Jonathan Rabb

This book is unlike anything I’ve ever read before. It’s breathtaking yet profoundly simple. The author truly makes you think about uncomfortable, complex social interactions. How on earth would you relate to or care for someone who survived something as hellish as the Holocaust? How do humans relate to each other while grieving different losses? How do factors such as race, religion, and socioeconomic status factor into such situations? I loved that although this book was not my normal show more “cup of tea,” I couldn’t put it down. The characters are well developed, the storyline is easy to follow and doesn’t derail into various subplots (as these types of books often do), and I found myself wanting more at the end. I would recommend this book and I will read it again myself, probably more than once. show less

I requested a galley of this book because it revolves around the Jewish community in Savannah, Georgia. Since the main character is a Holocaust survivor you may think the book is about the Holocaust. Well, not really… It is about a survivor who has to adapt to a culture so vastly different than what he knew.

Yitzhak Goldah (Ike), the survivor, comes to Savannah to live with his distant cousins, the Jeslers. Trained as a journalist he is a keen observer. While he is immediately accepted into show more the Jewish community, he learns that the Jews of Savannah have mostly assimilated into the culture around them. But there is still a sharp divide between the Reform and Conservative congregations. This is a major issue as the Jeslers are Conservative, and Ike falls in love with a Reform lady. Ike also learns the fine distinction of privately being friendly and caring about the African-Americans who work for the Jeslers, but keeping them at a distance in public. This story takes place about 20 years before the Civil Acts Movement.

Mr. Rabb expertly took me into the mind of Ike, making me feel like I was seeing through Ike’s eyes. I could feel Ike’s reactions to the drama, the fear, the love, the confusion, the uneasiness. I was happy because things seemed to be going so well for him, but then devastated when someone from his past threatened his new life.

This book made me think about attitudes in general. When you have been through a devastating event, it shapes your outlook on life. Previously serious issues now seem so petty, so trivial. This is what Ike wrestled with. I was impressed with the strength to be on his emotional rollercoaster yet to outwardly remain calm.

The book has no “action scenes”; rather it is a look at day-to-day life. It was certainly a different read – in a good way.

Thank you to Net Galley, and Edelweiss for the advance galley in exchange for an unbiased review. show less

The Second Son is the third (and at the moment) the last book of Nikolai Hoffner's series. This is a nice read, a mix between a historical novel and a thriller, that takes place in Germany and Spain during the first months of the Spanish Civil War (1936). The start is compelling: Georg, Nikolai's son, was in Spain to film the People's Olympiad when the war broke out and he was missing. However, I felt quite detached reading the central and the last part of the novel, because the dialogues show more sounded unrealistic to me (as if the characters were always hinting to something left unsaid), there were too many coincidences and a huge historical mistake (see spoiler alert ).
It isn't a depressing book for me, but doesn't match up with Night Soldiers or with Bernie Gunther's series . show less

I never had any interest in reading the Da Vinci Code, and if I'd heard about this, I might not have been interested in it, either. But somehow I picked up a damaged copy of it, and got terribly interested but it was in such bad shape that there was no way to go on reading. I found that I had to request it from the library, and as soon as it arrived I started over at the beginning. I've read it in chunks since then.If I'd read this book when it was first released, back in 1998, I'm sure it show more would have been much more chilling. It was quite effective, even in 2011. I can easily remember the public figures who are echoed in Rabb's books - there are certainly similar ones in the news every day right now (some of them the same ones!)I did, however, enjoy The Overseer for what it was. I didn't find myself chafing at the flaws other reviewers here have mentioned. Yes, government agents in such thrillers have to be nearly superhuman, and the protagonist, in order to survive, has to learn new rules very quickly. But the reader also has to suspend her disbelief, or she has no business reading such things. If the hero is an idiot, I'll accept that he's a slow learner and likely to die - but then he wouldn't be the hero, would he?All in all, a decent read if you enjoy thrillers. show less