The Final Reckoning

by Sam Bourne

From the number one international bestselling author of The Righteous Men and The Last Testament comes a chilling thriller about a clandestine brotherhood and a sixty-year-old secret-the last great mystery of World War II.

Tom Byrne has come a long way since his days as an idealistic young lawyer. Now he'll work for anyone—as long as the money's right. So when a UN official asks him to take on a dubious job, he accepts. A suspected suicide bomber shot by UN security staff has turned out to be a harmless old man, and Tom must placate the family. But it soon emerges that the victim was not quite the innocent man he seemed to be.

Alongside the dead man's daughter, Rebecca, Tom discovers a hidden brotherhood united in a worldwide mission that has caused hundreds of unexplained deaths. Pursued by those ready to kill to stop him, Tom must unlock a secret buried for more than sixty years—the last great secret of the Second World War.

Based on the true story of a group of Holocaust survivors who sought revenge for Nazi crimes, The Final Reckoning is an atmospheric, emotionally engaging, and twisting thriller that moves at light speed from the first page to the last.

Genres: Thriller, Fiction, Mystery, Crime, Historical Fiction, Adventure, Mystery Thriller

562 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 2008

About the author

Sam Bourne is the literary pseudonym of Jonathan Freedland, an award-winning British journalist and broadcaster. He has written a weekly column for The Guardian since 1997, having previously served as the paper's Washington correspondent. His work has also appeared in The New York Times, The New York Review of Books, the Los Angeles Times, The Washington Post, Newsweek, The New Republic, and The Jewish Chronicle, and he presents BBC Radio 4's contemporary-history series The Long View.

For nearly two decades he has covered the Middle East conflict, and in 2002 he chaired a three-day dialogue between Israelis and Palestinians, which was sponsored by The Guardian. The participants in that meeting went on to broker the 2003 Geneva Accord.

Freedland is the author of the New York Times bestselling novel The Righteous Men, also a number-one bestseller in the UK, which has been translated into thirty-one languages, and the nonfiction works Jacob's Gift and Bring Home the Revolution. He lives in London with his wife and two children.

Reviews

[Helga · Rating 5 out of 5]

“Man is the cruelest animal.”
― Friedrich Nietzsche

After receiving a tip, a UN security officer shoots a man in front of the UN building, suspecting him of being a suicide bomber. But soon it is discovered that the victim was a mere old man, a British tourist. Above all it turns out that he was a Holocaust survivor.
Tom Byrne is a lawyer who is hired to represent the UN and try to placate the victim’s family not to press charges and create havoc. But was the old man really an innocent bystander? What was he doing in New York? And why did he have to die?

This was an emotional, heartbreaking, dark and intense story with well-developed characters and a solid mystery. Part of the story is based on true events and it was very painful for me to read.

There indeed needs to be a reckoning!

Thank you Alan for recommending this book to me.

[Matt · Rating 4 out of 5]

Sam Bourne does it again with an excellent stand-alone novel that gets to the heart of a controversial subject from an unorthodox pathway. Delving into the mustery behind an accidental shooting inside the UN, Bourne takes the reader on a journey around the world and through time, touching on the fallout of WWII and the reaction to the Nazi death camps.

What looks like a simple shooting by a UN Security official turns out to be something much more complex and surrounded by numerous secrets. Bourne leads the reader to the concentration camps the Nazis used and spins a tale that could blow the lid off all that was done post-war to reaction to the atrocities done there. Full of thrilling discoveries, blood-chilling chases, and even some espionage, Bourne keeps you on the edge of your seat, while wondering if any of it could be true.

Another success by Sam Bourne. Kudos to you, sir!

[Lewis Weinstein · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is an exciting read, although some suspension of belief is needed. I agree with previous reviewers that the NYPD sections are very stretched. The real story on which this novel is based may be even more powerful, and Bourne provides several references, including ...

Forged in Fury
The Avengers
The Vanished World of Lithuanian Jews

The central point of The Final Reckoning is of course infuriating ... that most of the Nazis and those who supported them in their efforts to murder Jews (including Germans and others) were never punished. There are always reasons to eschew retribution (think DeGaulle and the French collaborators) but there is also a huge price to pay when evil is not brought to justice.

Whether and how at least some of the guilty ones paid for their hideous crimes in their own minds and subsequent lives is an issue I will be struggling to portray in my new as yet untitled novel.

[Jennifer Rayment · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Good Stuff

* Fascinating intense mystery inspired by a true story
* Intriguing smart thriller with tons of twists and turns
* Introduction grabs you and doesn't let go until the very last page
* Keeps you second guessing yourself about what is going on
* Really makes you think
* Powerfully intense and emotional and quite frankly uncomfortable at times
* Author has obviously done his research and his passionate interest in the subject matter is obvious
* I won't lie, there are many scenes that are horrific, but they are a part of history that we should never forget -- obviously many haven't learned since this still happens in many parts of our world
* Some sticky moral issues brought up that really make you think and will bring up some fascinating discussions.
* Very realistic portrayal of revenge
* I wish I was a better writer so I could explain how fantastic this book is, I really am at loss for words -- just go buy it

The Not so Good Stuff

* I was sickened by the atrocities described, but that has nothing to do with the authors writing, just hard reading for someone like me. I truly cannot understand, and I guess that is a very good thing, the horror of what the Nazi's did and those that stood by and watched it happen
* I could not put this down and therefor we had to order Pizza for dinner
* With all the characters and historical information I felt a little lost at times, but hey I am a Mom and slightly brain dead

Favorite Quotes/Passages

"And this, you see, is the dirty little secret of the second World War. We're told over and over again, that the attempted extermination of the Jews was the greatest crime in human history - and yet hardly anybody was punished for it. The guilty men got away with it. It was a crime that was unavenged, a genocide for which there is no reckoning."


"You think I'm proud of what we found out today? You think it was OK to go around killing and killing and killing like that?"

"They were Nazis for Christ's sake!"

