Eli's Promise

This historical novel takes place in Lublin, Poland during the Nazi occupation during WW2, the American displacement zone post WW2 and Chicago during the Vietnam era.. I had not read any novels about the American Displacement Camps and  found that part very interesting.  The main protagonist Eli and his family are well developed characters as is the antagonist, Max. Eli loses his family, business, and way of life in horribly difficult circumstances yet he perseveres. Max and his cohorts ( Max is fictional while the Germans are actual war criminals) embodies all the depravity of the war in ghettos and occupied lands. The novel brings to light the anti-Semitism and difficulties the Holocaust victims faced after they were freed from the concentration camps. Eli spends a considerable amount of time searching for Max only to have him escape retribution time after time. Ronald Balson has created an emotional educational and informative historical novel. I look forward to reading more by this author. Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martins press for this wonderful novel in exchange for my honest opinion.

Wow! Another great read from Ronald Balson! I have read all of his books and he never disappoints! I was delighted to receive an ARC of his new book from the publisher and NetGalley as I am always anxiously awaiting his next book.
  Ronald Balson is a fantastic historical fiction writer and his characters are portrayed flawlessly. This book follows Eli Rosen and his family during 3 time periods, World War II, post war Poland, and Chicago in the Viet Nam era. This was a harrowing tale of Eli's quest to bring justice to a war criminal many years later but it is also a heartbreaking story about the cost of war and the strength of family. I would highly recommend this book as I have shared all my Ronald Balson books to anyone who will read them!

Eli’s Promise

 A Promise Kept

A family in Poland, Eli, Esther, and their son Izaak were living a happy life until the Nazis invaded Poland.  The story that will be told within the pages of this book should never have happened, but it did. The story, although fiction, has actually been based on actual places , happenings, and military personnel. Sadly people like those described on the book actually existed.

As things steadily worsened for the Jewish people after the Nazis took over Poland they still had hope that if they waited it out things would get better and the Nazis would leave.  Unfortunately for most of them they did not survive to see this come about. 

The story is about one family and one man in particular, Eli. He made a promise to his son that someday he would take him to America.  He waited too long by trusting an untrustworthy man named Maximilian who promised to keep his family safe and failed to do so. By the time Eli decided to flee with his family it was too late, his wife Esther had been sent to a prison camp.

The story begins with the liberation by the Americans of the prison camp where Eli and Izaak were sent and their rescue.  It goes back and tells the story of their life before the Nazis and living under occupation.  They lived everyday with these horrors by their love and will to survive. You will be taken to the displaced persons camp after they were liberated without Esther because he did not know where she was sent. Finally these pages will take you to Chicago and an investigation to finally catch Maximilian and make him pay for his crimes.

I did not write the story here, you must read it for yourself. It is tragic but at the same time there is love between the family, the father and son and so many others before and after the occupation. 

It is a horrible story about an equally horrible time in history.  Even amongst the atrocities against the Jewish people by the Nazis there is such a beautiful story of a closeness that only love can bind in a family.

This story will stay with you for a long time and you will remember from reading it that even amongst the darkest times the light of hope and love still shines through.

It was a beautiful story and I will remember it.  I think you should read it, I highly recommend it.

Thanks to Ronald H. Balson, St. Martin's Press, and NetGalley for granting my wish and allowing me to read an advance copy of the book.

All I can say about this book is WOW!  What a truly remarkable, heartbreaking and extraordinary story of a very sad time. Ronald Balson did it justice with the characters and plot. The 3 time periods flowed flawlessly. Would definitely recommend this book.

I have read every book by this author and the newest one did not disappoint 
Ronald Balson writes about the Holocaust and you are totally involved in the people who lived and died through these horrible events.
In Eli’s Promise we read about the Rosen family
And all they had to endure.
It’s an excellent historical novel.

I have been a fan of Ronald Balson's books since I read  Once We Were Brothers many years ago. With this book, Eli's Promise, Mr. Balson has again crafted a story that grabbed my interest from the first page. It does begin during the Holocaust and my heart was wrenched at what his characters had to endure. I was very caught up in Eli's life and that of his family. But what really made this book so interesting for me is that Mr. Balson jumped to continue their story in a displaced persons camp after the war and then made another jump to the United States in the mid 1960s. The back and forth of the time periods kept me thinking about how the story would progress over the years and what connected the various events. In my opinion this is a different kind of war story, one that deals with corruption and the base inclinations of people to profit off the misery of others. I think this will become another classic from a master storyteller.