Abe Lieberman is a strong, sympathetic character, an Everyman whose love for his family is only matched by his quiet, zealous commitment to justicea commitment that is sorely tested on the mean streets of Chicago. The Big Silence takes Lieberman and his Irish partner, Bill Hanrahanthe Rabbi and the Priest, as they are known on the streetson a journey that will test their consciences to the limit. When the young son of an informant in a government witness protection program is kidnapped and a grisly death occurs, Lieberman and Hanrahan will have to make some hard choices to set things right.