"What if they got it wrong, Tom? Eh? What if they accidently killed the wrong man?"


"Besides, cleaner's overalls? That's a regular invisibility cloak in this town. Fuck Hogwarts. Just gotta be a black man dressed as a cleaner; no one sees you then, trust me."


"When a man burns with rage as white-hot as this rage, made hotter still by the knowledge that the rest of the world is ready to shrug its shoulders and move on - he is prepared to do almost anything. If it will sate his fury, he is ready to do it. As I was ready to do it."


What I Learned

* There are some sick bastards in this world
* Too much historical information to bring up here -- go read the book and you will understand
* Auschwitz was the only place that the Nazi's branded the Jewish people with a number
* How many Nazi's were never made to pay for their crimes

Who should/shouldn't read

* This may be a little difficult for those who are sensitive, put please do not let this stop you from reading
* Great for fans of political thrillers and historical fiction based on WWII

4.5 Dewey's


I received this from HarperCollins in exchange for an honest review -- thanks guys this was incredible!

[Rohit Enghakat · Rating 3 out of 5]

An old man visiting the UN is dead and Tom Byrne, a former UN-employed lawyer is hired to bury the news and negotiate with the man's family. What follows is a trip to London to meet Rebecca, the victim's daughter and then one event leads to another with its twists and somewhat predictable plot. The book delves into the horrors of the Holocaust and the attempt by some of the Jews to form a group of vigilantes and hunt down the Nazis for their war crimes.

It is a fast-paced but not-so-good thriller, it becomes a bit predictable in the narrative.

[Daniel Taylor · Rating 5 out of 5]

The only reason I read this book was it was in a Reader's Digest condensed edition. It's books like this one that inspire me to read the Reader's Digest collections. It's one I would have passed over in the shops but I've found a new author to love.

When an elderly man is shot on the doorstep of the United Nations, lawyer Tom Byrne gets called in to placate the man's daughter. But as he digs deepr he discovers the man's history as an assassin in a Jewish group that targets former Nazis who escaped the war unpunished.

I tend to find anything about the Holocaust extremely difficult to read about. It's the most disappointing event of human history. Even books renowned for being inspirational, such as Man's Search for Meaning by Viktor E. Frankl, were just so overwhelmingly bleak as they describe the terrible horrors of the period. That said, this book recounts some horrors, through as it uses excerpts from a (fictional) diary written by the dead man, but rather than being difficult to read, it's a fast-paced thriller full of twists and turns and several big surprises at the end.

Sam Bourne is now up there as one of my favourite novelists and I'm looking forward to reading anything else he has written or is yet to write.

[Karen Jarvis · Rating 4 out of 5]

Quite scary to think there’s a lot of truth in the fiction in this book.

[Darlene · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Final Reckoning is a fast paced thriller centered around a mysterious group of Holocaust survivors and their ultimate quest for justice. This page turner starts out with the 'accidental' killing of a man dressed completely in black and thought to be a suicide bomber, in front of the United Nations building . What was thought to be the killing of a possible terrorist subject turned into what appeared to be an international 'black eye' for the United Nations. It was quickly discovered that this possible terrorist suspect was actually an elderly man from england... and what made matters worse was that this elderly man, Gerald Merton, was originally from Lithuania and was a Holocaust survivor.

Enter Tom Byrne into the story.. Byrne is a former attorney for the United Nations. Byrne, a former idealist but now burned out and disillusioned and working for the Mob, is asked by the United Nations to do some public relations work and to quietly visit Gerlad Merton's daughter, Rebecca, at their home in London. Byrne is instructed to make Rebecca an 'offer' and make the situation go away. But nothing is what it seems in this novel. When Tom Byrne arrives in London and meets with Rebecca Merton, he finds that the situation is even more complicated than just the accidental shooting of an elderly man... who happens to be a Holocaust survivor.

Rebecca Merton shares her father's journal with Tom Byrne and it is a fantastic and unbelievable tale...one which sheds some light on just what Gerald Merton was actually doing at the United Nations building but which also complicates the already tenuous situation. Referring back to the days of World War II and the Nazi Occupation and telling his story and the story of his people (the Jews), Gerald Merton (whose name was actually Gershon Matzkin), writes about a group of Jewish Resistance fighters... of which he was a part..... and although World War II is long over, this group still continues on in their search for justice.

This thrilling story, through readings from Gershon Matzkin's journal, takes the reader into the past and the harrowing days of World War II and quickly reverses course, and drops the reader into the equally harrowing present day story, centered around what remains of that secret group, seeking the justice they felt their people did not receive during the infamous Nuremberg Trials. Tom Byrne and Rebecca Merton find themselves, with each new revelation, in increasingly more dangerous situations and unable to trust anyone... not even U.S. and Israeli government officials and officials in the United Nations.

Not wanting to give more of this story away, I'll just say that if you enjoy stories about World War II... in particular, stories about the Jewish Resistance and justice against the Nazis... you enjoy a good fast paced thriller, you will definitely enjoy this story. And as an added bonus, the author adds a section at the end of the book describing his research for the book and what he discovered was fascinating to me. The fictional group of Resistance fighters in the novel is based on a real life group known as the 'Avengers'... who wanted to send a message to the world that the spillage of Jewish blood did not and would never again come cheaply. Very exciting story!

[Kan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Beli buku ini versi terjemahan di bazar buku di Malang, gak ekspektasi apa-apa karna cover bukunya cuma item dan ada kawat2 gitu.. TAPI WADIDAWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW
gatau dah ini kayanya buku yang bikin gua bener-bener melek sama sejarah, apalagi peristiwa pembunuhan massal yahudi di perang dunia kedua (genosida). Hell, WOW!!
sebenernya sangat amat capek baca novel ini, karna seakan-akan lagi nonton film sejarah atau james bond yang penuh dengan intrik, sebab akibat dan kisah gelap di dalamnya. Jujur gue pusing banget makanya gua kasih 3 bintang, tapi yaaa balik lagi .. this is a good book if you ask me.
Banyak banget pesan moral yang didapat dalam rangkaian peristiwa yang disuguhi author, apalagi novel ini bukan sekedar novel fiksi-tapi ada beberapa bumbu non- fiksi yang bener-bener terjadi. Hm, dunia tidak senaif itu bung!

