Joseph Force Crater, was a New York County, Justice of the New York Supreme Court; he was a trial judge.  Born 1889, vanished 1930, and declared legally dead 1939; Crater, last seen exiting a café on West 45th Street, Manhattan; went missing amidst political scandal. 

 His exodus thrust Crater into popular ethos as one of the most enigmatic missing persons cases of the twentieth century; in spite of immense publicity, the matter was never resolved and was at last, formally, closed forty years after he vanished. 

Crater’s disappearance powered civic concern rearding New York City dishonesty, sleaze and exploitation and became an aspect leading to the collapse of the Tammany Hall party-political machine. 

 Writer Glenn Lazar Roberts says of his Judge Crater Takes a Powder 'The most mysterious disappearance of the 20th century is solved as New York Supreme Court Justice Joseph Crater goes undercover for the FBI in this hilarious satire set in mid - century America, with an eccentric cast of characters including Amelia Earhart, J. Edgar Hoover, Orson Welles, German spies, Japanese submarines, space folding transvestites, Mormon mafia, and recipe - obsessed nuns, exposing a galactic conspiracy of aliens intent on flooding the Earth through global warming .' 

  Judge Crater Takes a Powder commences with the circumstances as are pretty much known regarding the vanishing act of Joseph Force Crater

   Episode 1, set in the court room introduces an abrasive Judge Crater berating a young lawyer before shifting quickly to the judges’ chambers where Crater sorts files, sends his clerk to locate a burn bowl and lighter fluid before he and the clerk traipse down to a small enclosed area where Crater burns the files he does not want saved.

He sends the clerk to the bank to withdraw $5,150, a large sum in 1929, before the clerk drives Crater to his apartment where he exits the vehicle, tells his clerk to take the rest of the day off, and sends the fellow off to return the vehicle to its accustomed parking lot.  

 And, it is at this juncture, that the tales takes a turn toward crazed, imaginative and ironic spoof.

 Crater soon finds himself meeting FBI director Hoover and learns that the Vatican is now controlled by the Masons, Mussolini and the Chartreuse Gang. So, the FBI is again sending Crater undercover as the chief spy catcher.  This time he will be going to Nevada.

 A truck loaded with wood, and another with purple mannequins, Mormon Nazis, black limos, men called Bugs, Paulie, Frankie, The Chartreuse Gang, …

And the tale moves on; Nuns who tie up their habits with strips of rawhide, panhandlers, escapes and close calls, an eccentric Priest and his craven altar boy Conan, near disaster, dumpsters that are that and more, siridogs, amphian creatures …

Checking Amazon I find Editorial Reviews:

 "Nuts!" Sirius Reviews  

“Nuts!” Sirius Reviews

"Nuts!" Sirius Reviews

And, I must confess, that is pretty much my reaction to the book as well.  

  Writer Roberts interweaves historical fact with castles in the air, dubiousness and irony to create a fast-paced narrative filled with the almost plausible as well as out-and-out incredible in this sardonic romp.    

  Not for everyone, those who do not care for satire, or cannot tolerate sexual innuendo and coarse language will not likely care much for Judge Crater Takes a Powder.  

 Not really my fav genre, on the other hand, for those who do like a bit of sarcasm swathed in quirkiness and screwball circumstance; Judge Crater Takes a Powder should prove to be a worthwhile read.

   Happy to recommend Judge Crater Takes a Powder for those who find satire enjoyable, and those not easily dismayed, repulsed or dazed.  

  Note:  JUDGE CRATER TAKES A POWDER (Dark Lotus Books, 2016) is Book 1 in a new series of no - holds - barred political satires: THE ADVENTURES OF THE RADIATED LESBIAN NUN, featuring Maggie, the water-allergic derby queen of questionable DNA. Political correctness may never recover!

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Reviewed by: MOLLY REVIEWS Books       molly martin    

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    Amazon Biography

  Glenn Lazar Roberts is an attorney and writer of sci-fi, horror, satire, and adventure fantasy novels.  A linguist and translator, Roberts has taught college, edits the work of aspiring writers, and sometimes hosts writing critique circles.

     "I love language. I am perpetually afloat on a sea of script."

AMAZON PRODUCT DETAILS 

  series: Adventures of the Radiated Lesbian Nun (Book 1) paperback: 280 pages

publisher: Dark Lotus Books (September 14, 2016)

language: English

• ISBN-10: 0967580951

• ISBN-13: 978-0967580951 Product Dimensions: 4.4 x 0.6 x 7 inches