The Longest Night

by Gregg Keizer

When a hit job goes awry, a Brooklyn Jewish crime boss dispatches disgraced hired killer Mouse Weiss to Europe to assist an underground resistance movement that is planning to intercept a train of Jewish prisoners on their way to execution. A first novel. 30,000 first printing.

Genres: Fiction

384 pages, Hardcover

First published August 3, 2004

Reviews

[Bev Walkling · Rating 5 out of 5]

I found this book riveting. It is a novel that tells a what if story about rescuing Jewish people from a train en route to hell. Mouse Weiss, a "popper" from the US (who also happens to be Jewish), is sent out of country by his gangster boss (who also happens to be Jewish) to avoid being arrested for murder. He is sent to Europe with lots of his bosses money, to help finance a rescue attempt being organized by some Dutch people and a German who is out to kill as many Nazis as he can.

I don't want to spoil the story by explaining it all in a review. Suffice it to say the research into the time period appears to be extensive and at times while reading I felt as if I was there watching it all happen. Mouse, the main character is on a voyage of self-discovery throughout. Is he truly a gangster or someone else?

When the book was done I wanted more. I wanted to know what happened next. I believe this was the author's first novel and I'd definitely recommend it to others.

[V.S · Rating 3 out of 5]

I think you need to read it a second time to really feel it, but it's still an amazing story.

[Joel Ungar · Rating 3 out of 5]

This ultimately is a story about redemption. Mouse Weiss is not someone you would ordinarily associate with, and that makes it somewhat awkward to read this story primarily through his eyes. But as I was reading I started to remember the movie "Das Boot" where you find yourself rooting for the Nazis. As the story progresses, you find yourself starting to root for him, a bit, and cheer for the changes he goes through.

I would have appreciated a glossary in the back. The story takes place primarily in Holland, and there are a lot of Germans involved as well. There is plenty of one sentence statements here and there that are in either of those languages. I was unaware that knowledge of Dutch and German would aid significantly in understanding the story. More often than not, these phrases are left untranslated or worse not even hinted at. There was also a lot of Yiddish words, most of which I knew, but the average reader might not know them.

[Erin Casey · Rating 5 out of 5]

I am still jealous of how well this first-time writer caught natural dialog, including slang and nuances of meaning. Each character is very genuine, and the plot is well-drawn and suspenseful.

[Frank Cavanaugh · Rating 3 out of 5]

2/28/06 7/10

[Peter · Rating 1 out of 5]

Too slow, not my type of book. DNF.