Detective Jacob Lev Books In Order

Publication Order of Detective Jacob Lev Books

‘Detective Jacob Lev’ is a series of novels written by Jonathan and Jesse Kellerman which combine elements of mystery, action, drama and the supernatural.

+The Story

The Detective Jacob Lev series is the work of a father and son team. Jonathan spent many years writing psychological suspense thrillers before he finally decided to experiment with the Detective Jacob Lev series, a collection of books that play with the supernatural.

Jacob Lev takes center stage as a weary detective in Los Angeles whose life changes when he encounters a mysterious woman. Jacob was a man of faith, born to a Jewish Rabbi.

His life changed when his mother was diagnosed with bipolar disorder. A series of unfortunate events led to her death. Not only did the tragedy destroy any faith that Jacob had but it also ruined his life.

He eventually left Harvard to care for his father, this despite their tense relationship. The Detective Jacob Lev series picks up some time after the hero becomes a police officer.

Things haven’t been going his way for quite a while. His failures were such that he was eventually kicked out of the homicide department and forced to settle for a role on the traffic team.

Things take an interesting turn for Jacob when he picks up a woman at a bar one drunken night. She disappears from his bed the next morning, giving Jacob no opportunity to take stock of her face or even learn her name.

A drunk with no prospects of significance for the future, Jacob is more than a little suspicious when a special department of the police brings him on board and tasks him with solving the murder of a victim whose body was found next to a Jewish word that had been burnt into a wooden surface.

The case proves to be anything but ordinary. It challenges everything Jacob Lev thought he knew about himself and his family. This is as he traverses the country and the world, chasing down leads and contending with considerably influential figures.

The Detective Jacob Lev series tends to attract mixed reviews because of the author’s decision to blend suspense and mystery with the paranormal. The concept of the books revolves around the legend of the Golem, a figure from Jewish mythology that was supposedly created centuries ago to either bring about justice or protect those who made it.

Jacob seems like just another miserable, alcoholic on the police force when readers meet him. The stories that Jonathan and Jesse Kellerman tell attempt to prove that there is more to the character than meets the eye.

The series is spent delving into Jacob’s past, the events surrounding his mother’s death, the secrets his father has been keeping and the origins of the golem, a supposedly fictional creation that turns out to be real.

Intertwined with Jacob’s tale is the story of Asham, the sister of Cain and Abel. She figures strongly into Jacob story. This is on top of Mai, another character who completely upends Jacob’s life.

The Detective Jacob Lev series is pretty dark, with plenty of gruesome murders and less than pleasant sexual experiences. The authors spend a lot of time delving into the minutiae of Jewish history and mythology.

By the time Jonathan Kellerman created this series, he was already a renowned author that had written both fiction and nonfiction on his own, and also in collaboration with his wife.

He never intended to join forces with his son Jesse on the Detective Lev novels. The idea for the series struck him when he visited Prague and learned about the legend of the golem.

Jonathan knew immediately that he wanted to explore the concept in fiction but after a lengthy career as a crime writer, the author was a little hesitant to dip his toes into the paranormal arena.

It took several conversations with his son before the idea of writing the novel in collaboration with Jesse finally came up. By then, Jesse was a successful author in his own right with several bestsellers on his resume.

Neither Jesse nor Jonathan leaped at the idea when it was first suggested, though. They both thought that it was a mistake to collaborate on writing projects with family members because such a personal relationship was likely to affect the writing process.

However, once they began to actually brainstorm, write and critique one another, everything flowed seamlessly.

+The Author
Jonathan Kellerman is an American author born in 1949 who writes crime fiction. A former cartoonist, editor, and musician, Jonathan has a Ph.D. in psychology.

Jesse Kellerman is the son of Jonathan and Faye Kellerman. Like his father, Jesse studied psychology in college (Harvard). He also experimented with playwriting. Jesse has written books for both children and adults.

+The Golem of Hollywood
Detective Jacob Lev doesn’t remember leaving the bar with a beautiful woman. But that is exactly who he finds in his bed the next moment. Jacob remembers nothing of their encounter and before he can get answers, the woman flees.

Jacob doesn’t realize it yet that his life has only just begun to fray. Things kick off when the detective is assigned to a special squad of the police which, in turn, tasks him with solving a murder.

The body in question was abandoned next to the Hebrew word for ‘Justice’ which had been burned into a wooden surface. In pursuing the case, Jacob undertakes a journey that will take him all over the United States and beyond as he faces his demons and learns the accept the truth of the Golem.

+The Golem of Paris
Detective Jacob Lev’s last case revealed the truth about his family. He did not take things well, shunning his father and going back to the bottle. The fact that Lev still has to work with the special squad in the police does not please him.

However, he grows intrigued when one of the cases he was asked to file draws a violent reaction from his mother. Still filled with so many questions about his family, Jacob decides to investigate, a decision that takes him to Paris.

There he will collide with a terrible truth.