The Nightworkers

I just finished The Nightworkers, and I am stunned by the masterful way novelist Brian Selfon has crafted this gritty crime and family story. Shecky, Henry and Kerasha are living, breathing, three-dimensional characters whom I understand, even though they are so different from me and the people I know. But maybe in many ways, they are not so different from us., just with different motivating forces behind them, searching for a path through life, confronting their own successes and failures, and tied together by being a family. Maybe every parent is a Shecky (or should be), and every child is like a Henry and Kerasha. This book was a joy to read, and I was totally immersed in the story. The author has taken this unsavory criminal family, and made me root and care for them. These characters are so very human. A memorable achievement by the author and a memorable story for me and every reader. I am looking forward to Brian Selfon\’s next book. In the meantime, The Nightwatchers would make for a great screen adaptation.

Family is everything, especially in this story. Even though it is not your typical Mom, Pop, Children family. This involves Uncle Shecky Keenan, niece Kerasha and second cousin Henry. They all have suffered some kind of loss and Kerasha is just coming out of prison. They all need each other for various reasons and Uncle Shecky does his best by having a decent place to live, family meals everyday and bringing them into the family business. The family business is one that works in the shadows handling businesses and individuals that want to stay hidden and operate in cash only. For a small fee the family business handles the cash, hides it in various ways and creates paper trails so the people can handle daily and life financial issues. In effect the family business launders money. Everything is going well until one member of the family breaks a cardinal rule by introducing someone new to the family business and this individual winds up dead and this is when the problems start. The pace was pretty good for this book.

Prepare to be up all night. Nightworkers is a rich reading experience. The plot is complex, fast-moving, funny, and always surprising. The characters are original—deep and humane. All of them are as interested in art (and drama, and poetry) as in the family money laundering business. And in each case, the character’s love for art is organic, well-rooted in his / her difficult past experiences. But these are not warm, fuzzy characters you will only love. Each of them is also flawed and frustrating. Some of them really do need to die. Mr. Selfon’s novel sets the bar very high for 2020. Hard to imagine a better read in these crazy times.

The Nightworkers is one of those books that sucks you right into its twisty plot. But secretly, its even twistier characters are calling all the shots. You\’ll really want to get to who done it (and who did that other thing, and then there\’s more!), but do yourself a favor and savor your time with uncle Shecky, Henry, and Kerasha. Even Lipz might grow on you. Soak in the gritty edges of gentrifying Brooklyn. Remind your paranoid self that the tools governments use to pry into your private data must have already fallen into even wronger hands. I\’m not big on self-denial. But when, less than halfway through the book, I started getting nostalgic about my time with this family of money launderers, I knew I needed rules. No reading until after dinner, and then only so many pages per night. Never top up, not even to finish a chapter (skinny Kerasha would be proud). Still, it was over much too soon. I really hope Selfon has another book in the works!

Normally after reading a book this incandescent I would spend the next weeks devouring the author\’s other books. Alas, I will have to wait. The Nightworkers is a story that provides insight and perhaps even hope for a future that is different and better. I am tempted to begin re-reading it immediately.

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