An interesting and original thriller which focuses upon blackmail and the human dilemma.The victim is Dr Eitan Green, a skilled neurosurgeon who is driving back from work when he is involved in an accident and fails to report it to the police. There are consequences and he is forced into taking actions that put him and his marriage in danger and involve him in criminal conspiracies.The novel drifts and seems to lose focus as it meanders on but it continues to grab your attention and there is a satisfactory resolution.

Flawed but interesting and well worth reading.

This is Israeli author Gundar-Goshen’s second novel translated from its original Hebrew by Sondra Silverston. Her first “One Night, Markovitch” (2012) was also published by Pushkin Prwss and won awards in her homeland. “The Waking Lions” is a philosophical work which deals with deep moral issues yet also works well as a thriller.
Main character Eitan Green is a neurosurgeon whose life transforms one night when he hits an Eritrean immigrant with his SUV and decides to leave him for dead. His wallet is discovered at the scene by the dead man’s wife and in order to make amends and save himself from professional ruin and prison Eitan is coerced into treating illegal immigrants at night in a disused garage. The potential plot-worthiness of this is cranked up a notch as Eitan’s wife, Liat, is a policewoman involved in investigating the hit and run case.
Eitan is dragged into a situation he cannot get out of and becomes obsessed with the dead man’s wife, Sirkit, who is very much in control of his fate. Much is made of how one moment can change lives and how changes of behaviour stem from one decision. Liat knows her marriage is falling apart but cannot link it to a dead road accident victim. There’s guilt, atonement and much analysis yet the predicament Eitan finds himself in also lends itself to some gripping writing. The moral significance of the story transcends its Israeli setting and really could work located anywhere. Admittedly, there were times when the philosophising and navel-gazing of the main characters (the author has a Masters degree in psychology) slowed things down unduly but then a twist of the knife was never that far away to make Eitan’s problems even more complex.
I found it enjoyable and thought-provoking. It would seem to be a good choice for reading groups who might not find themselves all warming to the characters but it would certainly provide fruitful discussion of the issues raised.

The Waking Lions was published by Pushkin Press in March 2016 . Many thanks to Netgalley and the publishers for the review copy.

Nights at the hospital are hard for Dr Eitan Green. After one which was exceptionally exhausting, he does not drive home immediately but decides on speeding with his SUV. Suddenly, a man appears in front of him. He cannot stop anymore and runs him over. As a medical doctor he can assess the situation instantaneously: there is nothing to be done for this man. Should he call the police? Why? Just another illegal immigrant. And since he is dead anyway, nothing can be done to reverse it. Whom would it serve if he went to prison? Eitan gets back into his car and hurries away. His bad conscience follows him, but only a couple of days later does he realise how deep he is in trouble: he apparently lost his wallet next to the dead man and now a woman wants revenge. However, Sirkit does not expect money from him, she wants his expertise and forces him to help the illegal community who does not have access to medical treatment. Eitan cannot refuse and thus a double life begins which, obviously, cannot last forever, especially with a suspicious and clever wife at home.

The author has picked a very tricky conflict which does not leave the reader unmoved: first of all, how to react if you did something wrong, if you are fully aware of your crime but if you have the chance to escape without being noticed? It is tempting of course. The fact that the victim is an illegal immigrant, helpless on the one hand, living on the legal residents on the other, does not make things easier. This this specific case, Ayelet Gundar-Goshen intensifies the conflict in choosing a medical doctor as protagonist: bound by his oath the help the people, he now is responsible for somebody’s death.

What was most interesting to observe in the course of the action was the development of the relationship between Eitan and Sirkit. At the beginning, she has the upper hand, she can threaten him with her knowledge about his crime and he is bound to obey. However, in working together in the secret hospital, they get closer to each other and even some tension and attraction between them arises. Even though Eitan loves his wife, there is something fascinating about this woman who is definitely a most interesting character. Not only because of her strong backbone and command over people, but also because slowly, she is not anymore just black (or white), but develops into a very complex individual defined by the circumstances of her life, incorporating many contradictions created by the conditions and events she had to face. Both of them, Eitan and Sirkit, can represent the fact that a human being can be good and bad at the same time, devoted and egoistic, guilty and innocent.

Not to be forgotten is Liat, Eitan’s wife. She has a special gift, her ability to read people, to see through them and thus provoke a confession – quite helpful for a detective. However, it does not help her with her husband who can hide his second life for quite some time. She is suspicious, but wants to trust him. She is fighting for the truth every day, but in this particular story, there might me several truths and one of them she has to believe in.

Waking Lions is a stunning novel with much food for thought. It does not leave you unshaken if you are willing to engage in the action. It shows quite plainly that our human actions are multifaceted and complex and everything but easy to explain and understand.

I do love books that depict characters caught in a moral dilemma. Which is exactly what I got with Waking Lions by the Israeli novelist Ayelet Gundar-Goshen. How could I not like a novel which begins in this dramatic fashion:

<i>He’s thinking that the moon is the most beautiful he has ever seen when he hits the man.</i>

The 'he' in this case is Doctor Eitan Green, a skilled neurosurgeon who has just finished his shift in a backwater of a city. It's a downgrading for this doctor, the penalty he played for questioning some dubious practices by another surgeon in his previous hospital. Lose your job or leave town was the stark choice with which he was faced. So this is a man who has been hitherto an upright citizen and loving father and husband. It all goes pear-shaped when he takes his SUV out for a fast night time drive in the desert. The man he hits looks unlikely to survive but shouldn't Eitan call the police and report the accident? He knows he should. But he doesn't.

It's the turning point in his life, a decision that will set in motion blackmailing, illicit surgical operations on Eritrean refugees and a potential affair with the victim's wife. As if this isn't enough for Eitan to handle, he also finds he has unwittingly stepped into a crime network that deals in violent assaults, rape and murder. Eitan also has problems on the domestic front - his involvement with the Eritreans requires him to lie to his wife from whom he becomes increasingly distant.

The strong opening and powerful first half the book are sadly not sustained. Gundar-Goshen shifts her focus away from the accident and its repercussions to medicate on a variety of topics, from poverty and international politics to domestic life and privilege. The plot is of secondary interest it seems to the author but I found these digressions irritating - if felt like the author was simply dragging out the story by throwing in as many themes as possible. Then towards the end of the novel we get taken back to more of the police thriller type story and the question of whether Eitan will be unmasked. It makes for a frustrating read because its clear that Gundar-Goshen is a talented writer. If she'd restrained herself on the thematic front.