If Jack Had
by Steven Rappaport
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Pub Date Jun 04 2015 | Archive Date Jul 20 2015
Smith Publicity | Black Rose Writing
Description
“What’s the difference between a serial killer and an assassin?
… A paycheck.”
Jack is a Pulitzer Prize-winning New York Times journalist with a secret second job. Since he was a smart-ass grad student slinking around New York’s Upper West Side and Brighton Beach, he’s been working as an assassin for the Russian mob.
Beginning at the end – that is, with an aged, incontinent, and at last truly alone Jack, his mind made up that tomorrow will be the first day he kills someone he loves: himself – If Jack Had [Black Rose Writing, June 4 2015] tells his story in rearview, providing an all-access-pass into the enviable, high-flying life he clear-cut for himself against all odds…and the (literal) trail of dead he left along the way.
The debut novel from sixty-eight-year-old Manhattan author Steve Rappaport, If Jack Had is, much like its protagonist, more than meets the eye. A caper comedy featuring sex and drugs, blasphemy and blood, far-flung exotic locales and all the other stuff that makes for good, not-so-clean fun, If Jack Had also happens to have a big, beating heart. Beneath the surface, it’s a meditation on family, fatherhood, the indignities of aging, the inevitability of loneliness, and the preciousness of life itself.
From spending peaceful mornings with Jack in Paris’s Le Marais district to experiencing the hedonism and glamour of Manhattan’s downtown art scene in the 1980s at his side, readers of If Jack Had will be swept up in a world that’s all at once ordinary and extraordinary, where life and death collide with the regularity of a ticking clock, and in which appearances can be every bit as deceiving as the storyteller himself.
Of his inspiration to pen If Jack Had, Rappaport explains simply, “My eldest son, Jack, died at forty from a progressively debilitating, unknown neurological disorder. This brilliant boy, a Vassar grad, never got to live the life he deserved. I’ve infused him with one.”
A Note From the Publisher
Author is available for interviews, blog tours, autographed book giveaways, contests, and book club discussions.
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Author Bio:
Steven Rappaport, age 68, has been a stock trader, pot dealer, itinerant hippie peddler, cab driver, retailer, and is currently a successful commercial real estate salesperson in Manhattan. He offers a simple rationale for his first novel: “My eldest son, Jack, died at forty from a progressively debilitating, unknown neurological disorder. This brilliant boy, a Vassar grad, never got to live the life he deserved. I’ve infused him with one.”
Available Editions
| EDITION | Paperback |
| ISBN | 9781612964911 |
| PRICE | $16.95 (USD) |
Featured Reviews
Andrew W, Reviewer
I offer this review, having been given a pre-release copy, through Netgalley, in exchange for an honest review.
From chapter one I liked this story. The character of Jack is subtly drawn out. I liked the parts from his early childhood. Where his determination and personality are explained. So this is how he ended up with such an unusual 'second job'.
With my English roots, I sometimes find that I miss some of your American humour. However in this book there are some clever humorous lines:
"Most of my life my father was fat, bald and sedentary. He found the gym at fifty and shaped up pretty much. But no amount of exercise grows hair."
"She was passionate, but mostly passionately mean. She was brilliant, with an off-the-chart IQ, but the emotional IQ of a bird."
He's full of himself and thinks he's the smartest guy in the room. Sadly, that's true only if it is an empty room."
The way the story jumps to different stages in Jack's life helps to keep you guessing. You know where the end is, because you are told at the start. However there is something interesting about the end, when you get there.
I liked the way the story of Jack's life was told.
Mallory Anne-Marie H, Reviewer
REVIEW: IF JACK HAD by Steven Rappaport
IF JACK HAD is a first-person narrative as told by an aging individual whose life has been one of ongoing, nearly seamless, deception. Born of hideous parents, at age three Jack is shunted to his foul-mouthed father and loving and lovable new stepmother. Growing up, Jack manages the trappings of success and maintenance of the appearance of normality. A respected traveling New York journalist, with a lovely wife and well-brought up children and grandchildren, Jack builds a few friendships and meanwhile hides his true nature (or lack of nature). Jack is a cold-natured sociopathic killer for contract, employed by (of all things) the Russian Mafiya. Jack is very skilled at his second vocation, but eventually, all processes, even success and talent, must meet an end.
MaryJane B, Reviewer
If Jack Had is a dark, ironic story of a man in search of filling the void of his father’s love, only to resolve it as an adult in a dysfunctional and violent way.
Rappaport gives the reader an insider’s look at the Russian mob through the eyes of Jack, a journalist with a dualistic personality who has a second “job” as a hired hit man. Jack was the product of a dysfunctional family. His young hippy mother worked from home as a masseuse – and whore. Behind Jack’s gentle façade, he was overflowing with rage. A school bully taunted him relentlessly about his mother being a whore. The next day, Jack killed the bully with one rock to his head in Central Park. Jack was never caught.
Affter entering Columbia’s School of Journalism, he sought out work in the journalism field, along with a job feeding his dark side. He woos Monika Minsikov, the daughter of Serge Minsikov. Serge controlled most of the drugs, loan sharking, illegal gambling and a stable of contract killers in New York. After seeing Monika for a few months, Serge pulls Jack aside after dinner. Serge’s instinct picked up on Jack’s evil side. Serge asked him to be a contract killer. As arrogant and boastful Jack’s father had been, Serge was soft-spoken and understated, never revealing his massive power and influence. Jack was only too happy to agree to this second job.
Jack, the main protagonist, is a well fleshed out and relatable character. His lack of acceptance from his father becomes misplaced onto Serge. Jack continues to work as an assassin, feeling guilty about it his entire life. Plenty of Yiddish is peppered throughout adds to the story’s flavor. For those not familiar with Yiddish, you may need to look some of the words. For the most part, you’ll understand the meaning.
You’ll follow Jack as he leads his second life doing “jobs” all over the world. From Paris, to Greece, to the pot havens of Northern California. Rappaport’s direct, colorful style of storytelling suits this dark, gritty story. I was on edge through the entire book, leading to a surprising end. I highly recommend this book to anyone who enjoys stories about assassins, Russian Mobs, and father son relationships.
A copy of this book was provided to me from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.
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