I enjoy historical fiction and especially post WWII settings. This one has an interesting premise.
Book Details:
Book Title: The Ghost by Henry Kellerman
Category: Adult Fiction, 266 pages
Genre: Mystery/ Thriller, Historical Fiction
Publisher: Barricade Books
Release date: August 7, 2018
Tour dates: Nov 26 to Dec 14, 2018
Content Rating: PG-13 (for f-words and crude language)
Book Description:
Assassinations, a love story, a kidnapping, and many twists and turns characterizes this riveting novel of historical fiction, circa 1958, thirteen years post World War II.
Events are uncovered where The Ghost, a powerful Vatican Bishop, is sending assassins to retrieve a secret tailpiece – a hidden extension of the 1942 Wannsee Conference Papers that underpinned the Holocaust against Jews. Only two copies of this tailpiece remain where names of thousands of high level Nazis such as Eichmann and Mengele are listed along with their future destinations – should Germany lose the war.
At the same time, New York City detectives working with British M16 secret service, and Israeli Mossad agents, get Nazi hunter Simon Wiesenthal and his group, (including an Israeli sanctioned killer) involved in order to find and send the crucial coded microfilm to England’s renowned decryption center. Now, in 1958, these Jewish Nazi hunters will not forgive and not forget.
This story is newsworthy testimony regarding the villains who are actual historical figures and are named. Fitting it all together (as in the screenplay based on the story titled: “We Will Find You,”) is the avenging drama of the novel.
My Review
Reviewed by Laura Fabiani
The post WWII setting, finding a secret package related to the Holocaust against Jews, and the historical details with actual historical figures about what took place after WWII ended, were all elements that drew me to this novel. And for the most part, this is what made this book interesting, however, the execution of the story did not exceed my high expectations.
The story is told in the first person point-of-view of the character named Frank Carbone. He witnesses his 12 year-old nephew Willy being pushed off a window ledge from the 3rd floor of their apartment. This starts the search for who would do this and why. The answers lead Frank and a team of cops and agents to travel to Europe to discover a sinister operation, that includes the Vatican, to ferry wanted Nazis to other countries.
There is a lot going on in this novel but the plot is not hard to follow. What I found challenging was the way the story was written. It is made up of long dialogue paragraphs and consists of telling rather than showing. In many ways, it felt like a screenplay more than a novel. There was repetition, and the lack of creative descriptions prevented me from becoming emotionally invested in the story.
What I did find interesting was how some of the Jews formed ways to exact revenge on the Nazis. I've read a lot of books based on the Holocaust but not many based on the aftermath of the War and how it affected the Jews. I also thought that starting the story with the attempted murder of a young boy was clever and built up the mystery well.
If you are a history buff, I think this book would be appealing. If you are looking for a fast-action riveting novel, the writing style of the book does not lend to that even as the topic and plot are interesting and historical.
To read reviews, please visit Henry Kellerman's page on iRead Book Tours.
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Meet the Author:
Dr. Henry Kellerman, psychologist/psychoanalyst/author, is a practitioner in New York City. His more than 50 years of treating individuals with a host of humanity's psychological/emotional struggles as well as his more than 30 books published, is testament to his virtuosity and skill in the telling of compelling stories.
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