Edit : setelah aku pikir-pikir buku ini deserve more than 3 star jadi aku tambahin. Salut sama authornya yang full of research!

[Liberty Sale · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was given this book by my neighbour, therefore did not know what to expect, but as a fan of historical fiction this fast-paced thriller really did have me hooked.

I loved learning about the ‘DIN’ and now am eager to learn more about the history of the vigilante group against the Nazi’s in Michael Elkins ‘Forged in Fury.’ (Perhaps once I’ve read a couple of light hearted books in the meantime to break it up..)

This story had me gripped, and did relate to some really painful parts of history during WW2 so definitely increased my knowledge of this period and Sam Bourne has a great way of writing.

I recommend this book for anyone who enjoys an investigative story combined with history. It is truly a page turner!

[Julius · Rating 3 out of 5]

yllättävän viihdyttävä

[Reda · Rating 3 out of 5]

An interesting novel, based on a true fact: a group of Holocaust survivors who seek revenge for the Nazi slaughter of the Jews in the years after WWII. Of course, there is a love aspect, but it doesn't detract from the main story line. I liked the philosophical dilemia presented, and the excellent way the author dealt with both sides of the issue. The characters also grew and evolved, essential to a good book.

"You may ask whether, when I did understand, I ever questioned it. But the thing no one can appreciate, not unless you saw what we saw, is how deep our hatred had become. It was larger than any of us; we could swim in it and sink into it and we knew it would endure long after we had gone.. . We hated them for their plan to remove us from the face of the earth, to smash our gravestones and to rip out the wombs of our women so that today's generation would be the last. We hated them for their insatiable hatred of us. When a man burns with a rage as white-hot as this rage . . . he is prepared to do almost anything. If it will sate this fury, he is ready to do it. As I was ready to do it."

Thankfully, the whole book is not this intense, but it does force some "what if. ." thinking -- always a good thing!

[Iona Libauer · Rating 1 out of 5]

I read this on the crossing from Calais to Dover - bought it on the boat actually, and I thought it had promise with "The biggest challenger to Dan Brown's crown" on the front cover. I think if it weren't for that claim on the front I might have given it one more star. This story is nowhere near as well written or gripping as Dan Brown's books. The story itself is fresh, and a good idea. But while the outcomes aren't predictable, the characters are, and they're all the flatter for it. Small things about the writing irritated me all through the book, like the mis-use of common turns of phrase, or trying to make these sound like original turns of phrase by screwing them up.
The quote on the cover should have read "The biggest challenger to Dan Brown's cover art".

[Yovita Hardiwati · Rating 5 out of 5]

Tidak mengecewakan, plotnya memikat. Yang lebih menyentuh lagi, saya membaca buku ini di sela-sela pekerjaan menerjemahkan bacaan bertema Holocaust dan sempat menonton Fatherland, film lama tentang Nazi. The Final Reckoning jadi terasa sangat hidup karena buku ini dan film Fatherland menyebut-nyebut kota Wannsee dan Final Solution (Solusi Akhir), dan riset terjemahan saya juga memunculkan beberapa artikel di Internet yang berkaitan dengan kedua hal itu. Sayangnya, tokoh utama pria, Tom, karakternya kurang kuat dan sifat pemarahnya terlalu gampang meluap menjelang akhir cerita.

[Rohit Sharma · Rating 5 out of 5]

Stumbled on this book as a closing down library was selling all its books for 100/- bucks each :)
Can you believe that.
And it turns out to be an amazing cat and mouse chase thriller from Holocaust era.
A revenge story of Jews on Nazis.
I have heard about this story a long time ago but didn't know the details and the way it is covered in this book of 550 pages it was totally edge of the seat thriller and the culprit revealed almost in the last 10 pages kept me hooked to it.
Looking forward to read more from Sam shortly.

[Joe Stamber · Rating 2 out of 5]

An investigation into the shooting of a 70 year old man outside the UN building leads to the victim's journals. Here we are told of a plot by Jewish "resistance fighters" that began in WWII to pay back the Nazis for their part in the Jews suffering. I found the historical part fascinating, but the main story was quite dreary. It was worth reading for the revelations in the journals, but average overall.

[Mark · Rating 1 out of 5]

In spite of nice writing, especially the scenes that flash back to a dead character’s holocaust experiences, technical errors destroyed my suspension of disbelief and made it impossible to enjoy the story.

Eliminating the preposterous first three chapters would have been a huge improvement, a ridiculous action set piece that included 50mm machine guns.

I really wanted to like this book, but gave up about mid-way through.

[Earvin Putra · Rating 3 out of 5]

Sekali lagi belajar sejarah yang menyenangkan dari sebuah novel. Dan kali ini Pembantaian Yahudi oleh Nazi adalah materi pembelajarannya. Gaya bahasanya ringan dan bisa diterima dengan baik, dan ya merinding sih ngebayangin Holocoust dulu.
Dibilang thriller tapi sebenernya biasa aja. Kurang bikin penasaran dan saat terungkap pun cuma oh aja sih. Penyelesaian dari tiap masalah, konflik kayanya terlalu ringan aja dan bisa ketebak.

[Doms · Rating 5 out of 5]

Tato kniha je velmi zajímavá.... Dozvíte se tu hodně o holocaustu, OSN..... Je napsaná i podle pravdy, když čte o koncentračních táborech, o jednotce DIN a5d. je to vše pravda. Jinak kniha by dala přečíst i za den, kdybyste měli čas. Takže knihu moc doporučuji :)

[Aruna Kumar Gadepalli · Rating 3 out of 5]

A gripping storyline.

