A Thriller with the Heart of a Jewish Father-Son Love Story

Aug 21, 2026 by Two Sues On the Aisle

By Susie Rosenbluth

It has long been said that parents will give children 5,000 chances to do better next time, and when they use up those opportunities, they’ll get 5,000 more.

In Gary Morgenstein’s newly released novel, Jesse’s Girl, a single Jewish father tries to parent his adopted, drug-addicted teenage son, only to discover that sometimes the problems are so large and complicated, all the love in the world may not be enough. By all that’s right, love should suffice, but as this thriller with the heart of a coming-of-age story shows, evolving parental skills, including knowing when it’s okay not to spill the whole truth, can make all the difference. The boy needs to come into his own–but so does his father.

Teddy Mentor’s odyssey of determination to save his son takes the reader from upper-middle-class Brooklyn all the way to the wilds of Montana, where his son is supposed to be ensconced in a rehab program. By helping Jesse learn that genes and DNA are only part of the developmental story, Teddy might just give himself a chance at rehabilitation through the blessings of a new family forged by love, if not blood.

Beautifully written and cinematic in scope, Jesse’s Girl is, by turns, witty, surprisingly funny, and heartbreakingly poignant. The fully developed characters and crackling, sharp dialogue speak to Mr. Morgenstein’s background as an award-winning playwright and the author of, among other novels, the critically acclaimed “The Dark Depths” dystopian baseball trilogy.

Jessie’s Girl is a winner in more ways than one.