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Samaritan
A cold-war thriller (1980s-style), depicting a plot deep within some influential USSR factions to carry on the extermination of the Jewish peoples where the Germans left off at the end of WWII. This thriller involves the American Government, as would be expected, with the Pope and the Vatican as central third parties.
416 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1983
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Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
August 20, 2019
This book begins with the brutal Soviet repression of the Solidarity Movement in Poland. A Polish Bishop, Karol Stanislawski, must flee for his life from the Soviets.
Meanwhile a top US surgeon is enlisted by the American government to try to save the life of Soviet dictator Komarov.
We are taken back to Auschwitz which Bishop Stanslawski survived as a young child, the the politics of the Vatican and of the Kremlin, where a second holocaust is being planned against the Jews.
Bishop Stanilawski, with the help of Israel, is the only man standing in the way of the evil Soviet plans.
The novel deals with some very real issues, some of which have outlived the cold war, such as the Marxist anti-semitism, practised today by Marxist-Leninist regimes like North Korea,Cuba, South Africa and Venezuela in their violent anti-Israel, pro-terror agendas.
With the new anti-semitism and the very real threat today against Israel's existance against forces of absolute evil, we are reminded by Stanislawski at Auschwitz:" We are in a place of horror and shame. Each of us, whether Christian or Jew, has to share this burden, for beneath our feet rest our people...But to rememember is not enough! Evil cares nothing for memory. It understands that the presence is stronger than the past and the past stronger than the future still. What is with a man now, what he dreams of, aspires to, is more important to himthan that which has gone by. Evil preys upon memory, at first distorting, then slowly eroding it, until we ask ourselves: Did such athing actually happen? Could it have happened, or was it all a monstrous nightmare we should forget completely?...But we know the price of such abdication. We still bare the scars of such ignominity. And today we have come here to plege to those who are beyond our help, our comfort, and our tears that we will not turn from evil. We will resist it, search it out wherever it may be."
Meanwhile a top US surgeon is enlisted by the American government to try to save the life of Soviet dictator Komarov.
We are taken back to Auschwitz which Bishop Stanslawski survived as a young child, the the politics of the Vatican and of the Kremlin, where a second holocaust is being planned against the Jews.
Bishop Stanilawski, with the help of Israel, is the only man standing in the way of the evil Soviet plans.
The novel deals with some very real issues, some of which have outlived the cold war, such as the Marxist anti-semitism, practised today by Marxist-Leninist regimes like North Korea,Cuba, South Africa and Venezuela in their violent anti-Israel, pro-terror agendas.
With the new anti-semitism and the very real threat today against Israel's existance against forces of absolute evil, we are reminded by Stanislawski at Auschwitz:" We are in a place of horror and shame. Each of us, whether Christian or Jew, has to share this burden, for beneath our feet rest our people...But to rememember is not enough! Evil cares nothing for memory. It understands that the presence is stronger than the past and the past stronger than the future still. What is with a man now, what he dreams of, aspires to, is more important to himthan that which has gone by. Evil preys upon memory, at first distorting, then slowly eroding it, until we ask ourselves: Did such athing actually happen? Could it have happened, or was it all a monstrous nightmare we should forget completely?...But we know the price of such abdication. We still bare the scars of such ignominity. And today we have come here to plege to those who are beyond our help, our comfort, and our tears that we will not turn from evil. We will resist it, search it out wherever it may be."
July 6, 2021
Just DNFed on page 317. This man did not just really hook up with another woman 3 months after his wife was brutally murdered due to his actions.
February 17, 2020
A very enjoyable book with an unfortunately rushed ending. I feel as if it needs a sequel to detail the consequences of its final chapters.
March 6, 2010
"Freedom and dignity--these have always been subordinated to political expediency. It will happen again. It will happen this time if we permit it. And we cannot."
"For all of us the world moves too quickly. No tragedy escapes us, no horror, no matter where it might occur, fails to reach our eyes, ears, and eventually our hearts. Yet we grow weary of such news. We are numbed by its repetition, disillusioned because we think ourselves powerless before it. So it is easier to turn away, to pretend not to hear, to busy ourselves with our own affairs. Such is the triumph of evil and with it our shame--surrender."
"For all of us the world moves too quickly. No tragedy escapes us, no horror, no matter where it might occur, fails to reach our eyes, ears, and eventually our hearts. Yet we grow weary of such news. We are numbed by its repetition, disillusioned because we think ourselves powerless before it. So it is easier to turn away, to pretend not to hear, to busy ourselves with our own affairs. Such is the triumph of evil and with it our shame--surrender."
October 5, 2017
Cold War novel about a struggle for control of the Politburo that involves the head of the Polish church (not JPII, who is mentioned in the past tense), the local resistance to Soviet oppression and Vatican intrigue. The most interesting question for me is just how reflective it is of the times in eastern Europe. It's probably worth more than 2, but cannot say I actually liked it.
July 18, 2009
A cold-war thriller (1980s-style), depicting a plot deep within some influential USSR factions to carry on the extermination of the Jewish peoples where the Germans left off at the end of WWII. This thriller involves the American Government, as would be expected, with the Pope and the Vatican as central third parties. The book was fast-paced and the plot was complex, as a good cold-war thriller should be.
I read a paperback version. I was amazed at the number of typographical errors in the book, considering that the book was lauded by a number of credible sources, including the New York Times Book Review. The typos gave me pause, but fortunately they didn't ruin my enjoyment of the book as the plots wound to their conclusions.
I read a paperback version. I was amazed at the number of typographical errors in the book, considering that the book was lauded by a number of credible sources, including the New York Times Book Review. The typos gave me pause, but fortunately they didn't ruin my enjoyment of the book as the plots wound to their conclusions.
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September 24, 2008F Van
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews