Magic Hour is the first of Isaacs's novels with a male protagonist. Steve Brady is a credible and complex policeman whose internal struggles are revealed while he carries out a demanding job. Although the story provides more inner conflict and family background than the usual fictional police detective, he nevertheless comes across as an officer one might meet in the streets or coffee shops of Long Island.

Unlike Isaacs's female protagonists, Steve does not carry the weight of proving himself at skills or ventures usually reserved for the opposite sex. Instead, Steve's acts include two very subtle forms of gender-role bending by the author. He is the one who has to follow his heart in order to make things right—a leap of faith which is more often the province of female characters. And in doing so, he also accomplishes the not-inconsiderable task of personal growth as...