OVERVIEW
1944. Physics professor Alfred Mendl is separated from his family and sent to the men’s camp, where all of his belongings are tossed on a roaring fire. His books, his papers, his life’s work. The Nazis have no idea what they have just destroyed. And without that physical record, Alfred is one of only two people in the world with his particular knowledge. Knowledge that could start a war, or end it.
Nathan Blum works behind a desk at an intelligence office in Washington, DC, but he longs to contribute to the war effort in a more meaningful way, and he has a particular skill set the U.S. suddenly needs. Nathan is fluent in German and Polish, he is Semitic looking, and he proved his scrappiness at a young age when he escaped from the Polish ghetto. Now, the government wants him to take on the most dangerous assignment of his life: Nathan must sneak into Auschwitz, on a mission to find and escape with one man.
The One Man, a historical thriller from New York Times bestseller Andrew Gross, is a deeply affecting, unputdownable series of twists and turns through a landscape at times horrifyingly familiar but still completely compelling.
REVIEW
As most of you know, WWII is one of my favorite time periods. So, this book had me hooked from the very first. The majority of this book takes place inside Auschwitz, which is harrowing enough. Then add Nathan’s mission, sneaking into Auschwitz to rescue a professor, and you have a tale which is agonizing and chilling!
There were many places I literally had to put the book down and breathe a second. The suspense which runs rampant throughout the novel kept me in knots. To say it is intense is an understatement.
It is technical in many places, especially when the professor is trying to save his work in a very usual manner. This did not take away from the read at all. It added to the understanding of the mission and the terrifying way the prisoners of the death camps were forced to live.
I am not one to give away a spoiler and I really want to with this book. There are so many twists and turns it is hard not to give something away. I think this is one of the best books by Andrew Gross I have ever read.
I received this novel from Netgalley for a honest review
PURCHASE HERE
