A deftly composed and highly enjoyable crime story.
- Kirkus Reviews
***
It’s not often that a well-plotted thriller abounds with incisive and amusing social history. In fact, I can’t think of one, or certainly none in the league of Daniel Ben-Horin’s Substantial Justice. If you were around in the late 70’s or early 80’s, particularly in San Francisco, rural Northern California, or New York City, the tonic shocks of recognition come thick and fast. If you weren’t, you’re in for a different sort of treat. Either way, the details are revealing and exact. Then there is the love story that frames the murder story, plus the weirdly contemporary far-right militia story and the early-internet subplot. Best of all, the romantic leads are witty and complicated and you’ll root for them just as you root for the pure-hearted pair in a Jane Austen novel. There it is—Raymond Chandler meets Jane Austen in post-Vietnam America. Excellent stuff.
- William Finnegan (Winner of the 2016 Pulitzer Prize for Barbarian Days: A Surfing Life)
***
Substantial Justice is a joy to read--who can resist a mix of intrigue, cannabis, and fraught romance? It’s a literary thriller with a wildly accurate sense of the era it depicts—and great lines uttered by great characters. A winner.
- Joan Silber (Winner of the 2018 PEN/Faulkner Award for Fiction for Improvement)
***
"Ben-Horin's comic death rattle of the 60's unleashes a wondrous set of lost souls who ricochet around the Reagan era following their bliss but finding only each other--which leads to sex, murder, and hopeless political causes. As a view of America it is strangely hopeful."
- Ron Shelton (Writer/Director of Bull Durham, White Men Can’t Jump)
***
Substantial Justice is a rewarding story of several conflicting campaigns of love, vengeance and paranoia played out against the straitened landscape of American cultural and political panic. Ben-Horin’s novel of suspense kept me flipping pages as if it were a news crawl of breaking headlines.
- Gregory Maguire (Author of Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West)
***
Substantial Justice captures the spirit of San Francisco at the very dawn of the Internet age, long before the arrival of the tech bros, set in a time when personal computing was just starting to slip into the public consciousness. Daniel Ben-Horin has woven a fast-paced tale that offers authentic portraits of both the American Left and Right, exploring the roots of our current Trumpian dystopia.
- John Markoff (Author of Cyberpunk: Outlaws and Hackers on the Computer Frontier)
“Self-aware, unapologetic and smart, with the ease of a true crime podcast.”
***
“The great art of this novel is how effortlessly Ben-Horin draws the reader into an inspection of the most troubling realities of today’s America, without ever breaking the lightness of his step…The book’s narrative style, deftly balancing detective story and social observation, reminded me a little of Thomas Pynchon’s Inherent Vice. Ben-Horin’s opus, however, is considerably funnier.”
***
“The reviews of this book convinced me to give this "new author" a whirl...and I am so glad I did. Did my friends NOTICE the five stars? That happens so rarely that I want to break out the Dewers, as my Sis would say. Good, historically accurate rendition of the 1980's scene in Manhattan, Arizona, and the Bay area. The blurb says the author took 34 years to write it. I'm hoping he is really only about 55 and has learned to write more rapidly because I want to read more from him and I'm too old to wait three more decades.”
***
“Substantial Justice captures the excitement, vanities, and insecurities that make us human. Ben-Horin gives us a front row seat in a gripping drama that captures what can be both cool and creepy about San Francisco, grower country, New York City, and more. And it’s a darn good story to boot. Highly recommended.”
“One of the best mystery novels from my era and area I have read to date.”
***
“Substantial Justice is a lean, fast-paced thriller that will teach you about swing dancing, the Aryan Brotherhood, gyppo loggers, and how to rob a Brink’s armored truck. Daniel Ben-Horin has pulled off the neat trick of sending compelling characters down a variety of rabbit holes, while making readers want to jump down after them.”
***
“I read it in two big gulps…Ben-Horin does for San Francisco and Northern California what Carl Hiaasen does for Florida or Elmore Leonard for LA, with side trips to NYC and Arizona.”
***
“Having lived in Arizona, Berkeley and New York during the times Ben-Horin describes, I was happily transported to a very accurate reminiscence of places and people I knew…I will anxiously await the next installment!”