"David Lazar: A Novel Inspired By A True Story"--by ROBERT KALICH--Blurring the lines between memoir and fiction, David Lazar is a modern love story with a dash of noir. Filled with colorful and eccentric New York characters – childhood friends, business mentors, wealthy associates, organized crime figures, celebrities, and sports stars – and told by a complex and compelling narrator, it is an odyssey into the soul of a man who risks losing far more than he has ever won.

David Lazar: A Novel Inspired By A True Story

What happens when a husband has lived two lives and harbors a deep secret?

David Lazar could not afford a postage stamp. Employed as a social worker and discarded by his first wife he is forced to move in with his parents. Two years later and still in painful debt, he starts a new life with a twenty-five-dollar bet as a college basketball handicapper. Did he sell his soul to make millions?

The money opens doors and allows Lazar to live extravagantly, yet something is lost in the process: the success exposes Lazar’s harder side, while also revealing his deep conflict with wealth created by corruption.

Lazar is a gifted man, appreciated for his sensitivity and generosity, but he is also a flawed man, haunted by his past and hoping for redemption. Nearing the end of his life, he has yet to tell his wife Elizabeth about the immoral nature of handicapping. Now, if he is fully authentic, will he risk losing what he cherishes the most: the love and respect of his soulmate and son?

Blurring the lines between memoir and fiction, David Lazar is a modern love story with a dash of noir. Filled with colorful and eccentric New York characters – childhood friends, business mentors, wealthy associates, organized crime figures, celebrities, and sports stars – and told by a complex and compelling narrator, it is an odyssey into the soul of a man who risks losing far more than he has ever won.

Reviews

 

"Awesome honesty, pacing and reflection.The best book I've read in a long while." - Susan Braudy, Pulitzer Prize nominee,author of Kick Kennedy's Secret Diary
 
"If David Lazar were a song, it could only be sung by Frank Sinatra. As a book, it could only have been written by Robert Kalich. If it's true that we're all reduced to stories, Kalich has told one helluva one! Enjoy the ride." - Tim O'Mara, author of the Raymond Donne Mystery Series
 
"In the hands of a vivid and cinematic storyteller, David Lazar's winter-of-life soul search becomes an addictive journey, leaving the reader to wonder just how much Kalich has blurred the lines between memoir and fiction." - Karen Tintori, author of Unto the Daughters: The Legacy of an Honor Killing in a Sicilian-American Family
 
"David Lazar is a gripping story of choices and their consequences; a slightly fictionalized memoir of a morally ambiguous life not so well lived. Whether it's apology or rationalization is left to the reader to decide. It's worth the journey.'' - Ira Berkowitz, Shamus Award-winning author of the Jackson Steeg Mystery Series
 
"David Lazar is a refreshingly unabashed narrator, and his memory lane is populated by characters who are, well...characters! A most compelling read!"- Wendy Corsi Staub, New York Times best-selling author
 
"A truly disturbing look into the mind of a guy who could live next door--if you happen to live next door to a professional gambler who works with mobsters and wealthy businessmen and just happens to be the best college basketball handicapper in the business." - Kenneth Wishnia, author of 23 Shades of Black, and editor of Jewish Noir


 Robert Kalich

 


Robert Kalich is a born-and-bred New Yorker, the city he still calls home. He is the author of several non-fiction books and two previous novels: The Investigation of Ariel Warning, and The Handicapper, which was a national best-seller published by Crown. Kalich has worked as a social worker, a journalist, and as a professional basketball consultant. He co-founded a film and theatrical production company, The Kalich Organization, with his twin brother Richard, who is an internationally acclaimed author. Robert Kalich is an avid reader and maintains a home library of 10,000 books. He lives with his wife and son in New York City and North Salem, NY.

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