enclave in Alaska just as relations between it and the larger state and nation reach maximal strain. 
 The Review 
 Chabon's Alaskan settlement and its problems are both believable and interesting. Chabon's plot and characters are not. We are introduced to every good guy and bad guy cliche with the wild twist that they are not your normal good guys and bad guys - they're Jewish good guys and bad guys! The writing isn't just adorned with Yiddish linguistic idiosyncrasies and Jewish cultural novelties, it's bludgeoned with them. Every problem and every solution runs through Alaska, runs through the this particular Bay and runs through the Jewish community. It is too neat, too predictable and wholly unsatisfying. The best part about the book are three minor characters that are certainly not worth the read to get to. They alone provided intrigue. A dose of moderation could have brought the different, promising elements together in this work. Instead everything was so heavily painted it bled and left an ugly, muddled picture. I do not recommend this book.