Prodigal Sons [Paperback]

Sheldon Greene (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: July 13, 2009

Munich, 1950, occupied West Germany; Horst Vogle is quietly working to reassemble the city museum’s art collection. Aspiring pianist, Greta Furster, introduces him to a group of ambitious war veterans seeking to restore German pride and help refugees fleeing the Communist East. Vogle learns that they are using Nazi gold to fund Egyptian weapons intended to be used against Israel. Vogle has his own secret. He is Jan Goldberg, one-time Jewish Partisan and soldier in the Israeli War of Independence, now an Israeli assassin, targeting Nazi fugitives. To Goldberg, recovering gold taken from Jewish victims is a way of gaining retribution for the Holocaust and as his bond to Greta intensifies, his mission and identity are tested. This fact-based thriller is a must-read for fans of John Le Carré and Alan Furst. It’s an intriguing take on the Nazi legacy in Post War Germany and an exploration of the polarities of revenge and reconciliation, the limitations of ideology, and the power of love.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"An Israeli secret agent hunts Nazi war criminals in this rich psychological thriller. By day, he's Horst Vogle, a mild-mannered curator and a Wehrmacht veteran with the shrapnel scars to prove it. By night, he's Jan Goldberg, an undercover Israeli assassin and a Polish Jew who got those scars blowing up German transports with a partisan band during World War II and then battling Arabs with the Haganah. After a day spent poring over art catalogs, Horst/Jan heads out into a dark and still-dilapidated Munich, circa 1950, to shoot and garrote his targets, leaving behind photos of them in their SS uniforms to underscore the point. He considers these assignments a just payback for the murder of his family, but he's starting to have misgivings. Fueling them is Horst's relationship with Greta, a beautiful young pianist who reminds him of his sister. She introduces him to her friends at the Kultur Bund, a crypto-Nazi organization publicly dedicated to building the New Germany while it secretly uses stolen art and gold looted from Jews to fund terrorism. With his fair hair, Nordic looks and steadiness under pressure, they consider Horst such fine Aryan stock that they try to recruit him. Jan's handler is eager for him to infiltrate the group, but the effort adds a new and fraught layer of duplicity to his already tangled double life. Greene (Burnt Umber, 2001, etc.) keeps the action flowing with gripping battle and heist scenes and taut hitman procedural, but he also makes readers care about his characters. Even the Bund-ers are three-dimensional people with hidden complexities. Horst/Jan may be a killer, but he's never coldblooded--in his longing for a home in a Germany that he's sworn to wreak vengeance upon, he's a fascinating study of the rootlessness of the Holocaust survivor. A page-turner with emotional depth." Kirkus Discovery Reviews --Kirkus Discoveries Review

"...This book is a thriller that will captivate all World War II fans as it is based in fact and is an engrossing play on the Nazis in post war Germany. ...Mr. Greene is right up there with John LeCarre for must-read, edge of your chair excitement. This book has everything a dyed in the wool spy fan will like including anger, revenge, murder, art, intrigue, a million-dollar robbery and romance. .. It grabs you from the first to the last pages. I am on my way to the library to pick up Mr. Greene's previous books." Oct 10 2009 Mary Lignor, Book Pleasures "..., you will rarely find a novel that is written as well as this one. It is one you know you will enjoy after reading only the first few chapters.... you will find yourself surprised when you reach the end. Sheldon has written an engrossing novel about an interesting time in central European post-war history." Oct 10 2009 Marty Dodge in BC --book review October 10,2009

"...it is a cracking read from cover to cover. Sheldon has two prior books under his belt Lost And Found and Burnt Umber. He has developed into an author with a great future, his writing style lures the reader into the tale like a moth to the light... I have nothing but praise for Prodigal Sons, it has been expertly crafted in every sense. The character development and story line are a work of art. It is not easy to paint an assassin as a hero, yet Sheldon Greene pulls it off with panache." Simon Barrett in Blogger News Network Nov. 06, 2009 --Blogger News Network, November 6,2009

