It’s been a while since I’ve read a historical fiction book, and this quenched my thirst. The story was tough to read, I found myself hoping for the best outcome for (most) of the characters. I also liked the dual timeline that tied the story together at the end. The characters were well rounded and developed, most were likable. Some were absolutely detestable.

I even found the ending of this book satisfying, and I am almost never satisfied with a book ending. This one felt complete.

4 stars, I enjoyed this book but I did feel like the middle was a little slow and dragged on. Other than that, this was a great story and would be perfect for any historical fiction fan.

This wonderful historical novel tells the story of Eli Rosen and his relentless pursuit of the truth.
The story begins in 1939 in Poland, where Eli’s company is “appropriated” and given to a man named Maximilian Poleski. Poleski is known as a profiteer who doesn’t care about people, only money. He knows that in order to make money with the business, he will need to keep Eli around to manage it. He promises to keep Eli, his wife, Esther, and their son safe.
Fast forward to 1946, Eli and his son have been sent to a displaced persons camp in Germany, which is occupied by the Americans. Eli, who doesn’t really know what happened to Esther, finally decides to try and get visas for himself and his son in order to go to America.
The story moves forward to 1965, as Eli goes to Chicago in search of answers and justice for Esther.
I learned some things about how things were in Poland during World War II. In addition to being well-written, the book is informative.

Thank you to Netgalley and Ronald H. Balson, for my copy of Eli’s Promise, for an honest review. This story is a beautifully/heartwarming story of a man determined to make things right, after he faces unimaginable challenges. While reading, I couldn’t believe this was a work of fiction. It was written so well that I believed Eli really existed. A fixer, in a Polish town..sets the course for Eli and his family. His betrayal splits Eli and his wife, kept them a part. Once the war was over Eli, reunited with his son.. spends the rest of his days searching for his wife. He can’t let it go. He spends years, trying to find, where his wife was sent and how she might have survived or died during the war. The story spans 20 years. The characters are so well developed and the story is so incredible. I have read many stories of WWII and this was such a different take on this subject. I really enjoyed this story and I am so glad I was able to read it. It was a four star read for me and I have recommended it to friends and family. I hope you get a chance to read this book. I have posted this on my Instagram page. Please see my review on Amazon and Barnes & Noble.

Who do you trust to survive? Who do you trust when you survive? Ronald Balson's most recent Holocaust novel tells the story of a family in Poland who they interact with to make it through the day and through the war. When Eli Rosen has to relinquish his family's business to the Nazi's it is the profiteer Max Poleski who is present. Eli and his son survive as does possibly the same Max who is peddling fake visas in the displace persons camps. Does this Max know the whereabouts of Eli's wife Esther? Fast forward to Chicago in the 1960s and Eli is still trying to find Esther and may be close to getting his answer. The story is wrapped up too neatly for me, but still a good read. Thank you to the author and St. Martin's for the ARC.

I enjoy historical fiction and was excited I was granted permission to read this book. What I thought was interesting was how it followed Eli and his family through 3 different timelines: during war, postwar and the 1960s. What I would have liked was to see more about the post war era as as a reader we don't get often and how the family coped. What I did like about this was how strong the family dynamic was.

What an amazing read. This story gripped me in and did not let up. I recommend this book to everyone!

Very compelling story with great characters.
Eli will do anything to protect his family when the Germans take over their town, even if it means having to trust the traitor, Max Poleski. When Max betrays him and his family all disappear, he vows revenge, even if it takes the rest of his life. After years of chasing him, and Max slipping away time after time, he finds himself in 1960 Chicago, once again after Max Poleski. Will he ever get justice for Max's betrayal of his friends and family?
I loved this story. Found it hard to put down.
4 stars.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher and author for an ARC of this book.The opinions expressed are my own.

Thank you to St Martin's Press and NetGalley for an advance copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

So this book follows the story of a family in Poland from the beginning of WWII until years after the war.
Eli Rosen along with his father and brother run a construction company in Lublin, Poland. Eli is married to Esther and they have a young son named Izaak. They are a Jewish family trying to survive the war, not wanting to believe the restrictions and horrors that are becoming part of their daily lives. They plan to escape across the mountains but wait too long.
The story jumps back and forth along several different timelines making it a little difficult to follow at times.
A good read that is sure to be enjoyed by many.

