DNF - I had high expectations for this book, but after starting it, my attention was not grabbed in the way I prefer. This is not necessarily a bad book, but I'm not interested in finishing it at this time.

This book haunted me…maybe because it mimics current events. Beautifully written, I was constantly worried about what would happen next to the family. How much of themselves would they have to sacrifice to feel safe. Would they have anything left to give?

I've been a huge fan of Boris Fishman ever since he edited "Wild East," a collection of stories from Soviet bloc countries. In this, his newest novel, his prose has a smoldering, slow-burn feel that draws at the reader like a poultice. This story of a "minority-sect" refugee family trying to flee a dictatorship is eerily -- no, scarily -- prescient. Absolutely unputdownable.