"...This book is a thriller that will captivate all World War II fans as it is based in fact and is an engrossing play on the Nazis in post war Germany . ...Mr. Greene is right up there with John LeCarre for must-read, edge of your chair excitement. This book has everything a dyed in the wool spy fan will like including anger, revenge, murder, art, intrigue, a million-dollar robbery and romance. .. It grabs you from the first to the last pages. I am on my way to the library to pick up Mr. Greene's previous books." Oct 10 2009 Mary Lignor, Book Pleasures --Book Pleasures, October 10, 2009

About the Author

Sheldon L. Greene is a San Francisco attorney and an executive of a wind energy company. He served on Barack Obama’s national policy teams for energy and immigration. A graduate of Ohio’s Case Western Reserve University he was formerly Warden of Insurance of the State of Ohio and General Counsel of California Rural Legal Assistance, where he challenged the federal and state governments on health, labor, and immigration policies. He is the author of the novels Lost and Found and Burnt Umber. Lost and Found (Random House): a Holocaust survivor chooses between life in a small Western Pennsylvania town and Israel. The Los Angeles Times Book Review gave it a Critics Commendation and said, “Greene is a born storyteller” The Indianapolis News wrote, “...The book goes down like fine vintage wine. Lost & Found is a beautiful work beautifully done...” Burnt Umber (Leap Frog Press), spans the Twentieth Century viewed through the lives and art of two real artists and the women who put up with them. Among the themes are narcissism and creativity and the evolving independence of women. BookList described it as “A beautifully written account of the lives of artists caught up in turbulent times...”

Product Details

• Paperback: 342 pages
• Publisher: BookSurge Publishing (July 13, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 143922627X
• ISBN-13: 978-1439226278
• Product Dimensions: 7.9 x 5.1 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,956,481 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Sheldon Greene is a partner in the San Francisco law firm of Greene & Allison. The firm works with over 40 credit unions on the West Coast. He is also Executive Vice President and Director of Oak Creek Energy Systems, Inc. a Southern California wind energy operator and development company that is responsible for the consummation of the largest ever wind energy power purchase agreement; 1550 MW to deliver energy to Southern California Edison. Oak Creek is a subsidiary of Marubeni, a multi-national Japanese trading company.

Education:

Graduated Magna Cum Lauda, Phi Beta Kappa, Omicron Delta Kappa, Delta Sigma Rho, Order of the Coif, Case Western Reserve University, undergraduate and law, fifth in Grand National Debate Tournament, Law Review Editor, Winner Dunmore Moot Court Competition, Contracts Prize.

Work History:

Law Clerk, Court of Common Pleas,

Warden of Insurance of the State of Ohio, attorney in first successful state challenge to increased Blue Cross insurance rates,

House Counsel to Pennsylvania Life Insurance Co.,

War Against Poverty: As Directing Attorney of the Modesto office and later General Counsel, of California Rural Legal Assistance; he successfully brought suits against the Regan administration that blocked massive cuts in medical assistance to low income and working poor, a suit requiring implementation of minimum wages for women and minors, a suit blocking importation of braceros, a suit challenging abuses of the non resident worker law among others. He drafted legislation and secured bi-partisan sponsorship of the first law in United States to penalize the knowing employment of illegal entrants in the country, which was signed into law by then California Governor Reagan.

Cultural: He was a member of the founding board of the New Israel Fund and served as its first secretary. He lived in Israel for almost two years studied Hebrew in Jerusalem, worked on the National Archeological Survey in the Negev and a Kibbutz in the Gallil and wrote a novel.

Political: He has been a member of the Nancy Pelosi initiated San Francisco based Red to Blue group since 2005 and has contributed to key House and Senate campaigns as identified by the leadership..

Obama: Greene was a member of two Obama National Policy Teams: Energy and Immigration and was active in working up both policies. He became a supporter of Barak Obama just before he announced his campaign for President.