"National Jewish Book Winner" author # Ron Balson returns with a historical fiction saga. #'Eli's Promise' is a wonderful novel that spans three generations. And will touch your heart.
Thank you,
#Netgalley, # Ronald H. Balson, and # St. Martins Publishing for the advanced copy

Eli Rosen is too weak to walk when he is rescued from the Buchenwald concentration camp by U. S. soldiers and reunited with his young son. As he regains his strength, Eli embarks on a quest to find his wife, Esther, in the rubble of post-war Europe.

Ronald Balson skillfully weaves the novel’s plot over twenty years while maintaining an engaging pace with a series of seamless flashbacks. Furthermore, he integrates the complexities and the scope of the systematic dehumanization of Jews before, during, and after World War II. While the dialogue and characterization are a bit clunky, the story captures the insidiousness of war profiteers throughout history.

When the Nazis attack his home in Lublin, Poland, Eli is uniquely positioned to survive the invasion despite his Jewishness: His family’s construction business and skills are valuable assets to the Nazis. The invaders seize the business and name the Rosens’ shifty employee, Maximilian Poleski, operator of the brickyard. As the violence against the Jewish community intensifies, Maximilian exploits the Rosens’ desperation for his gain and ultimately separates Eli’s family.

What sets this novel apart from the large canon of World War II literature is Balson’s decision to focus on the years before and after Eli’s imprisonment. The impossible choices Eli makes to remain free, and the impossible quest to atone for those choices, create a border of light, hope, and love around the darkest event in history. Balson forces readers to straddle hope and despair to get a sense of the life-long tightrope walk Eli and millions of others performed to survive before and after the Holocaust.

A story that starts in WWII with a Jewish family and a man who plays the middle ground, friendly with the Nazis but willing to help others....for a price. This relationship follows them from Poland to Germany and finally to Chicago, America. It is a story of devotion, promise, love, but also loss, deception, and pure hatred.

I wanted to love this book. I expected it to rip my heart out and destroy me but it didn't. It emotionally fell flat. The story felt like it was being delivered matter of fact and not written in a way to evoke the emotions I was expecting. It had such promise with a great plot but the actual writing left a lot on the table.

This is my first by this author and will check others out by him.

Loved the back and forth through the decades. While it was a bit predictable, the historical references kept my attention

If you have been following my blog, you know how much of a Ronald Balson fan I am – that is why I am so excited to share this review with you guys. Balson’s newest book, Eli’s Promise, is another WWII novel, with minor connections to Ben and Hannah’s world (the characters from his first novel, Once We Were Brothers).

The description of this book doesn’t do it justice. Eli’s Promise covers an aspect of WWII that isn’t always talked about or written about. The focus is on the Nazi collaborators; the people who turned on their neighbors and friends to profit off the Nazi regime. This alone added a level of enjoyability for me; I read a lot of WWII books and whenever I come across a more unique story, it always stands out in my mind!

Told in separate time periods (WWII, Post WWII, and then a jump to 1965), Eli’s Promise captures the true nature of these “criminal” people who looked for ways to profit from the War, in the process of hurting their once friends and neighbours. Eli’s character is easily loveable and his story heartbreaking and inspiring at the same time.

I really enjoyed the latest book from Ronald Balson, but as I say with every book I have reviewed of his since Once We Were Brothers… nothing will ever be as good as Once We Were Brothers!

Balson, once again, has written, such a powerful story. Eli, his wife and son are a Jewish family caught up in the horror of the Holocaust in Poland. What's especially interesting in the plot of this book is how Eli's expertise is needed by the Germans, so he isn't immediately disposed of and destroyed by the Nazi machine.
All aspects of humanity are explored. Maximillan, who is complicit with the Nazis in an attempt to save his own
skin, is a fascinating character who keeps appearing throughout the book. We are made to ponder if everyone does get their due punishment.
Balson explores the theme of motivation and good vs. evil. The Holocaust brought out the best and worst in people. The love and caring exhibited by Eli and his family were evident. Yet, it was those characters, who through their unselfishness and desire to do well by their fellow man, that showed humanity at it best.
The book was so well researched and the story so compelling. Great read!

