My Brother’s Keeper

Max Asher, Jewish mystic and private-eye, never thought he’d be coming back to his home town to bury his twin brother, Solomon. He definitely never thought the funeral would turn into a case, but when Sol’s widow Gabby asks him to investigate the cause of death, “Uncle Max” is on the job.

When Max kicks the demon’s nest, he uncovers a conspiracy that forces him to reevaluate everything he thought he knew about his brother. Unfamiliar local politics blur the line between the supernatural and the mundane, and soon, fighting for justice becomes dangerously literal. If Max can uncover the murderer, he might just save his brother’s soul—but if he can’t, he’ll fall victim to the same deadly fate.

Putting the past to rest is going to take more than a shovel full of dirt.

Tropes: Jewish Mystic, Private-Eye, Returning Home, Bury Twin Brother, Demon’s Nest, Uncovered Conspiracy, Reevaluate Everything, Unfamiliar Local Politics, Blurred Lines, Supernatural, Mundane, Fighting for Justice, Dangerously Literal, Uncover the Murderer, Save his Brother’s Soul, Might Fall Victim to Same Deadly Fate, Past to Rest, More than a Shovel full of Dirt,

My Brother’s Keeper is the 1st book in The Cycle of Ash by Ben Schenkman.

Before I start, I want to touch on the Author’s Note. Now, I’m not Jew-Ish, but I do respect the Jewish culture and the Jewish religion. When I read the Author’s Note, I found it very enlightening and I also agreed with him when he posed the question “Where are the Jewish fantasy books?” We know they exist, but they are few and far between. But I think there should be more of them and I think readers would read them if they were more widely available. His not overall I found was very thought invoking.

Now my darling readers, on to my review of “My Brother’s Keeper”. This isn’t the first book by Ben Schenkman I’ve read. The first book of his I read was his book “Let Sleeping God’s Lie” and I enjoyed that book so when I had the opportunity to read this book, I grabbed it as I knew this would be another book I would enjoy and I wasn’t let down in the slightest. If you love or even just enjoy The Dresden Files, then I can promise you, you’ll love “My Brother’s Keeper.

Max Asher, Solomon’s estranged twin brother, has returned home for Solomon’s funeral and quickly learns that his brother had been killed under some rather unusual circumstances.

Now Max finds himself being pulled into a world full of Jewish mysticism, political corruption, and most shocking of all literal demons and now Max is digging out everyone of his PI tricks to find out what really happened to his brother and what’s really going on around him.

Now Max finds himself trying to carefully navigate a strange new city but he’s also trying to carefully navigate around his brother’s grieving family, a family Max has never met until now.

And as Max finds that he starts to get closer and closer to the truth of his brother’s murder, the more Max is required to face the agonising, earthshattering truth about his own life. The hints are there the entire time, and this leads Max and the reader to the heartrending outcome.

I really enjoyed this books fresh take on an urban fantasy with its unique magic system. I found the foundation rooted in Jewish mysticism absolutely fascinating. And instead of utilizing the normal use of wizards and witches with wands, Max finds himself dealing with dybbuks, The Seal of Solomon, and Talmudic rules. I loved that by introducing mazzikim and mourning customs in the very first chapter, Ben set the story off instantly in this vibrant culture, lending such authenticity to its more fantastical aspects. And all these layers together made this world in the book feel so much ore real and textured.

The moment that I read the line “A shovel full of dirt weighs about five pounds. The one in my hands was heavy enough to drag me to hell.” I could hear Max’s voice perfectly, that blend of a world-weary PI’s cynicism, his dry humor, and next to that his profound grief. I found that all this together made him so incredibly compelling and the perfect guide. At Solomon’s funeral you can feel his numbness, his grief like they were your own. And then during his investigation you could feel all his frustration when he would hit a road block. And then when it came to the final revelation and everything came into the light, it hits on such a personal level. The investigation into Solomon’s murder was the basis of the plot, but the real journey of the book was truly the journey Max went on internally.

My Brother’s Keeper is about so much more than just magic and demons. This is a book about a man who’s on a journey to reconnect with a family he thought he had lost forever. Max started out at the start of the book as an outsider, the precise mirror image of this man everyone is grieving, and Max is just trying to find a way to carve out his own identity. He’s trying to build this new family out of the ashes of what remains of the old one. We have scenes with Jacob, like the one where Jacob confuses Max for his father, that was utterly heartbreaking and yet there was a beauty to it at the same time. Max, Gabby, and Jacob have this slow, awkward and really very tender development of a bond between the three of them, and this provides this powerful emotional anchor for the reader and it also makes the high-stakes magical plot feel all that much more meaningful. I personally found that the true emotional core of this story was Max’s search for his own purpose and belonging all in the face of his grief.

Ben was brilliant with the way he threw one last twist in at the end, that was truly masterful. It left my jaw on the floor and I was just blown away. After the fact it honestly changed the meaning of so many of those small moments. I’m not going to give anything away, so you’re going to have to read this book to find out what I’m talking about. But I can promise you that it’s going to be worth it.

My Brother’s Keeper is this powerful, heart-wrenching book that’s full of twists and turns that elevate this story from what might have been this urban fantasy mystery into something that’s truly something so very much more and something that’s thought-provoking. I can promise you that you’re going to end up going back and rereading this story again and you will, I promise you this, find so many things that you missed the first time you read the book, and things will become even more poignant and even more emotionally resonant.

I can say that I promise you’ll find all this as I have read this book three times now before writing this review and each time, I have found things that I have missed with each read, and with each read things have become more poignant and even more emotionally resonant with each read.

There are so few authors who have the talent to create a book like “My Brother’s Keeper”. Congratulations to Ben Schenkman for his brilliance and tenacity for being able to pull off a book of this magnitude with such brilliance.

I love how there is more to come in this world and I can’t wait to read the next installment in this series. I highly recommend “My Brother’s Keeper”, especially if you’re a fan of The Dresden Files. Ben Schenkman is definitely an author you want to read.