[Ad · Rating 1 out of 5]

Sam Bourne is a professional storyteller and that's not a compliment. I only liked the basic story, the premisse. The rest was an insult to the reader

[Sudhir]

Hitler at the peak of his reign during 2nd world war decides to cleans Germany and other occupied countries of Jews with his SS Nazi forces.
A suspected suicide terrorist is shot dead in front of UN Hqts bldng by a UN security gaurd. The terrorist turns out to be a 75yrs old Gerold Merton, a British citizen. UN top security staff of secretary general
despatches a British borne emisory Tom Byrne to placate
the family, a 32yrs daughter Dr Rebecca Merton. She is furious on seeing him and virtually throws him out. While going out Tom inadvertently picks up a diary containing hand written notes of Gerold life history.He was born in jews family In 1941 11yrs. old Gerold lost his father, mother and was driven from his house with 3 young sisters by Nazi forces to a ghetto.
Gerold had European looks,was bigger than his actual age He was asked to accompany a local jew/soldier who was guarding the prison. He was asked to remove his trousers and they saw that though he was a jew he was uncircumcised. An underground group of jews headed by Aron felt that he could be used as a spy. He was sent to Poland about the planned revolt/resistance by Jews Greshon family and others were shifted to another camp at Nuremberg where his three sisters along with thousand of other jews were killed at a point blank range. At this stage the leaders decided to spread the news of Jews persecution by nazis throughout the world. Grashon had changed his identity in 1947 by becoming a neutralized British citizen. He changed his name to Gerald Merton with new passports different names nationality, addresses and photographs. From 1945 to 1952 He became responsible for the sudden death of many German soldiers..Tom realised that Gerold was a trained and professional assassin and had perhaps gone to the UN headquarter to finish the remaining business. However, he realised that present secretary general, though a Finnish was too young to be involved in Jews persecution An association of DIN was formed by the survivors of 2nd world war holocaust who methodically eliminated the Nazis. By the middle of 1945 and end of second world war, Allies ruled Berlin and had put most of nazi war criminals in prison By 1949, out of thirteen million Nazi prisoners deemed complicit in the horrors of Third Reich only 300 men were in jail for serious war crimes The West German government convicted only one *person, HeWilhelm Greiffenberger who had direct role in the murder of eight thousand jews was sentenced only to three years in prison and that too was remitted
In Rebecca's father's house they found a picture of her father's friend Henery Goldman and 89 years old Sid Stiener who was suffering from dementia.He did not remember anything about her father.They took him back to revive his memory to 50 to 60 years period. He said that he and Rebecca's father had become trained bakers & had planned to kill large number of Nazis by poisoning their bread in Nuremberg prison They achieved this by killing approximately 3800 nazi prisoners in 1946.

The persuaror of Rabecca and Tom in the car pass on the information of Henry Goldman death to a high up in the US.
They were still confused as to what Henry wanted to convey to them which was so important.
They surmised it could not be the name of a person so important that his identity had to be concealed at all costs. They went to Greshon house to
find an old painting made by Rosa, Greshon's childhood friend
They found drawings of
sewer system of a city, an underground railway, electric wiring system of Nuremberg, Weimar a suburb of Berlin, Hamburg and Munich. Rosa and others had gone underground while Gershon was going from one place to another in eastern Europe.They made detailed maps of the sewer system electric wiring, railway maps with routes distances and name of stations, their opening of manhole covers of adjoining cities

In1945 Aron said at Nuremberg that DIN period was now over in view of the the British forces superiority who were more worried about their international image than fighting Nazis in court of law He said that now on they will cease to be an international terrorist organisation, surrender their arms and move to a new world order. He said the world was already moving in a different direction and jews should look for a permanent homeland for settlement as a country of their own which could be Israel But it already had its problem with Palestinians refusing to surrender their lands to jews. He said he was aware of the problem and had plans to smuggle Jews to Israel. He asked him to stay in Europe and that DIN had one last mission
He introduced him to a Frenchman in Paris and a former resistance fighter, who said that the greatest threat to the present day world was not from atomic bomb but something very small which could be carried in a brief case. It was a special kind of poison.

He made discreet enquiries with the chemists who told of toxins which retained their potency even when mixed with great volumes of water. It was in those conversations that Tochnit Aleph, Plan A, was born.
Thereafter, Aron sent for Greshon and introduced him to a Jew from Palestine who had come from Germany but left in the middle of 1930. Greshon did not like him thinking what he knew about the struggle of DIN/Jews who had got out early to save his own skin. Stranger introduced himself as an. engineer. He was in construction and allied subject. Stranger was also not happy on seeing Greshon He spread out number of complex blueprints on the table showing underground tunnels of water system for the city of Nuremberg. He said that Greshon was to seek employment with the Depth
of Filtration.
. After six weeks of intensive training Aron arrived one night and examined his papers,
and asked him to apply for the job next day He went for intropotion looking for the tragedies struck on the jews for no reason Nazis had so much hatered against jews that they wanted to remove the jews from earth.
He found himself to be a victim of this hatred. He thought that what he was doing was fully justified. Now he understood why DIN had planned to poison the water supply from the plant not only at Nuremberg but also in four other German cities of Munich, Hamburg, Weimar and the Wannsee subrub of Berlin. Greshon knew fully well that with
the turn of tap thousands of German will be killed
However, poisoning of water treatment plants of the cities in question could not take place due to various reasons




