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Sacrifice of Isaac
In the tradition of John Le Carre...a stunning debut thriller.
A legacy of shadows...
Luke Benami thought his father Yossef was the great man the world said he was: professor, general, Israeli national hero. Luke also thought his brother Danni was the prodigal his family said he was: army deserter, political exile, criminal. But when his father's sudden death compels Luke to return to Israel, he is forced to begin a dangerous investigation into the history of his family and his homeland.
To discover the truth, Luke must find his estranged brother, who has disappeared from Paris where he deals antiquities on the illegal market. Awaiting Danni's return, Luke soon finds himself both a witness to and perpetrator of murder. His victim may be his brother.
Meanwhile, a young Austrian woman named Natalie Hoestermann discovers information about her own father's past that also compels her to search for Danni Benami. As Luke and Natalie travel on their parallel paths across Europe, they slowly realize that their fathers' pasts are not, as they had always believed, stories of Israeli heroism and German guilt, but something much more complex and disturbing, buried deep in the time of the Holocaust.
324 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 1, 1995
5 people are currently reading
86 people want to read
About the author
Neil Gordon
45 books19 followersBorn in South Africa in 1958, but his family emigrated to the USA when he was 2 years old.
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Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews
August 1, 2015
Unnecessarily confusing and slow. I often didn't know who was narrating. I didn't finish it.
December 24, 2022
The author's style was challenging to follow at times. The story does make sense by the end and I'm glad I finished it.
June 18, 2024
Vond het een mooi en spannend verhaald hebben. Het duurde soms dat ik er weer helemaal in zat
April 18, 2008
The story the author tells is a fascinating one, a blend of suspense, mystery, Holocaust scholarship, the history of Israel and family tensions. The mystery that is ultimately unravelled ties into the Abraham/Isaac story which provides the title of the book; I suspect that this novel would make a very worthwhile book group selection.
However, the book has some very real flaws. To begin with, it strains credulity that the two principal characters--brothers about 10 years apart in age (one of whom remains offstage throughout the book)--have not only not seen each other, but have not communicated with each other since their separation when the younger brother was a pre-teen and, moreover, apparently have not disclosed to anyone else in their respective lives that they even have a brother. The book offers no explanation for why this should be so. There are a number of other, smaller, events that take place that don't really make much sense except that they help drive the plot.
Perhaps more significantly, as a technical matter, I found the changing perspective of the novel awkward. The story shifts perspective among three different characters: the younger brother, the friend/business partner of the missing, older brother, and a young woman who is a relatively minor character but important to the plot. This last character narrates parts in the first person; the rest of the book is in the third person. The shift from third person to first person and back is frequently jarring. There are short sections which appear to be in the third person and suddenly reveal themselves to be the young woman speaking in the first person. This struck me as awkward in the writing and perhaps reflecting a slight lack of discipline on the part of the author, rather than a deliberate literary strategy.
In the early parts of the book, the author feels it necessary to frequently foreshadow what will happen later, usually through the your woman as narrator. Obviously, this is done in order to heighten or maintain the suspense, but it became slightly annoying--I wanted to say "stop telling me what's going to happen and make it happen already".
These criticisms aside, I think this is a very worthy novel, thought-provoking and memorable.
However, the book has some very real flaws. To begin with, it strains credulity that the two principal characters--brothers about 10 years apart in age (one of whom remains offstage throughout the book)--have not only not seen each other, but have not communicated with each other since their separation when the younger brother was a pre-teen and, moreover, apparently have not disclosed to anyone else in their respective lives that they even have a brother. The book offers no explanation for why this should be so. There are a number of other, smaller, events that take place that don't really make much sense except that they help drive the plot.
Perhaps more significantly, as a technical matter, I found the changing perspective of the novel awkward. The story shifts perspective among three different characters: the younger brother, the friend/business partner of the missing, older brother, and a young woman who is a relatively minor character but important to the plot. This last character narrates parts in the first person; the rest of the book is in the third person. The shift from third person to first person and back is frequently jarring. There are short sections which appear to be in the third person and suddenly reveal themselves to be the young woman speaking in the first person. This struck me as awkward in the writing and perhaps reflecting a slight lack of discipline on the part of the author, rather than a deliberate literary strategy.
