Hey, I’m Aaron Gimmelman, I’m twelve and on America’s Most Wanted List. Well, me and my family. They’ve labeled us The Wild Woodstock Gang. It’s really my dad Barry’s fault. We lost all our money in the 1987 Stock Market Crash and started robbing banks out of the only thing the government didn’t repossess, the family’s gas-guzzling RV.
It all began pretty innocently, just a few convenience stores off the interstate. The cash drawer when the clerk wasn’t looking. But now we’ve hit a bank in Virginia and an even bigger one in Boca Raton, and well, the money is flowing in, BUT we also got the FBI on our ass.
Now we’re leaving Boca behind, along with the first girlfriend I’ve ever had, Heidi. At least, I think she’s my girlfriend. Her brother Troy is joining us, so she probably wants to spit in my face for taking him away. But we really need another guy in the crew, especially since Dad wants to hit up an even bigger bank down South. This time we’ll all have guns, and let me tell you, we’ve been practicing, even little Jenny, and I have a pretty decent shot.
One thing Heidi said really stuck with me though. She said if the cops eventually catch up with us, for us Gimmelmans kids to turn our parents in. I don’t want to do it, but she said to start writing down everything that happened to us in a journal, all the danger our parents put us through, so when the time comes, us kids can get off. Because we’re the children and Mom and Dad should’ve known better. I mean, we’re making a lot of money, more money than Dad ever made as a stockbroker, even before the Crash, but at the last heist, Dad got shot in the ass. He’s got enough meat there to absorb the bullet, but still, like, should he really be putting us in those kind of situations?
So, that’s what I’m doing now, writing all of this down. I’ve always wanted to be a writer, but never felt I really had a story to tell. Us on the Most Wanted list is certainly a story, so buckle up, cause I’ve got lots more to tell!
The Great Gimmelmans
Genre: Heist Crime, Traditional Mystery
Release: November 2023
Format: Print, Digital
Purchase Link
Middle child Aaron Gimmelman watches as his family goes from a mild-mannered reform Jewish clan to having over a million dollars of stolen money stuffed in their RV’s cabinets while being pursued by the FBI and loan sharks. But it wasn’t always like that. His father Barry made a killing as a stockbroker, his mother Judith loved her collection of expensive hats, his older sister Steph was obsessed with pop stars, and little sister Jenny loved her stuffed possum, Seymour.
After losing all their money in the Crash of 1987, the family starts stealing from convenience stores, but when they hit a bank, they realize the talent they possess. The money starts rolling in and brings the family closer together, whereas back at home, no one had any time for bonding due to their busy schedules. But Barry’s desire for more, more, more will take its toll on the Gimmelmans, and Aaron is forced into an impossible choice: turn against his father, or let his family fall apart.
From Jersey, down to an Orthodox Jewish community in Florida where they hide out, and up to California, The Great Gimmelmans goes on a madcap ride through the 1980s. Filled with greed and love and the meaning of religion and tradition until the walls of the RV and the feds start closing in on the family, this thrilling literary tale mixes Michael Chabon and the Coen Brothers with equal parts humor and pathos.
BUCKLE UP!
Meet the author
Lee Matthew Goldberg is the author of twelve novels including The Ancestor and The Mentor along with his five-book Desire Card series. His YA series Runaway Train is currently with actress Raegan Revord from Young Sheldon attached to develop his original written pilot. Visit Lee at LeeMatthewGoldberg.com.