I’ve been reading the books of Ronald Balson since Once We Were Brothers in about 2014. That was his first which was published in 2010 and this is my 6th novel out of 7.  Eli’s Promise is an older stand alone which I just now realized I hadn’t read.  So before getting into his latest in the “Liam Taggart and Catherine Lockhart” series (the 6th book) I decided to get this stand-alone off my reading list before the end of the year.  It really wasn’t as good as the priors but it’s tense and historically accurate. Balson knows his stuff and has done his research.

Eli’s Promise
By Ronald Balson
2013
Read by Fred Berman 11h 45m Rating: 8 / historical fiction- thriller  

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In Eli’s Promise Eli Rosen, his wife Esther, and their son, Isaac live quietly in Lublin, Poland where Eli owns and operates a small construction business.  When the Nazis take over that business is seized and he is forced him to go to another town to set up a new one for them.  A man named Maximillan is orchestrating this and says he will keep an eye on Esther and Isaac who are left in Lublin.  That’s time frame 1.

Time frame 2 takes place in a displaced persons camp starting in 1945, after the Allies have won and released the camp prisoners.  

Time frame 3 takes place in 1965 after Eli makes it to Chicago where after a few years his job entails looking for one specific person who was a Nazi collaborator – Maximillan.

The story, basically about chasing down this Nazi collaborator but with interesting side threads, progresses by alternating through these time frames with the reader spinning ahead and gaining new knowledge each time and the story goes further filling in blanks the next time it come around.

I’m looking forward to Understanding Britta Stein, Balsom’s next novel on my list and the