Publications

Fiction

Lost and Found, a novel, Random House,
Burnt Umber, a novel, Leap Frog Press,
Prodigal Sons, a novel, Book Surge
Pursuit of Happiness, CreateSpace
Articles

Law Review:

Promised Land: Distribution of Public Land by the United States 5 Ecology Law Quarterly 4 at 707-751 (1976) University of California, Berkeley

Public Agency Distortion of Congressional Will, 40 The George Washington Law Review #3 March 1972, pp 440-464

Immigration Law and Rural Poverty-The Problems of the Illegal Entrant, 1969 Duke Law Journal #3 pp475-494

Cause of Action and the Statute of Limitation, Koenigberg v. California, 9 Survey of Ohio Law, 10 Western Reserve Law Review

Periodicals and books

Man in the Middle, Liability of California Insurance Agents and Brokers, Underwriters Report, April 8, 1965

Wetbacks, Growers, and Poverty, The Nation, Oct 20 1969
CRLA Pest or Pesticide? California Farmer Sept 20, 1969

Somebody is Always Offended , The Nation, Dec. 14, 1970

Is Lawcare Next? The Nation, Dec. 11, 1972

Employment of Illegal Entrants Los Angeles Times, May 25 1972

Corporate Accountability and the Family Farm, in Radical Agriculture, edited by Richard Merrill, Harper Colophon 1976

Personal: Resides, Berkeley CA. Married to Judy Greene a psychotherapist. One daughter, Talia an artist, married living in Philadelphia, one grand child. He sings baritone in the Oakland Symphony Chorus, gardens, writes novels and non fiction, and plays singles tennis. He and Judy collect art, travel a lot, like good food and wine, and take in a lot of cultural events. He reads the NYTimes and the Economist for information and is a self confessed policy wonk with opinions on most everything.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Prodigal Sons, January 5, 2010

By 

Sandra K. Stiles (Sarasota, Florida) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Prodigal Sons (Paperback)

In this fictional book Jan Goldberg, a Polish Jew and former resistance fighter has taken on the persona of Horst Vogle a museum curator. He is working to find and kill the Nazi's that were not brought to justice for whatever reason. He is also hunting for the gold and other valuables that were stolen by the Nazi's and used to send Nazi dignitaries to South America. This is where they hide out to escape punishment for their war crimes.
Things are going smoothly until he meets Greta Furster. She is an up and coming pianist. Some of her social crowd are the very people he is hunting. He has to make some tough decisions that involve his love for Greta and who he really is. This was a good story that I have happily passed on to one of our history teachers.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars `We all live among the shadows of the past.', December 2, 2009

By 

J. Cameron-Smith "Expect the Unexpected" (ACT, Australia) - See all my reviews
(TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Prodigal Sons (Paperback)

Munich, 1950: Horst Vogle seems to be one of many former German soldiers adapting to post-war life. Horst is a museum curator trying to reassemble Munich's scattered art collection. In reality, Horst has another life and another mission: as a member of an Israeli group terminating former Nazis. Horst's life becomes complicated after he meets Greta Furster, an aspiring pianist. He is torn between his identity, his mission and his feelings for Greta.

Greta introduces Horst to a group of war veterans who belong to an organisation trying to restore German pride and providing relief for East German refugees. When Horst also discovers that members of this group are using stolen Nazi gold to fund Egyptian weapons, he must act to stop this.

The events of World War II provide the frame for this novel and its themes of hope, despair, revenge and reconciliation. Horst Vogle's struggle is as much about the iteration of identity as it is about attempting to right some of the wrongs of this war. I enjoyed this novel, not so much for the subject matter and setting as for its promise of hope for a brighter future for Greta and Horst.

There are no real victories in war, just varying degrees of loss.

Jennifer Cameron-Smith

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Prodigal Sons is a Great Read, August 25, 2009

By 

Paul A. Henning (Berkeley, CA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Prodigal Sons (Paperback)

Greene has another great story for readers, and this one is a real page-turner. Set against the backdrop of the Polish resistance in WW II, the founding of Israel, and post-war Munich, Prodigal Sons has something for everyone -- sadness, anger, despair, revenge, spies, murder, art, music, intrigue, a multi-million-dollar heist, and finally a triumphant romance. Highly recommended.