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
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 Thoughts:
While I don’t usually read historical fiction, I was drawn in by the complexities of the plot that Kellerman created. There are a lot of threads here to follow, but it made the mystery all the more satisfying. At times, I almost forgot that I was reading something set in history; all the events so were fast paced that I needed to keep reading to find out what happened next. The mystery and suspense blend well with the historical period that Kellerman chose to write in, making the novel all the more interesting.
Though the plot was intriguing and engaging, there were times, for me, where the writing felt a bit awkward, mostly when it came to the dialogue. At the beginning, when they’re discussing the attempted murder of the kid, the dialogue didn’t feel authentic to me. Each character felt much too long winded; instead of giving the reader all of the information from the character’s conversation, Kellerman might have included some other description to better transport the reader to this time in history.
Once you get past that beginning scene, it becomes easier to become engrossed in the story. As you read on, the story picks up pace, and the dialogue flows a bit better with what’s happening in the text. All in all, Kellerman has created a suspenseful story that fans of historical fiction will thoroughly enjoy.
To read more reviews, please visit Henry Kellerman’s page on iRead Book Tours.
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.
