Night of Broken Souls [Mass Market Paperback]

Thomas F. Monteleone (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 1, 1998

A psychiatrist investigates his patients' past-life memories of the Holocaust.

Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal

After Manhattan psychiatrist J. Michael Keating rescues a suicidal young woman wielding a gun, he discovers that she is part of a puzzling phenomenon. Average citizens all over the world have begun suffering blackouts and vivid nightmares of death at Nazi extermination camps such as Auschwitz and Treblinka. When Keating and his assistant-turned-lover Pamela connect with Rabbi Irwin Klingerman, who has amassed research on the unusual memories, the three plan a symposium for the "reincarnated." An eerie similarity permeates everyone's memories: a sadistic, ghoulish man known only as Der kleine Engel. At the symposium in New York City, the group faces recycled horror as evil personified erupts and seeks a showdown with Good. This Jesuit-educated author of The Resurrectionist (LJ 11/15/95) has a gift for complex characters. For most public library collections, particularly where Christian fiction circulates well.?Susan A. Zappia, Maricopa Cty. Lib. Dist., Phoenix
Copyright 1997 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Product Details

• Mass Market Paperback: 448 pages
• Publisher: Aspect (October 1, 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0446605778
• ISBN-13: 978-0446605779
• Product Dimensions: 4.2 x 0.8 x 6.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 7.5 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,632,692 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

16 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Am I the "Rabbi Klingerman" in this book?, August 29, 1998

By 

Rabbi Yonassan Gershom (Minnesota, USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

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This review is from: Night of Broken Souls (Hardcover)

Of course not -- Rabbi Klingerman is just a fictional character, right?

Well, yes and no.

True, his appearance and personality are not a bit like me -- I'm a small-boned, fastidious person who *never* goes around spontaneously hugging people! So in that sense, the overweight, bombastic, rumpled Rabbi Klingerman in the novel is definitely *not* me!

On the other hand, I *am* the famous rabbi who has written two non-fiction books about cases of reincarnation from the Holocaust period (Beyond the Ashes: Cases of Reincarnation from the Holocaust and From Ashes to Healing: Mystical Encounters With the Holocaust -- and I am the only such rabbi on earth, as far as I know. So there is at least a superficial resemblance. Plus, he lives in a small town north of Milwaukee, and I live in a small town north of Minneapolis...

So, naturally, I was more than curious to see how Thomas Monteleone would handle a novel inspired, at least in part, by my own reincarnation work.

In terms of plot, suspense, and surprising twists, I found NIGHT OF BROKEN SOULS to be a very good read. Even though I am more familiar with the topic than the average reader might be, there were still enough surprises to keep me on the edge of my seat. The plots and sub-plots were exciting, and the nightmares, flashbacks, and past-life regressions seemed authentic, too. And the ending was absolutely superb!

Unfortunately, this excellence of story line was marred by the fact that the author did not do his homework concerning details about orthodox Jews and Judaism in general. There were a number of glaring bloopers that I found most annoying, including the fact that Purim is *not* a harvest festival, and an orthodox rabbi would never be DOWN ON HIS KNEES while praying -- because Jews do not kneel!

It was also disappointing that we never seem to get beyond Rabbi Klingerman's sloppy physical appearance to know him as more than a "fat Jew" who has "a good heart" but is not taken very seriously by the rest of the characters in the book. My impression was that the author felt he needed the rabbi character for the plot, but simply did not know much about orthodox Jews as real people. So he used a sort of "Tevye" template which resulted in a buffoon. Imitation may be the greatest form of flattery, but in this case, I found myself a bit insulted by this shallow sterotyped character.

Monteleone also seemed to confuse Orthodox Jews with the Amish, making several puzzling references to women dressed in "subdued colors" and neigborhood shops with "old time handcrafts" that were not authentic at all. In the real world, Orthodox Jewish women wear bright colors and fine jewelery, and their husbands are more likely to sell electronics than do hand carpentry.

But perhaps the most serious blooper is where the author has his Jewish psychopath-in-the-making describe how he had hunted and tortured wild animals, then brought home the kills -- including rabbits and wolves -- to a rabbi's house for dinner, for which the rabbi was supposedly VERY GRATEFUL! Apparently Mr. Monteleone is unaware that religious Jews do not hunt, nor would they eat these species of animals, because they are not kosher -- making this a totally absurd scene. Any Jewish student who brought his rabbi dead wild animals would be seen as a grievous sinner, if not a total pervert.

So, in the end, I would give this book five stars for a good plot, but only two stars for Jewish authenticity -- which averages out to about three stars. Read it as a chilling horror tale, but please remember: I am *not* Rabbi Klingerman!

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Not for the faint of heart, September 20, 2006

By 

Laura Adams "Mystic Phoenix" (Battle Creek, MI, United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Night of Broken Souls (Mass Market Paperback)

Night of Broken Souls is a technical but turgid spy thriller featuring reincarnated Holocaust victims vs a reincarnated Nazi, culminating in a hail of bullets and paranormal activity, that leaves one asking the question: Just what has this guy got against Rabbi Gershom?

He obviously (to anyone who is familiar with Rabbi Gershom's work) lampooned him by depicting him as a pastiche of stereotypes derived from anti-semitic jokes and Mel Brooks characters, but then, to add further insult, he made him sweaty...The injury was making him a widower. That was just plain mean.

Stating that the characters thought he had a good heart in spite of his sweaty, unkempt stereotype persona was just not enough sugar-coating to conceal the poison inside. Why?

One thing I wonder about: this book was published in 1997 not 1957, yet the author uses the word "Negro" (he even capitalizes it) to refer to black people. There's just something not quite right about that.

I would have rated this book higher, as I found the premise fascinating and I do enjoy a good spy thriller, but for this cruel and unnecessary parody of someone deserving of respect. It is a well-crafted and well-told tale, in general. Once it gets rolling, there is a lot of clandestine CIA/FBI/etc., activity and action for fans of that genre, with an X-Files flavor. There is a restrained love story, but this book is more for the guys-no steamy sex scenes, but there are helicopters and stuff blows up.

Bottom line:
#1 If books involving reincarnated Nazis, the CIA and FBI, supernatural battles, with plenty of shooting, fire and explosions, as well as an interoffice romance and a sweaty Jewish sterotype for comic relief, you'll probably find this a good read.
#2 If you are familiar with Rabbi Gershom and his work, reading this book is likely raise your blood pressure.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Night of Broken Souls, January 8, 2002

By 

Tabby (Madison) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Night of Broken Souls (Mass Market Paperback)

Night of Broken Souls

The book Night of Broken Souls by Thomas Monteleone is exciting and action-packed. This thrilling novel is about the psychiatrist, Michael Keating. A new patient comes bursting into Michael's office about to kill herself because of horrible nightmares she had been having of being a Jewish girl in a consentration camp during the Holocaust. While doing research on his patient he stumbles onto a horrifying phenomenon, people worldwide have been vivid nightmares and blackouts relating back to the Holocaust. Michael realizes that these victims are the reincarnated souls of innocent Holocaust victims. Later Keating discovers that along with the victims, Der Klein Engel, the man destine to murder these victims may has been reincarnated also. Michael and a few select colleagues must stop Der Klein Engle, or "the Little Angel" before the Holocaust happens all over again.
Any one who likes a little action in their life would love this book. I personally enjoyed this novel despite the slightly vulgar language and distasteful sexual content. I would rate this to be a nine on a scale from one to ten. For those who thrive on details and knowledge this book has very detailed scenes of the horrors of the Holocaust. For those thrill seekers out there, there is enough action to full fill anyone's thrive.