Senior commanders asked him to wait for better times. In the mean time Aron met another scientist Eliezer a chemist who handed him the cannisters filled with toxin, steel flasks cased in protective netting to be passed as camping matarial. Aron was
supposed to take them back to defined places in Europe. Aron had arranged his passage with men of Jewish underground from the ship taken at Palestine where he had landed illegally Some thing had happened in between. His ship was impounded in between, he was arrested and tortured on a sellout out by some traitor (Eliezer) had exposed him to British Navy .He was put underground for a long time thereby jeopordising the DIN project
Tom and Rebecca were still confused with regard to the message her father's friend wanted to convey. They both had concluded it was some person's name of his period which he wanted to convey which the concerned man wanted to avoid. They were not able to guess who could be that man. Suddenly Tom remembered that few days back he had called his boss at UN Hqts asking him to send the list of all the people in the range of 70 and above who were present for the week long UN General Assembl in past few days names included a Chinese interpreter, an Israeli head of state. He had thought of the names who were pro jews without realising there could still be next generation nazi sympthisers who were still active. Then he rememberd the name, his boss Henning Munchau. He made a Google search and found the full name -- *Captain Wilhelm Henning Munchau, 1898-1975, put in charge of killing jews. His boss Henning Manchou, chief legal counsel at the UN had misled him by switching his ID papers and sending him to Greshon house with some ulterior motive.Perheps he was the grand son of captain ss Monchau.
Tom and Rebecca who were in search of the missing link is approched by an elderly looking man Richard claiming to be their friend promised to take them to the concerned person. He fraudulently drugged their coffee and put them in a car in semi conscious condition takes them to London airport, puts them in a
Plane with false IDs and taken to the US, New york without anybody knowledge. At New york they were taken in a drowsy state to the Presidential Suit Of a luxury hotel, the President of Israel. From Greshon missing notes he had noted that there was a mention of an old Jewish man from Palastine who had left Europe at the peak of Germans brutality and had returned when the things had cooled down He had thought him to be a coward and selfish. Those comments came to his mind now
The President said that he had become reckless in coming to the UN.Rebecca was staring at the President wondering what was the purpose for which they were kidnaped. Tom remembered Munchau's list mentioning the names of all visitors to the UN Hqts. The names included Chinese interpreter, Foreign Minister of Ivory caoast and the President of Israel(84). President assumed that Henning, the organiser of the get together was a German and perhaps, working for nazis. He thought it would be best to put everything on him. President said

Tom was furious, He said they were drugged, bound, abducted and brought against their wishes to this place.
The President said that it was a high risk meeting which he had to take like lot of other action taken by his country .He said this was a case where his country performed one regrettable job in order to avoid having to do much worse elsewhere.
Tom asked what Regrettable job.
President said There was something which he wanted to know. Rebecca was furious She said that he had killed her father's friend Henery Goldman for no reason. President said that it was an accident but he wanted to know what secret Henery had which he wanted to convey through them.
He said he wanted to know what Henery Goldman knew which he wanted to convey through them and since he is not there they had to tell what they knew.
Rebecca replied with anguish she failed to understand why he would be her father's enemy.
He said they should speak about DIN. He said he did not know her father but had seen him in Europe 60 years back when he was just 15 years young man. He knew he had become very important in DIN throughout the world working underground. He wanted to know where he and DIN stood with reference to Israel and him in particular. So this was the purpose of the meeting to know what he knew that was so important He said he knew and always knew that Grashon was still alive and working underground. What he wanted to know why he was in New york and UN General Assembly. and then he heard in news that a British Citizen has been murdered at the steps of UN Hqts. Since that time he is wondering who could have got him killed and whether his own life safe what business he had here.Now he wanted to find out who were the person of that era were left and on the premises of UN HQts. So he wanted to know what message he wanted to give through Tom and Rebecca and what they knew of that. This was his first question-- what he knew about Tochnit.


Tom did not know much about Tochnit, but he knew about Aleph Plan A. So he said they knew about it.
President asked how they knew.
Tom replied they had seen the papers
President asked what papers
Tom replied the Blue Prints, details of water works system of big cities of Munich, Berlin, Hamburg and Nuremberg.
The President gets immediately worried, He asked if they knew
Tom replied yes they knew
President said so they knew about him, he asked if the papers pointed to him in anyway.
Tom replied if some one knew what they were looking for, they could work it out.
President said this is what he thought of. Then he asked where were the papers now.
Tom replied diplomatically that it would be difficult to disclose that.
President looked at Rebecca and said he said he was not a member of DIN and that he was not in Europe during those times. He said he had left for
Russia in 1936, i.e. he got out in time. He came to Palestine to be a pioneer. Their aim was to create Ivri, the Habrew, a wholly new Jew, strong, a, worker, a soldier. no more passivity in the face of the enemy. He had arrived in Palestinian as a teenager, and became a politician, his boss asked him to make a mixture which he did. Rebecca asked if he made the poison? He said yes, She asked if he knew what was it for? His professor told him to give it to Aron, the hero of the movement, it was a toxin colourless, tasteless, odorless, poison meant for mass water supply. He gave it to the President, who distributed for use in the water supply. It was given to Greshon also, but he did not know about him it. Tom asked why it was not used
President replied Aron thought it was not proper time so canister of poison meant for distribution were called back and given to Aron.However, the ship in which he was carrying the poison was impounded, he was tortured, arrested and imprisoned for a
long time.The arrest was done on the basis of a complaint made by him with British authorities.
Tom asked that this was his secret. President replied not his alone, but also the entire newly borne state of Israel. He said there were many countries in the world who hated Israel. With this action he became hero of the world. Now the next question was why he had come to the UN taking such a big risk Now as the matter of Henery Goldman were already discussed and sorted out amongst them Tom and Rebecca would give original blue prints to them. In turn the President will return their passports and other documents.withdraw their goons and ensure their safe return to London. As a mark of respect he gives a proper condolence to Rebecca with a formal hand shake. However, Rebecca has one more request from the president. She asked him to fix a one to one meeting with Secretary General of the United Nations. President is surprised. But he does fix the meeting. They Coolly come out of hotel
From the hotel me to UN SG office with the request to meet him as already requested by the President.There they were met by Hennings/Munchau, ex boss of Tom Bryte, secretary of SG. But Rebecca did not want to rush like that. She asks him to arrange the meeting outside. Tom was waiting outside. He was looking for some paper and a fountain pen. He does not find any. He searches in Rebecca's purse and finds a fountain pen in her purse, which turns out to be a pen like thing. But it was not a pen. There were papers rolled in the pen which were missing notes torn from her father's note book concerning people who had assembled there. These were secret notes from father to a daughter to be near him and keep her eyes open. Greshon long time back had stopped his activities for a long times back after DIN period was over about 40 years back as promised to her and another young lady(Rosa). He had thought all the people of that period hostile environment to jews had died or taken care. Now suddenly he found that certain people of that period had gathered there. He did not know for what purpose they were there. But he did not want to take any chance and hence had cautioned Rebecca He surmised that Greshon had come to kill the person there on the UN Hqts bldg. The cartridge in the pen also had a pen drive containing the narration, photos, vidios from early childhood showing Greshon moving in rags with his sisters in Lithuania
rape and humiliation of his sister by a tall Lithunian in full public view of hooting and shouting of crowd. He was the same who had publically shot dead all the three sisters at ghatto in Nuremberg and pushing their bodies in the pit. He and his German boss openly celebrating
Tom through the pen drive image clearly recognised the two as Hennings and SG of the UN, Wilhelm Griffith persons whom Rebecca wanted to meet at her father instance.
Tom imagined that he had been used. Both father and daughter knew all along that their enemies had assembled there and hiding. He rushed to the meditation hall on.the third floor of UN buildimg.
Rebecca was sitting alone Hennings busy in discussion. She was both surprised and unhappy at intrusion. She asked him to leave. Tom looked at Pavao Viren in his same robust stature, ditto copy of picture on pen drive. He tells her he has seen his picture in relation to keddish. She said that

