I want to thank St Martin’s Press and NetGalley for allowing me to read and review The Righteous by author Ronald Balson.
Mr Balson has delivered another spellbinding piece of Historical Fiction. It’s Budapest and the year is 1944.
His fictional characters, classmates from the University of Michigan, Julia and Theresa, take us through a horrendous time in history. Hitler is on the march, determined to rid all of Europe of the Jewish people. For several years Budapest has been spared Hitler’s wrath. But it was only a matter of time. Theresa has not been able to contact her parents for over a year and is very concerned. What happens next is what this book is about.
Can she find her family? What are their lives like? What can be done to help them and others?
Afraid of the outcome. History has told us about Auschwitz and the concentration camps! But you need to keep reading!
The Righteous is scheduled for publication 09/09/2025.

Absolutely fantastic. Easiest 5 stars given to a fantastic book! Excited to read more by this author! Will be sharing with my Facebook group.

Having read and enjoyed ALL of Ronald Balsam’s prior novels, I was eager to read this endeavor and thank NetGalley and the publisher for the opportunity. However, I must say that this book was a complete disappointment to me. Having visited the extermination camps in Poland and the Czech Republic, I am very much aware of the history and the horrors of the Holocaust. I felt that most of this book was written as a history of what occurred in Hungary with several asides concerning the involvement of one family. To my way of thinking, the characters were not a compelling part of the story but rather a means of moving the plot forward to a very abrupt conclusion that actually left the reader wondering what happened. It is almost as though this book is the first volume in a series.

I thought this was a very informative take for a historical fiction that really focused on family and trying to protect those who need help. I really liked Julia and her relationships she builds with others as well as how willing she is to work to protect those who can’t protect themselves and put herself in danger in the process. I also enjoyed Carl Lutz and he gave a good take on how many were helping but also needed to protect themselves and their own country to not get themselves in trouble. Theresa and her family really had you invested and I believe really showed why many did not want to leave their homes.

The only issue I had was the ending seemed rushed and didn’t really close up the story for me as the rest of the book is so detailed and thorough I felt the ending lacked that.

This brave Word War II story will follow the brave adventures of those who are trying to help the jews from being victims of Hitler's persecution. This story also tells the brave story of one woman's brave journey in Europe that originally started out as following her boyfriend's band around. With all the problems being caused by the war will these brave people be able to accomplish what they want?
Our main character Julia is living in the United States in the late 1930's. Much to her parents disappointment she decides to leave home to follow her boyfriends band around. However, she later realizes she made a mistake and breaks it off in Amsterdam. She decides to stay in the Netherlands and work for the government which ends up being a huge success.
However with her huge sucess it doesn't last long with the issues of the war. She has a friend back in the states who is worried about her parents who live in Budapest and are Jewish because she hasn't heard from them. From there they will embark on a journey to not only help Theresa's parents but also the lives other jews as well.
Overall this was a fantastic story about hope and bravery. I am super honored that I took the time to read this novel.
I received an arc copy from Netgalley and all opinions are of my own.