The Longest Night [Hardcover]

Gregg Keizer (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: August 5, 2004

A thrilling debut that puts an unforgettable new spin on the World War II suspense novel: what if the Resistance had approached the notorious Jewish gangster Meyer Lansky for help?

Leonard "Mouse" Weiss has worked as a hit man for Meyer Lansky-the legendary Brooklyn Jewish crime boss-for years. But with his last "drop," Mouse has blown it, big-time. Now Lansky needs Weiss out of town fast . . . and along comes the perfect opportunity.

An underground Resistance movement based in Europe needs muscle and money to intercept a train carrying Dutch Jews to their deaths. They've timed their plan carefully. The U.S. State Department and the British Foreign Service are about to meet in Bermuda to discuss what is happening to Europe's Jews, and if this rescue can be pulled off while the conference is under way, it could finally galvanize the Allies to take action.

Killing two birds with one stone, Lansky sends a reluctant Mouse to do the job with simple instructions: Do not screw this one up. But Hitler's Europe isn't Canal Street, and before he knows it, Mouse finds himself ensnared in a race against capture that grows more complicated and deadly with each passing second. And this time he's looking out for more than just himself.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

When Mouse Weiss, a hit man for Jewish mafia boss Meyer Lansky in 1943 New York City, screws up a hit by leaving a witness alive, he is sent to war-torn Europe to rescue thousands of Dutch Jews before they can be shipped to concentration camps in this suspenseful tale of wartime conspiracy and betrayal. Cynical Mouse, resentful of the assignment, plans to steal the $100,000 Lansky gives him to fund the plot as soon as he gets a chance. But he has his hands full dealing with his unorthodox partners: a crazy German Jew and a resistance cell of idealistic Dutch patriots infiltrated by traitors and collaborators. The plan is to highjack a train of Jewish prisoners and race to the Dutch coast where fishing boats will pick everyone up, but German counter-intelligence is very good, and soon the resistance is on the run. Ambushes and shootouts lead to a riveting showdown, and then to a moment of truth for Mouse, who must take responsibility for the fate of those in his charge—and for that of Reka, a fierce Jewish resistance fighter with whom he has fallen in love. Nail-biting wartime action is heightened by charged moral decision-making in this strong first novel with a surprisingly tragic ending.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

About the Author

Gregg Keizer is a reporter for the TechWeb online news service (www.techweb.com) and is at work on his second novel.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 384 pages
• Publisher: Putnam Adult; 1St Edition edition (August 5, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0399151702
• ISBN-13: 978-0399151705
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 6.2 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,740,195 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent Read...Fast Action, January 18, 2005

By 

D. Howarth "reodon" (Denver) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Longest Night (Hardcover)

I saw this book in the local library and picked it up to read the inside jacket. Seemed interesting. Took it home and read it in two days. Couldn't put it down. Starts out a little slow, but picks up quickly. A great read.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Good book., October 14, 2005

By 

Matt - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Longest Night (Paperback)

If you like WWII thrillers with the good guys struggling to overcome long odds to defeat evil personified in the Third Reich, this is the book for you. I do agree with some earlier reviewers that the book takes a while to build up steam, but then it holds your interest, non-stop.
The endearing character of Mouse goes through a change of heart because of the responsibilies thrust upon him and the love that he finds along the way.
There's lots of action and suspense. Highly recommended.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars It's good, October 30, 2006

By 

Dana J. Campbell - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Longest Night (Hardcover)

I'm not finished reading this book yet, but I so far I think it's pretty good. The one thing that I absolutley love about this book, is that it has a little bit of everything. It has war descriptions, love, hate, betrayl, and ofcourse the Nazis in Europe. The people in this book are on a mission to let people around the world know that Jews were in mortal danger, and to show that they could be saved; but this is lost along the way in the first half of the book. It slowly goes into it, but that's fine because it makes up for it with the obstacles it provides for the characters. This book has so many different characters in it. It has gangsters, soldiers, engineers, police officers, jews that escaped from concentration camps, and other. I like how in the beginning of the book each person was on their own, but then everybody gradually come together. After reading this book, for awhile I started to think that the Mouse (the main character who is a hit man) is good, and that him killing all those people along the way was ok. The book does that to you because the characters in this book seem so real. I'm very eager to finish this book.