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Once We Were Brothers: A Novel (Liam Taggart and Catherine Lockhart, 1) | Envi

Schuyler T Wallace
20 de septiembre de 2015
ABSOLUTELY GREAT READ FROM A MASTER NOVELIST
ONCE WE WERE BROTHERS REVIEWAttorney and author Ronald H. Balson’s highly acclaimed first novel, “Once We Were Brothers,” published in 2010, is my second read from this tremendous writer. I recently gave a 5-star review to newly released “Saving Sophie” and was so impressed I had to read his earlier work. His research and knowledge of his subject matter shines brightly in a dark story about the familiar subject of the holocaust with a unique twist.Elliot Rosenweig is a highly respected Chicago businessman and philanthropist. At a large fund raising event he gets accosted by an irate Jew, Ben Solomon, who points an empty Lugar at his head and accuses him of being a Nazi war criminal named Otto Piatek who needs to answer for his crimes. The city is aghast that a popular citizen would be accused of such activities. Rosenweig denies being Piatek, claims a mistake has been made, and refuses to press charges because the distressed old man was confused.Solomon claims that he and Rosenweig were raised in Poland by the same Jewish family, that Rosenweig, whose real name is Otto Piatek, was abandoned by his parents, that they became like brothers, and that when the Nazis invaded, Piatek’s father and mother, having become high ranking party members, reclaimed Otto and installed him in the hierarchy of the Nazi army. As the purge against Poland escalated, Piatek became a vicious enforcer of Jewish persecution, sending many to their deaths. Solomon also claims that Piatek betrayed his family and stole its wealth, along with that of many other Jews, and eventually was responsible for their deaths. His rants are largely turned aside by authorities as misdirected.Attorney Catherine Lockhart is Solomon’s choice to carry out his crusade against Piatek. He is persistent and she is reluctant. In the beginning she does not see any provable truth to Solomon’s claims and her employer doesn’t want her or her law firm to be involved. But as she learns more of his story, a story that Balson masterfully unfolds, her feisty nature and sense of compassion begins to embrace both the old man and the truth as he tells it. Eventually she adds her voice to the controversy, is dismissed by her employer, and fights to uncover the truth. Righteous claims seem to come from both sides; however only one is the truth and Lockhart is focused on bringing it to light.Balson is crystal clear with his narrative. His characterizations are magnificent. The storyline is mesmerizing and the legal wrangling is engrossing. It is a fascinating legal thriller that grabs the reader’s attention. This is a truly great book that must not be missed.Schuyler T WallaceAuthor of TIN LIZARD TALESVer másVer menos
6 personas la encontraron útil
TexasGal
21 de septiembre de 2015
Fabulous read - you won't put it down!
I SELDOM give 5 stars and I really did try to pick this story apart to try to find something wrong, or slow, or jumpy, or irrelevant, or too monotonous. But I couldn't. I'm always attracted to books about strong women who struggle and succeed and are smart. This book satisfied that desire. I'm also attracted to a book with a good storyline, maybe with a little bit of real history to it. This book satisfied that. But I have always been attracted to a book during the WWII era because I feel that time period brought out the best, and in this case, the very worse in people. Nazism, war crimes, and the killings of Jews are things no one really wants to talk about or even read about - but this author did so in a manner that made you feel you were there with Ben and then on the other hand you were with Catherine as she fought the justice system giants and Otto in particular. This could so easily have become just another Holocaust survivor's story - but it wasn't. It was an action packed, yet sentimental, story where you're rooting for the good guys to win all the way thru to the bittersweet end. Book flows well considering you're transported back and forth from wartime to the present. Mr. Balson hit a home run with this one!Ver másVer menos
Kindle Customer
16 de diciembre de 2016
The story almost got in the way of the story
The story almost got in the way of the story. The recollected World War 2 experiences were riveting and deftly told, and the main plot line was interesting and thought-provoking. I also really cared about the characters. However, without giving away too much of the plot, I rapidly tired of the lawyer complaining, in literally every chapter, that her time was valuable and her client needed to speed up his story. OK, OK, we get it - you didn't need to have the lawyer constantly say it. I also felt the ending came a bit too quickly and seemed off pace with the rest of the book. Really, though, these are minor issues with what is ultimately a great book, one that you will be glad you read.Ver másVer menos
1 persona la encontró útil
CSB
16 de junio de 2026
Wonderful book Everyone should read it
I I could not Put the book down I had to keep reading and reading until I got to the end it's the most wonderful book I've ever read it deserves more than 5 stars
The Robbins!
16 de enero de 2014
A Riveting Story
I want to start by saying that this is a great story. The author really tells a gripping tale, and he does it very well. The characters are real and I quickly began to feel like I knew them and cared about them. I couldn't wait to find out what happened next, even though in some cases I dreaded knowing (you'll understand when you read the book). The author approached a very difficult topic (the Holocaust) in an easily approachable manner. I'm a trial lawyer and I thought he did a great job of making the legal process approachable to non-lawyers without losing accuracy or realism. Once I got into the book I couldn't put it down.The book is essentially told in two parts: we're in modern day Chicago where a lawyer is trying to discovery what happened to her client and whether a viable case can be filed on his behalf (something that happens every day in law offices all over the world). As the client articulates his story, we are transported back to World War 2 Poland. We switch back and forth between them. We get to know and care about characters in both.In some ways this is a very easy book - easy to read, easy to enjoy, easy to follow. In others, it's very hard - because it deals with very emotional and difficult material, because bad things happen to good people in the book, because as a parent it is hard to read some of the things that happen.I did find the book a bit much at times - a bit too sugary or melodramatic at points. But that's a small complaint for an otherwise solid work. I highly recommend this book and hope that the author is working on another one!Ver másVer menos
7 personas la encontraron útil
HirschE
28 de junio de 2010
will make a great movie!
This book is an excellent fast paced read; a really great summer time read. It moves from start to finish, going from Chicago to Poland and back seamlessly throughout the story. I am not an attorney, but the legal scenes seem real. The deposition of Otto near the end of the book takes on a life of its own with the excitement just building. There is a lot to learn in this book, even for those of us who are Jewish, and have read and studied the Holocaust all of our lives. The interesting part of this was that the novel does not take place in a concentration camp, nor in a death camp; we see how people in a Polish town had to deal with the pressures of Nazi rule. We see Otto change from a sympathetic boy, raised by a Jewish family, into a despicable adult capable of terrible crimes. My only criticism is that Otto's character could be more fully developed by narrating from his perspective. Then we would have the contrast between Otto and Ben truly defined, and the tension would likely be even greater. I think the end was brilliant; as Elliot/Otto is arrested and shouting "do you know who I am..." there are reminders of today's powerful people who have also been humbled. The transition from a civil to a criminal case was beautiful, and again I am not a lawyer. I am told these scenes were realistic, especially for Chicago; they seem universal to me, with Chicago being the city whose politics are known to the author. This is an outstanding first novel; I am looking forward to the movie!Ver másVer menos
34 personas la encontraron útil

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Once We Were Brothers: A Novel (Liam Taggart and Catherine Lockhart, 1)

Reseñas

ABSOLUTELY GREAT READ FROM A MASTER NOVELIST

Fabulous read - you won't put it down!

The story almost got in the way of the story

Wonderful book Everyone should read it

A Riveting Story

will make a great movie!

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