she had recognised him from the old picture that he was the same man who had humiliated her family publically, raped, brutalised, jeered at the top of his voice to the shouting of Lithuanian crowd. He was too big for his age. Subsequently,
he and his German boss shot all the jews ladies of Kavino Ghetto to remove their clothes shot dead at the back and thrown one over the pit killing them While Griften and his boss. Rebecca and SG are busy in discussing the issue of his involvement in the death of her father. She talked about old photographs. He denied, she went close to him asking him to show his arm asking to see his arm for a surgery done on his arm where Greshon eldest sister had bitten when she was publically beaten, raped and humiliated. She wanted to check the area, she was carrying a syringe. She told him it carried the same poison which wa given to the Jewst the height of Nazis persecution. SG denies. In the struggle the poison is injected in his neck and he died at once. Rebecca has taken her father's revenge after 60 years of his family humiliation.



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On receiving this information he is furious and ask them to immediately bring both Rebecca and Tom Bryte to him in US alive. They are drugged, taken in a car on gun point and flown to US in unconscious condition. In the US they are taken to the presidential suit the of a luxury hotel and presented to an elderly looking person. He turns out to be the president of Israel.


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[The Humpo Show [ Richard ] · Rating 3 out of 5]

After receiving intel that a suspected suicide bomber is approaching the United Nations building in New York, a security officer shoots and kills the suspect. Following some quick investigating, the man that has been killed is found out to be a Holocaust survivor...not the usual identity of a terrorist. Tom Byrne, a former UN lawyer, is hired to smooth things over with the man's daughter, however he quickly gets ensnared in the mystery surrounding the man's reasons for being at the UN and his incredible past; Tom also gets the feeling that some people do not want the truth to come out...

Bourne has thoroughly engrossed me in his previous two books that I have read, The Righteous Men and The Last Testament. He helped to fill the Dan Brown void that I had after hungrily consuming everything that Brown penned. Those previous two books combined mystery, history and action brilliantly, and the stories have stayed with me longer after reading them. The Final Reckoning has some of the same ingredients, but it doesn't quite live up to the high standards that have been set.

There are some fantastic and worthy sections of the book that are characteristically Bourne-esque, or should I say Jonathan Freedland-esque (The Guardian writer's real name). The passages in regard to Gerald Merton/ Gershon Matzkin were fascinating, harrowing and very readable. By presenting Matzkin's life through a notebook was a great touch by Bourne, as we were able to get a first-hand account of life for Jews during the late 1930s, the Second World War in Europe, and the events after the war. The notebook helped to capture the emotion that he felt, the incredible stories that get lost in the magnitude of The Holocaust and the mass murders at Auschwitz, Dachau and Treblinka, to name but a few. By positioning the historical stories with such a deep and real emphasis, it helped to give the events occurring in the modern day greater gravitas.

Tom journeys to London where he meets Rebecca Merton, Matzkin's daughter, initially to smooth over things regarding the murder of her father. But instead, the pair get pulled in to a story that begins 70 years ago in Lithuania. As I have mentioned, the story regarding Matzkin and his life during the Second World War and after makes for riveting reading, Bourne has pieced a great story together here. However, the main area of annoyance for me - as it prevented this book from being as good as his others - is the implausible and at some times, awful nature of the 'romance' between the main two characters.  I did not enjoy a single scene where they were getting intimate or the many mentions of Tom becoming aroused at anything Rebecca did or said.

The Final Reckoning has a good story, particularly when the emphasis is on the character that gets killed off in the opening chapter. The story is hamstrung by a poor romance, as well as being about 80-120 pages too long. I will pick up a Bourne book in future, but this one has not compelled me to go out and grab it immediately.

[Sridhar Babu · Rating 5 out of 5]

AUTHOR..
SAM BOURNE..
CHARACTERS..
Tom Byrne, Rebecca Merton, Gerald Merton (aka Gershon Matzkin), Henning Munchau, Paavo Viren and others...
LOCATION..
UN headquarters NEW YORK (USA) and LONDON CITY (UK)
GENRE..
SUSPENSE...
PLOT..

At UN Headquarters New York,(UN plaza) a 70 year old man was shot dead, by an officer of the UN Security Force. The dead man identified as Gerald Merton, a British citizen, (actual place of birth: Kaunas, Lithuania )was killed, by mistake, because his appearance perfectly matched with description of the terror suspect suicide bomber, supplied by the Watch commander of UN . The postmortem results shows that Gerlad Merton was a strong man for his old age,kinda fitness freak and at the right foot three toes were missing, and these wounds were no less than sixty years old.

