A moving novel, albeit more theatrical than thrilling.
A band of Jewish vigilantes formed out of the crucible of World War II attempt to stop a neo-Nazi group from rising to political power in America.
In 1944, Ben Zvi Kantorwicz, barely a teenager, escapes Auschwitz, though his sisters and parents never make it out alive. Longing for vengeance, he becomes one of the founding members of Aleph Bet, an “organization born out of the ashes of Auschwitz and committed to the discovery and punishment of all surviving Nazis.” Over the years, the group grows from a ragtag band of soldiers in the woods of Krakow into an “international brotherhood of Jews.” One of their principal missions is to find and capture Helmut Mussman, the commandant of Auschwitz and its “stoker of the ovens” when Ben Zvi was imprisoned there. Now, in 1964, he’s the leader of Thor, a neo-Nazi group with plans to take over the state of Colorado. Shabel’s portrayal of him is as melodramatic as it is formulaic, reducing him to a cartoonish villain. “His dedication has no bounds. He wriggles, cajoles, and kills with reckless abandon. He wears blinders; his only direction is toward one end. Domination.” Meanwhile, Ben Zvi stands trial for the murder of Albert Horst, a rabid antisemite who beat an elderly Jewish man to death in front of his 7-year-old granddaughter, and then attempted to rape her. Indeed, Ben Zvi did kill Horst, but defends himself on the grounds that it was morally justified, especially during a precarious time for Jews everywhere, a movingly depicted position that’s the best part of the story. The pacing is breakneck, and the pages abound with eventful action and intrigue. However, it’s far too generously packed; there are too many subplots, including two different murder trials, pushing a complex tale into incoherence. The novel’s principal vice is its histrionic tone—the book reads like a combination of soap opera and action-adventure movie—but readers may appreciate the high-stakes storytelling.
A moving novel, albeit more theatrical than thrilling.Pub Date: April 17, 2023
ISBN: 9798391665519
Page Count: 357
Publisher: Self
Review Posted Online: Aug. 12, 2024
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
BOOK REVIEW
A superior entry in the night-on-the-nightmare-ward genre.
A medical student is assigned an overnight shift to observe a Long Island hospital’s psychiatric ward and help with emergencies. You’d never guess what happens next.
Amy Brenner isn’t even interested in psychiatry, the one medical specialty she’s never considered for her own career. Nor is she interested any more in Cameron Berger, the classmate who ended their relationship so that he could spend more time studying, and she’s not pleased to learn that he’s switched his rotation with another student so he can spend some of the next 13 hours persuading Amy to rekindle their romance. Predictably, Cam will be the least of Amy’s troubles. Apart from Dr. Richard Beck and nurse Ramona Dutton, everyone else on Ward D is much more dangerous, from elderly Mary Cummings, whose knitting needles aren’t plastic but sharpened steel, to William Schoenfeld, who’s stopped taking the medications that were supposed to silence the voices telling him to kill people, to Damon Sawyer, who’s confined in Seclusion One and can’t possibly escape, unless a power outage neutralizes the locks. Most threatening of all is Jade Carpenter, whose close friendship with Amy ended eight years ago when Amy turned her in for what ended up being only one of a whole series of thrill crimes. McFadden measures out the complications, revelations, and betrayals with such an expert hand that readers anxiously trying to figure out whom Amy can trust as her goal shifts from ticking off a toilsome requirement to surviving the night may well end up wondering whom they can trust themselves. And isn’t provoking that kind of paranoia what medical thrillers are all about?
A superior entry in the night-on-the-nightmare-ward genre.Pub Date: March 4, 2025
ISBN: 9781464227271
Page Count: 320
Publisher: Poisoned Pen
Review Posted Online: Dec. 13, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 15, 2025
BOOK REVIEW
Soapy, suspenseful fun.
A remembered horror plunges a pregnant woman into a waking nightmare.
Tegan Werner, 23, barely recalls her one-night stand with married real estate developer Simon Lamar; she only learns Simon’s name after seeing him on the local news five months later. Simon wants nothing to do with the resulting child Tegan now carries and tells his lawyer to negotiate a nondisclosure agreement. A destitute Tegan is all too happy to trade her silence for cash—until a whiff of Simon’s cologne triggers a memory of him drugging and raping her. Distraught and eight months pregnant, Tegan flees her Lewiston, Maine, apartment and drives north in a blizzard, intending to seek comfort and counsel from her older brother, Dennis; instead, she gets lost and crashes, badly injuring her ankle. Tegan is terrified when hulking stranger Hank Thompson stops and extricates her from the wreck, and becomes even more so when he takes her to his cabin rather than the hospital, citing hazardous road conditions. Her anxiety eases somewhat upon meeting Hank’s wife, Polly—a former nurse who settles Tegan in a basement hospital room originally built for Polly’s now-deceased mother. Polly vows to call 911 as soon as the phones and power return, but when that doesn’t happen, Tegan becomes convinced that Hank is forcing Polly to hold her prisoner. Tegan doesn’t know the half of it. McFadden unspools her twisty tale via a first-person-present narration that alternates between Tegan and Polly, grounding character while elevating tension. Coincidence and frustratingly foolish assumptions fuel the plot, but readers able to suspend disbelief are in for a wild ride. A purposefully ambiguous, forward-flashing prologue hints at future homicide, establishing stakes from the jump.
Soapy, suspenseful fun.Pub Date: Jan. 28, 2025
ISBN: 9781464227325
Page Count: 384
Publisher: Poisoned Pen
Review Posted Online: Feb. 1, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2025
BOOK REVIEW
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