The Lazarus Project

I quite enjoyed The Lazarus Project by Aleksandar Hemon which is set in two time periods. A writer, Brik,  (in 2004) has been researching the killing of Lazarus Averbuch in early 20th century Chicago.  He died allegedly trying to assassinate the Chief of Police.  Brik receives a grant to write his book and is determined to earn some money rather than continue to be "kept" by his surgeon wife.  Brik and his friend Rora go to eastern Europe to find out more about Lazarus before he came to America.  Lazarus and his family were driven out of Russia because they were Jews. Brik is the narrator in alternate chapters.  The story of Lazarus is told in the third person, perhaps Brik's version of events. Rora had been in Sarajevo during the war in the 1990s and Brik learns more about that and what happened to Rora.  The two time periods are similar in that there is an hysteria regarding "foreigners" or people whom the establishment does not understand and therefore treat with suspicion. 4/5