Tom Byrne has come a long way since his days an idealistic young lawyer. He will work for anyone as long as the money is right. The Secretary General of UN, wants to offer an apology, and massive compensation package to the only daughter of the victim, Rebecca Merton, a doctor by profession, without any grandstanding and embarrassment to United Nations.

So, when UN asks Tom to take on a dubious job of going to England, finding Rebecca Merton, convincing her to take compensation given by UN and to do whatever it takes to make the mistake go away, he doesn't hesitate. But Rebecca Merton refuses to accept any payment from UN, instead she wants a face to face meeting with Secretary General and an apology for killing her father. At her house, Tom takes a small, black notebook belonging to the dead old man Gerald Merton.

Reading the dead man's dairy, Tom soon learns that the victim was not quite innocent he seemed to be.

The dead man was actually Gershon Matzkin a Jew born in Kruk, Lithuania. His family consisting of parents and three siblings (Hannah, Rivvy and Leah) were living peacefully in Kaunas , Lithuania. Because of the local Lithuanians atrocity towards Jewish people, his father was burned to death and his mother committed suicide hanging herself from a beam of a ceiling.

Then in Late October 1941, when Lithuania was captured by Nazi Germany, things became very worse for Gershon and his sisters. They were moved to a ghetto in Linkuvos Street, where thirty thousand people stuffed into an area fit for one thousand. Young Gershon was forced to do the work of machines lifting rocks and stones, mainly to get enough food for survival . Work was from dawn till dusk, twelve hours or more until every muscle in the body screaming for rest.

His elder sister Hannah, sometimes began to leave the ghetto to get some food for the two sisters who had no work permits and food. One day when she was hiding a chunk of bread for her two sisters, she was caught by son of of the guards, a boy of just thirteen or fourteen years, mentioned as 'WOLF" because of his cruelty. She was not only beaten by wolf's truncheon, but raped brutally in front of other guards who were too drunk to notice anything. Hannah,escaped from the hands of wolf, by hurting him with a nail in his underside exposed left arm, and then fled from there, grabbing her cloths from the floor. Afterwards Hannah was wounded both mentally and physically and was no longer the same loving elder sister of the family.

On 28th October 1941, ten thousand Jews were driven out of the Kovno ghetto by the Nazis, were buried alive into the pits. A brutal Nazi killing, done by stripping the Jews stark naked in the freezing cold, then shooting them in batches and tossing them into the pits. Only young and strong Jews who were capable of building German base camp were spared. Gershon's three sisters were among those ten thousand killed in 'great action'proudly mentioned by the Nazi killers.

Because of the Nazi brutality and atrocity, his family being wiped from the face of the earth. Greshon , became part of secret brotherhood named DIN,... (( the movement whose Hebrew name means judgement. But it also stands for three words " DAM ISRAEL NOKEAM " meaning "The blood of Israel will take vengeance"))... to take revenge for Nazi killing millions of Jews. After the World War was over, the DIN, headed by Aron ,with its members Greshon, sid Steiner , Goldman, Rosa (only female member of the organization) and others went round killing Nazis.

The DIN did the killings in two phases, straight after the war in occupied Germany and then again in the fifties and sixties all over the world, especially Europe, South America and everywhere. Greshon, under the guidance of leader Aron, was an active participant in the biggest operation of the DIN, at the Nurembrg bakery on 13th April 1946, where they killed thousands of Nazi war criminals by poisoning the black bread supplied to prisoners . Greshon also participated in a failed plan named Tochnit Aleph, a plan to poison water supply in four German cities Munich, Hamburg, Weimar and suburb of Berlin.

Later when DIN's work was over, Gershon Matzkin, became Gerald Merton, settled in London with his only daughter Rebecca Merton.

Finishing Gerald's Dairy, Tom learns that he is not an innocent old tourist who visited UN Plaza, but a deadly assassin of a secret brotherhood with a prime target in his mind. From his dairy, Tom discovers a shocking fact that Gershon had killed more than 30 Nazi war criminals, who had hidden themselves from the trails. With fake passports, false papers he visited these men personally and murdered them one after another from 1945 and 1946 and finally in the year 1952., and making them look like accidents and suicides. Tom also learns a shocking truth, that Gershon's daughter Rebecca was also a silent accomplice to her father's mission, and she was updated periodically by her father with facts of each execution missions.

Tom was surprised to find, that some of the pages in the Gershon's black notebook were purposely removed leaving him clueless about the purpose Gershon's visit to United Nation's plaza.

CLIMAX...
After finding the missing pages from Gershon's dairy, folded secretly in Rebecca's fountain pen, Tom discovers the purpose of Gershon's visit to UN Plaza, was to settle a long pending final score. A promise he made to a young woman full of life long ago. The new secretary General of UN, sixty eight year old Paavo Viren, is none other than the cruel "WOLF" who raped Gershon's elder sister Hannah long back in the ghetto.

Gershon, as usual had told Rebecca about the purpose of his visit to UN, prior to his assassination mission. He had also explained to her what to do and where to look for his intended target, in case his mission failed. Rebecca, after searching World War photos posted by an expert Photographer through internet finds that Gershon's intended target is indeed Paavo Viren, the present UN General Secretary and the cruel "wolf" who raped her aunt Hannah, at the ghetto long back. By using Tom Byrne, as a ticket to meet the UN General Secretary alone at UN Head Quarters Rebecca wishes to finish her father's mission, in a much different way from her father's.

In the face to face encounter with Secretary General, Tom kills Paavo, with a lethal injection brought by Rebecca, to threaten and make him to accept the war crime he had committed long ago, in public, in front of the medias. By killing Paavo Viren a injustice done to Rebecca Merton's aunts is finally settled.

