The Nazi Hunter: A Novel [Hardcover]

Alan Elsner (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: June 6, 2007

Nicknamed "the Nazi Hunter," Marek Cain, deputy director of the Office of Special Investigations at the Justice Department, has for ten years been the point man for tracking down ex-Nazis who have fraudulently entered this country since World War II and bringing them to justice.

One late afternoon, a distraught German woman eludes security and slips into Cain's office. "I have documents," she says, "important documents only for the Nazi Hunter." She promises to bring them the next day. When she doesn't

show, he dismisses her as just another crackpot. But when he reads in the Washington Post next morning that the woman has been brutally murdered, he

senses he's on to something big. He must find those documents. The trail leads from Washington to Miami, to Boston, back to the Belzec concentration camp in Poland, where half a million Jews were murdered in the winter of 1942, and into the lair of America's fascist militias.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

At the start of this gripping debut thriller set in 1994, a German-accented woman named Sophie Reiner appears at the desk of Marek Cain, a Nazi hunter in the U.S. Justice Department's Office of Special Investigations, and tells Marek that she can deliver smoking gun documents concerning Belzec, an extermination camp in Poland where half a million Jews were murdered in 1942. Marek is extremely interested, both professionally and personally: his own grandparents perished at Belzec. The next day, Sophie turns up dead in her hotel room, where the police find a CD of Argentinean baritone Roberto Delatrucha singing Schubert lieder. The possible Argentinean connection sets off alarms for the veteran investigator, and soon he's hot on the trail of the famous singer. Subplots involving neo-Nazis out to blow up Washington, and the newly elected Republican congress threatening to cut off OSI funding add suspense, but it's Marek's quest to expose Delatrucha's past that drives this compelling tale. Elsner is also the author of Gates of Injustice: The Crisis in America's Prisons and Guarded by Angels, a Holocaust family chronicle. (July)
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Review

"A gripping debut thriller . . . A compelling tale." -- Publishers Weekly

"Entertaining . . . The plot twists accelerate nicely. . . . An intriguing protagonist, terrifying historical lessons, and a well-orchestrated, pulse-pounding conclusion." -- Kirkus Reviews

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 336 pages
• Publisher: Arcade Publishing (June 6, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1559708395
• ISBN-13: 978-1559708395
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 6.4 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.3 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (23 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,242,409 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

I've been a journalist for 32 years, having lived in Israel, Britain, Sweden, Romania and the United States. I've flown with the Secretary of State and on Air Force One, gone jogging with George W. Bush, witnessed wars, terrorism and natural disasters.
I helped build a memorial in a Nazi extermination camp, helped expose the Rwandan genocide and wrote a Holocaust memoir.
I love literature, movies and music. I like to hear from fellow readers.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Nazi Hunter, June 21, 2007

By 

Gary Berman - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Nazi Hunter: A Novel (Hardcover)

This historical novel is captivating. During the second reading (I seldom read books twice) I couldn't put it down. The characters come to life and the twists and turns of the plot kept me hooked. This book is perfect for anyone who likes thrillers with accurate modern history, a little romance and a very unusual plot.

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Jewish James Bond?, August 15, 2007

By 

Jay Leites (New York, NY) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Nazi Hunter: A Novel (Hardcover)

Simon Wiesenthal, the late, famous real-life Nazi hunter once remarked "I am not a Jewish James Bond..." The hero of Alan Elsner's novel The Nazi Hunter may not be a Jewish 007, but during the course of one investigation, he is forced to use his wits, wisdom and weapons to spectacular effect.

Alan Elsner is an award winning journalist with 30 years of experience under his belt. Most of that experience was garnered at that venerable global news service Reuters. For decades Elsner has gone head to head with captains of industry and heads of state in a pressure-cooker, sink-or-swim environment where there are no hacks, no faking it, and deadlines are a rare luxury. The man can write.

Elsner's first book, Gates of Injustice (2004), is a compelling exposé of the U.S. prison system: it tells how more than 2 million Americans came to be incarcerated, what it's really like on the inside and how a giant "prison-industrial complex" promotes imprisonment over other solutions.

His second book, Guarded by Angels (2005) is the thrilling true story of how three young Polish Jews (his father, uncle and their cousin) survived both Hitler and Stalin.

The Nazi Hunter (2007) is a novel and is Elsner's first foray into fiction. It is a page turner, hard to put down, and is among the most auspicious first novels I've read.

In his latest book he turns his formidable knowledge and expertise towards a gripping thriller weaving together fierce partisan politics, the search for ex-Nazi war criminals, romance, music and a crazed far-right militia intent on bringing down the government.

His protagonist, Marek Cain, a Nazi hunter in the U.S. Justice Department's Office of Special Investigations, may not be a Jewish James Bond. He may prefer red wine (not shaken, not stirred) to martinis. But hey, how many action-adventure heroes keep kosher or suspend investigations for Sabbath observance?

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A great suspense story!, December 24, 2007

By 

U. Ben-ami (Maryland) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Nazi Hunter: A Novel (Hardcover)

Having been affected by my family's Holocaust experience, at first I was hesitant picking up, what appeared like `another Holocaust related book'. Despite my reservations, I was quickly enthralled, filled with suspense and with pride about the protagonist, the `hero amongst us.' I developed a strong personal `identification' with Marek, the Justice Department employee turned detective. I was also relieved that the plot takes place in the United States, many decades after the holocaust.

Because I really liked the book, I want to share with you my thoughts.

I thought it was superbly written, believable and compelling. Character development was excellent, especially given that the story involves suspense and action.

The author does a convincing job in merging Marek's cultural, psychological and spiritual world, his decisions and his detective work, expertly weaving it all into a suspenseful story. I almost never read detective stories, because they tend to lead you in one direction and solve the riddle in another direction, sometimes with new information, fabricated at the end. The Nazi Hunter evolved gradually, logically, adding needed information as it became available to Marek, and allowing the riddle to unfold logically, and the reader to hear the doubts and participate in the hunt.

I thank the author for this very satisfying book. I have already heartily recommended it to my friends.