Iowa book review: Guttenberg author pens moving novel
Every once in a great while, a novel comes along that hits you where it really counts – straight in the heart.
That’s the case with "Beneath the Polish Moon" by Guttenberg, Iowa, author Jake Kaminski. Kaminski brilliantly blends the quaint Milwaukee childhood memories of Luke Karpinski with his ascent as a courageous Miami narcotics cop.
Kaminski relates the story of Luke as he grows up with his friends Eugene, Stanley and Gus – normal boys in a close-knit ethnic Milwaukee neighborhood in the 1960s. We smile and laugh at their antics as they climb a trestle to acquire "pet" pigeons and build a go-kart with all the trimmings – except brakes. We even see how they find themselves becoming heroes when faced with no alternative.
Kaminski tells another story, though, of how Luke rises from rookie cop to fighting Colombian drug cartels, something Kaminski actually did in Miami and Latin America. We experience firsthand Luke’s struggle to maintain a normal family life as he risks his life daily as a member of a drug task force. We feel the strain between Luke and his wife Kate, who is deeply in love with him but dreads every day he goes to work, not knowing if he will return. We also feel the camaraderie between Luke and his fellow officers, especially Marco Romero, with whom he finds a nearly spiritual connection, both on and off the job.
The two stories mirror each other, eventually melding as we see Luke as an old man, returning to his old Milwaukee neighborhood in search of some forgotten pieces of his past. This is where Kaminski writes with the most poignance and power, drawing Luke into what seems like an inevitable collision of his two realities of past and present.
Kaminski’s blending of the stories of Luke as a young boy and as a seasoned cop is absolutely flawless. There could have been no better way to write this novel. His impeccable sense of place brings us into locales we could hardly imagine. Undoubtedly, Kaminski’s law-enforcement background gives him special insight into the human elements of Luke’s life.
This book is impossible to put down. If you buy it, give yourself a solid day or two once you crack it open.
Michael Tidemann writes from Estherville. His Facebook page is Author Michael Tidemann.
'Beneath the Polish Moon'
Jake Kaminski
Archway Publishing
ISBN 978-1-6657-1458-7
$17.99
This article originally appeared on Des Moines Register: Iowa book review: Guttenberg author pens moving novel