MY COMMENT...
THE FINAL RECKONING....ONE OF THE FINEST..!!!

[Palak · Rating 4 out of 5]

I am a big fan of Dan Brown and his writing style, so when I saw on the cover of this book that he is "The Biggest Challenger to Dan Brown's Crown," I was intrigued. I had to pick this book to just see whether it delivers what it claims.

I was totally blown away. The twists and turns and the historical accounts were so in depth and interesting that you will not want to keep the book away.

I can understand why the book is compared to Dan Brown's writing, but I found the author's writing is closer to Steve Berry's writing style. If you enjoy reading history-based thrillers, then you should surely give this book a try. The writing is simple and straightforward, and the English is also easy to understand and follow. I will recommend this for all history buffs or anyone who loves reading thrillers.

Book Summary
The book starts with the murder of an old man, who was thought to be suicide bomber, inside the UN building. To cover their tracks and to avoid any allegations of misconduct from the daughter of the man who was killed, the UN sends Tom Byrne to handle the matter. Tom is a lawyer who has left his idealistic ways far behind and now works for anyone as long as the price is right.

But once he meets Rebecca and hears her side of the story about her father being a war hero and holocaust survivor, he starts to question his assignment. The discovery of Rebecca's father diary reveal what all he did in his fight against the Nazi regimen. The revelations about the heroics of the old man do not sit right for the UN and can cause a media frenzy.

The book then toggles between the present, where Tom and Rebecca are trying to find what were the events that led to the old man's death, and the past, where Rebecca's dad tells his story through his diary about his suffering and his trials to help his fellow Jews fight the Nazi's. The book ends with a twist and will leave the reader satisfied that justice was served.

Even after all the movies, documentaries, and books about WWII that I have come across, the war atrocities still gut punches me. It is not easy to come up with something new and interesting on a topic that has been covered extensively, and the author has done a commendable job of bringing something new from history that I was unaware about. Do give it a read.

[Tatiana Maher · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Final Reckoning is a mystery novel that follows multiple characters as they work to uncover the secrets involved in a UN shooting of a man. The main character is a lawyer (Tom Byrne) who travels to Britain to speak to the dead man’s daughter, and he gets caught up in a mystery greater than a single person. You learn parts of the dead man, Gerald Merton’s, story through Byrne’s investigative methods with Merton’s daughter Rebecca, and more from the detective back in New York. All the while, you are also getting the perspective of an unnamed group following the efforts to uncover Merton’s secrets. Throughout the novel, you learn that Merton was not simply an older man in the wrong place at the wrong time, but a holocaust survivor part of a secret group to avenge the Nazi’s sins post World War Two. It’s a captivating read, made all the more interesting when you find many details are cemented in actual truth. By the end of the novel, you learn more about the untold history of a seemingly universally known event while connecting to relatable characters. Not only that, but you discover that Merton was not the only one keeping secrets.

[Harsh Gopal · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is an interesting read based on the premise of the World War II, The Jews, The Nazis. These three elements form the backbone of The Final Reckoning. The story progresses pretty fast and the language makes it a fast read. Though it was a good read, I have some issues with the book as a whole and thus the 3 star rating.
The Final Reckoning is a fast paced thriller, but unfortunately wasn't that thrilling enough. This isn't your edge-of-your-seat thriller. The characters are not that memorable and the final reveal was an almost "bleh" moment.
The book does have it's strong points. The build up towards the end is great, and makes you feel that the story is so predictable, but alas! It is great how Sam Bourne has put up riveting details of the Holocaust into the plot. It is so well put that you curse and feel terrible for the humans who had to go through that time.

The cover says "The Biggest Challenger to Dan Brown's Crown". Now, why would someone market the book like that when it isn't even close to what Dan Brown used to write?

[wally · Rating 4 out of 5]

finished 20th february 2022 good read four stars really liked it kindle library loaner first from bourne...another in the long line of holocaust-related stories this one with some related actual facts according to the afterword...there was a group of survivors that made it their business to kill nazis, the poison water scheme, poison bread. both the former u.n. lawyer guy and the nypd detective seem like chumps cut from the same cloth but much of the politics seems spot-on for all i know...and yet another story that mentions the fabled "six million" and another story that has me asking, again, what of the millions of others, non-jews? do they count? for the thousands of holocaust-related word in print fiction non-fiction my guess is that, no, they do not count. i suspect one would be labelled a "hater" for even considering the thought. and there is nothing new under the sun. californians, chapter three, verse forty-two.

[Ayesha Khalid · Rating 4 out of 5]

I had been avoiding thrillers lately since I was a bit tired of the genre but I'm glad I picked this up. This crime/historical thriller reminded me of why I love such books.

Law, politics, crime, Holocaust, Israel, Palestine, Germany, UN; I didn't know I'd find all of this in this thriller. After reading the blurb I thought it was going to be one of the usual crime stories that I've read over the years.

But nah! This book actually got me thinking about a lot of things! I never would have thought Holocaust could have had anything to do with the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. (I did a leeeetle research right after I finished the book and there's not a clear yes or no answer regarding this issue but damn, it's just so fascinating.)

Also, The Final Reckoning is based on the true story of Holocaust survivors avenging the blood of Jews.

[Sheepdog · Rating 4 out of 5]

Easy way to do history homework.

This is, on the surface, an ordinary thriller. Airplane novel. Read it for fun, if nothing else.

But.

It is so much more. In the course of someone is killed/ problems arise/ people try to figure out what happened, deal with problems, the book tells, brilliantly, the story of the Holocaust. Of being on the wrong side of the Nazis in occupied Europe...

We should know about that history.

Tell me we're doing better these days?

Holocaust: 6 million
Nuremberg: 24 men on trial.
Subsequent attempt to "do better"... some jailed. 300 still in jail, 1949.

Different in the areas under Stalin's control. Even a monster gets some things right.

A good read, even *if*... if... he has been sloppy with facts. But it seems unlikely.