There is a certain element of this book that was very reminiscent of The Girl From Berlin. Both share transitions between different eras and both deal with WW11 and Jewish injustices. That is where the similarities end. This story follows the story of Eli Rosen, a family man with an esteemed business supplying construction materials and services in the small Polish town of Łódź. As the German threat creeps across Europe, Eli Rosen and his little family are slowly swept into the fray. With few options, Eli puts his trust into a shady figure who has allayed himself with the Nazi’s, while simultaneously promising to protect Eli and his family. As the war drags on the family is fractured apart, and by the time the Allies liberate the camps, Eli is left with little other than his young son. Thinking that the man who betrayed his trust is dead, Eli tried to move on. When the camp of liberated Jews where Eli now lives finds evidence of a black market visa dealer in their midst, Eli suspects his old foe may have returned from the dead. He spends the next 2 decades hunting the man that continuously lied to him and put his family in jeopardy. There is a certain bittersweet quality to this story. The characters lose so much, and while they move on and rebuild their lives, they can’t ever get everything they lost back. Ronald Balson is always a master of blending real characters, times and events with fictional characters that feel real. For fans of the genre or the author this should fit right in as a must read to your library. review posted to Goodreads, Litsy, Facebook, LibraryThing, and Amazon.

I really enjoyed this fast and easy read. There were some instances where the transition between scenes, events, and timeliness were nonexistent, and I found myself re-reading from where the transition occurred. Overall, I enjoyed the fictional story within the context of history.

Thank you to netgalley and the publisher for providing a copy of this book to read and review. The opinions expressed here are my own.

Excellent historical fiction spanning several decades. I appreciate the research and detailed story.

<i>Eli's Promise</i> follows Eli and his son, Isaac, through three periods in time: when Poland was invaded by Germany at the start of World War II, following liberation, and 1965 Chicago. The book's aim, as stated by the summary, is to provide insight on profiteering through the ages via the historical fiction lens. It accomplishes this, but the book itself fell flat for me.

Immediately, I was struck by the simplistic writing style. The sentences, transitions, and shifts in time felt designed for a middle grade reader. As a result, the scenes that are meant to land as tragic or emotionally fraught were dry, easy reading. While I can enjoy books that move back and forth between eras, <i>Eli's Promise</i> left me hanging between chapters--not in a good way. The distance between each section made me feel unsettled and unfinished, and by the time I returned to the previous thread, I was so enmeshed in the latest thread that I wanted to continue there.

The story is an important one. Reading about Lublin, Poland and its place in Nazi history is a piece of the vast WWII-landscape that should be intentionally recorded (in fiction and nonfiction alike). Sadly, I was underwhelmed by this novel. Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for the ARC.

I struggle with just how to put this book into words. A more heart wrenching Holocaust book will be hard to find. The books from this era about people who were persecuted at the whim of people and a country, tears my heart in pieces. This book did that and then some. All readers know there are books that stay with you long after you finish turning the pages. This will go down as one of them for me!

I voluntarily reviewed a copy of this book provided by NetGalley.

Ronald Balson has written a story that will stay with the reader for some time. It is a story that had me questioning if it was based on real life events and by that alone I think shows the quality of writing and storytelling.

This is a story of a husband in Poland during WW2 and in Chicago in 1965. I found that this was a unique combination of timelines and locations in addition to the male point of view. The WW2 historical fiction books that I tend to read are most often written by women and have a woman as the main character. I enjoyed Balson's style and POV. This was a fast-paced book especially in the Chicago setting which made me not willing to put the book down.

There were a few things in the story that made me question the feasibility which is the only reason that I gave this story 4 stars and not 5.

I received an ARC of this book. All thoughts & opinions are my own.