Boca Mournings-Steven M. Forman

Boca Mournings
Steven M. Forman
Forge, Feb 2010, $24.99
ISBN: 9780765319883

Eddie Perlmutter retired from the Boston Police Department looking forward to sun and fun in Boca Raton, his new home. However, though he intended to mind his business, the almost sexagenarian cannot sit idly by while crimes and injustice occurs which is why the local paper calls him the Boca Knight. He knows he suffers from something a shrink called “compulsive explosive disorder” although he would have said hyperactivity, but cannot stop from helping those in trouble. Thus he opens up a private investigative agency with a staff of himself.

Business is booming as Eddie resolves situations his style which includes beating up some punk. His preference is first to teach respect of others but does not mind using fistic “poetic justice” to achieve his goal. Eddie understands the difficulty of using fists on an eighty something bagel felon or quacks allegedly practicing medicine when to him they seem more like financiers. However, even Mr. Johnson tells him to take it easy on his lower head as Eddie works cases involving Neo-Nazis and the Russian Mafia that will abet his retirement wish of visiting other countries.

Once again over the top of Britton Hill, the second Boca Raton private investigative tale contains an amusing series of cases deftly handled in unique ways by the hero. The story line is at its best when Mr. Johnson remains covered especially as the Boca Knight heroically deals with a myriad of social issues with depth and passion. Humorous yet profound as Steven M. Forman scrutinizes human rights of gays, when a Neo Nazi’s First Amendment rights clash with that of a Jew, and a scathing look at health care in a state with so many seniors who go without.

Harriet Klausner