In the early parts of the book, the author feels it necessary to frequently foreshadow what will happen later, usually through the your woman as narrator. Obviously, this is done in order to heighten or maintain the suspense, but it became slightly annoying--I wanted to say "stop telling me what's going to happen and make it happen already".
These criticisms aside, I think this is a very worthy novel, thought-provoking and memorable.
May 4, 2020
Fiction. First published novel. Very exciting story, was picked up by a movie studio, terrific writing. The only part that didn't hold up were the relationship/love scenes. Neal wrote "The Company You Keep" which was filmed with Robert Redford.
March 16, 2016
Het verhaal van twee broers. Beide zoon van een Israëlische generaa en proffesorl. De generaal sterft en dan komt het verhaal niet alleen van hem maar ook wat de twee broers vonden, dachten en deden met de nalatenschap van hun vader. Hoe zit dit toch allemaal in elkaar? wat heeft Dov ermee te maken, Nicole? Vind Luke zijn broer na zoveel jaar? En binnen dit verhaal zit ook nog het verhaal van de Italië- route en een smokkelroute beide meer als 40 jaar uitelkaar liggend, en route van vader en zoon. Een boek wat boeit al is het bijna 20 jaar oud. Ludlum stijl, je verwacht de wendingen niet. Als je denkt het door te hebben neemt de schrijver weer een andere steeg. Een boeiend verhaal met een goede verhaallijn. Dat maakt dat je het verhaal weer makkelijk oppakt als je het boek even hebt neergelegd. Wat ik wel vervelend vond is het gebruik van hoofdstukken (gewoon halverwege de pagina's, zonder titel) en het lettertype. Waren deze anders geweest was het misschien wel een 5 sterren boek geworden. Maar hou je van Ludlum en Cussler dan is dit denk ik een aanrader.
February 9, 2016
Amazing book ! Le Carré and Highsmith mixed into one package plus Neil Gordon's unbelievable ability to capture times and characters.
This book takes patience. Lots of puzzle pieces are layered out slowly and via the inner thoughts of the main characters. But language and style make you want to read this slowly, which makes the reading experience so much like reading Le Carré's novels.
Wonderful ! Can't wait for the follow-up to "The Company You Keep", which will come out end of this month in Britain.
This book takes patience. Lots of puzzle pieces are layered out slowly and via the inner thoughts of the main characters. But language and style make you want to read this slowly, which makes the reading experience so much like reading Le Carré's novels.
Wonderful ! Can't wait for the follow-up to "The Company You Keep", which will come out end of this month in Britain.
August 6, 2012
It was probably me because there's been a lot going on lately and I was unable to take the time to read straight through. It took close to three weeks of reading off and on and I found it a struggle to finish. It is certainly a well written mystery, but the characters are not connected well enough to follow. I loved Gordon's THE COMPANY YOU KEEP and couldn't wait to read another of his books, but found this one disappointing. Like I said, maybe it was just me.
January 7, 2017
Neil Gordon has exceptional abilities in story writing. In this book he develops a complex narrative that reveals a sophisticated understanding of philosophy and ideology. His use of a major art work to underpin the story reveals his understanding of political and philosophical complexities in the world and he does so with subtlety and nuance. This is the best book I have re-read in some years.
August 30, 2009
This started out great guns, but fell flat for me about 2/3 of the way through. I now see some other reviewers had the same issue.
May 24, 2010
A young American Jew chases all over western Europe trying to find his estranged brother following their father's death. Intriguing story written by a sophisticated if verbose author.
August 21, 2011
Convoluted narrative strategies ruin what could have been an excellent novel...
January 5, 2012
I wasn't real keen on this book about a man uncovering his father's nefarious role in WWII--the characters didn't speak to me, and I was left without a clear understanding of what exactly happened.
August 31, 2016
A bit tedious at times. Reminds me of LeCarre'.
January 4, 2015
Great read. Fantastic tension build and plot twists. Could not put this down.
Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews