Set in post WWII Israel during the British occupation, historically covers the actions against the British along with other Jewish groups to convince the British to leave Israel. Entertaining and a great read. The dialogue could be better, but the story leaves nothing to be desired.

Drama, adventure, romance and WWII traumatic memories. The popular novel in Israel, Lone Wolf in Jerusalem, by the decorated IDF colonel Ehud Diskin, wisely uses the troubled political and security landscape in Israel during the British Mandate to recreate vivid stories of the Jewish resistance in the Holy Land.

The main character is David Gabinsky, a former member of the resistance against the Germans in Belarus, shortly landed in the 'home of the Jewish people' and faced with the harsh survival realities. The different ideological orientations and strategical mindsets of the many resistance groups and different approach of Zionism - explained sometimes but the author in a bit too school-like, pedagogical way - are a good indicator of the current political mainstreams in Israel. Diskin projects also a different image of the Jewish communities in Europe, with insights about the armed resistance against the Germans, a reality not enough approached either in purely historical or literary works placed in that period of time.

Besides the historical contexts and constructions, the story flows beautifully and there is enough action and romantic touch to inspire and captivate the readership. The love between David and Shoshana is dramatic and moving, with a dynamic written on hearbreaking historical canvass.

The historical research is well done, which allows the writer to play with the imagination and create unique stories, without diminishing the reality of facts. It is an easy-to-read novel, with a touch of mystery, thriller and historical - also military - dramatism, recommended to history novels readers, especially those passionate about the Middle East, particularly Jewish history.

Ehud Diskin, Lone Wolf in Jerusalem (2018)

This book is a bestseller in Israel and promises a “thrilling tale of love, loss, and revenge”. I’m going to cut to the chase and say that it made me quite uncomfortable, although I read it to the end and enjoyed learning and thinking about the many historical facts that are inserted into the novel.

The book is set in Israel (then under British rule) between 1946 to 1948 and centers on David Gabinsky, a Jewish survivor from Belarus. David has a somewhat unusual trajectory during World War II, as he escaped early on from the ghettos, joined the Jewish resistance fighters against the Nazis and local Antisemitic thugs. His role was to set up ambushes, terrorize and kill local Nazi troops by guerilla tactics. At the end of the war, without any living family to return to, he decides that Europe is no place for him and for Jews anymore. He rallies Israel and decides to support the foundation of a Jewish state his own way: not by posting leaflets and demonstrating, but by doing what he does best, which is killing soldiers. Of course, he has some twitches of conscience, but overall not that much, since he considers it’s for the greater good. Every British soldier depicted in the novel is a truly contemptible anti-Semite, so it’s hard not to feel David’s righteous anger.

I would argue that the book is a nationalist history course of the difficult establishment of the state of Israel, made palatable to younger readers by adding some sex, action and tears. It’s very interesting because it’s a little-known period, and a complex one. Quite a number of advanced praises come not from writers or literary critics but from the president of Israel, ministers and generals. It’s surprising, but it says a lot about the book as well. I am not knowledgeable enough to analyze exactly if this interpretation of history (and in particular of British mandate over Palestine) is biased or not (and I’m totally ready to concede it’s not, if proven to me by facts), but I would advise to tread carefully.

Because of my personal family history, it started to disturb me early on, when David turns his back on Europe and can’t see any other future for Jewish people than going to Israel. But of course that is his (fictional) choice and his view. I am not informed enough about the different Jewish resistance movements (namely the Lehi and the Irgun) but this novel made me want to understand more. It is disturbing to me that just as British people in the book are uniformly bad guys, every Jewish character in the book is nice and selfless (has no money problem, learns hebrew in a jiffy, finds a job immediately and generally integrates him/herself into Israeli society like one big happy family despite a few minor disagreements)… and agrees that British soldiers need to be killed. It is also disturbing to see that such a storyline is bestseller material in Israel, and I feel that for Western audiences this English translation would benefit from a post-face that would explain historical facts and put events and positions into perspective.

I received a free copy of this book from the publisher via NetGalley, for review consideration.

Lone Wolf in Jerusalem
by Ehud Diskin
Greenleaf Book Group
Greenleaf Book Group Press
General Fiction (Adult) , Mystery & Thrillers
Pub Date 14 Aug 2018
I am reviewing a copy of Lone Wolf In Jerusalem through GreenLeaf Book Group Press and Netgalley:
The majority of this book is set in Post World War 2 Israel!
David leads a courageous young group of Jewish Resistance fighters against the Nazi's after loosing his family to Hitler's "Final Solution." After Germany is defeated in the war he heads to Jerusalem to find a new battle brewing. British forces are blocking Holocaust survivors from immigrating to Israel.
David who has skills in Guerrilla warfare used those skills to wreak havoc on the British but while on this mission he meets Shoshana (a young Holocaust Survivor whose spirit seems to be damaged by repair. Regardless he falls in love with her.
I give Lone Wolf in Jerusalem five out of five stars!
Happy Reading!

This was a hard book to read in more ways than one for me. A good book in that it covers a lot of information about a time and facts that most people, myself included know either nothing or very little about, and that is sad and wrong!
The "novel" parts were often not to my liking but the sheer volume of information made this well worth the read!
I actually ended up with two copies of this book! An e-copy from the Publisher and NetGalley to review for my honest opinion, which is what I am doing.
And a paperback copy I won on Goodreads also for my honest review... One and the same!
Thank you both very much!

Although Lone Wolf in Jerusalem is primarily a thriller, I find myself wanting to discuss characters. I loved Shoshana. Her character arc of recovery from her experiences during WWII really pulled me in to the book. Yet I have to say that at the beginning of the novel, I found the perspective of the protagonist understandable, but not sympathetic. David Gabinsky, the main character, was an anti-Nazi resistance fighter and a Holocaust survivor when he arrived in British Mandate Palestine. He decided to take action against British police officers on his own. With his background, I understood why David did not distinguish between the Nazis and the British occupiers. He saw himself as continuing his World II struggle against the enemies of Jews.

Before writing this review, I thought about how I wanted to approach the issue of terrorism. I re-read my review of The Beauty Queen of Jerusalem by Sarit Yishai-Levi which partly took place in British Mandate Palestine. . In that review, I remarked about terrorism that "I tend to draw the line at the victimizing of innocent civilians." This expresses my opinion on the subject in a nutshell which is why I am quoting it in this review. I learned from Lone Wolf in Jerusalem that a Jewish terrorist organization of this period known as the Lehi attacked British civilians in direct opposition to the policy of the Irgun, a much better known anti-British Jewish terrorist organization. My feeling is that the Irgun policy makes an important ethical statement. At one point in this book, David realized that he had victimized innocents in one of his actions, and came to regret it. Diskin shows us a protagonist who evolves in his thinking, and becomes more sympathetic over the course of the novel.

While I knew something about the Irgun before I read this book, I was extremely uninformed about the Lehi. I had known that it was called the Stern Gang by its opponents. So after writing the above paragraph, I did some research. British historian Colin Schindler's website pointed me in the direction of The Stern Gang by Joseph Heller. I'll definitely want to read it. The Lehi didn't play a significant role in Lone Wolf in Jerusalem, but Diskin's content about the Lehi in this novel caused me to think that I wanted to know more.

Diskin's military background lends tremendous verisimilitude to the action scenes in this thriller. There is a great deal more talk about strategy and tactics than I am accustomed to seeing in thrillers, but they weren't just dry discussions. Diskin contextualized strategy and tactics within the life of the protagonist. David's choices were accompanied by flashbacks when they were related to specific memories from his experiences.

I am usually disappointed by bestsellers when I read them, but this Israeli bestseller was both intense and informative.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for this book.
I found this book fascinating as. It explores a period in history I knew nothing about which I’d pre independence Israel and the Jews plight right after the war.

I enjoyed this book and can see why it's a bestseller in Israel.. this is tje story of David and how he moves to Israel after the loss of his family during WWII. He takes up fighting the British occupation of Israel both on his own and with underground resistance groups. I enjoyed learning about this period of Israel's history.

I would like to thank Netgalley and the publisher for providing me with a review copy in exchange for my honest and unbiased opinion of it.

Diskin’s Lone Wolf is a fictionalized account of pre-Independence Israel and the armed struggle against the British, who for political reasons, were determined to keep thousands of Holocaust survivors who had no home left in the charred ruins of Europe from returning to their ancestral homeland. This story will certainly remind readers of Uris’ classic novel Exodus, but it tells a very different story.

The main protagonist of the novel is David Gabinsky, a survivor of the Nazi conquest of Europe, who lost his family to the Nazi genocide, and survived for years, fighting in the forests of Byelorussia with the few other survivors left against the Nazis. That story is told in flashbacks as is Gabinsky’s survival in post-War Krakow and his subsequent journey to 1946 Israel where Hitler’s Ally Al-Husseini, who had sought to implement Hitler’s Final Solution throughout the Middle East, still holds power and the British seek to placate this monster and his ilk by limiting emigration from thousands of survivors in displacement camps in Cyprus and Italy.

The story follows Gabinsky as he makes his home in Jerusalem and fights the British both on his own and with resistance groups. It’s a story of espionage, rebellion, and the trauma experienced by survivors of WW2 and its evils. Diskin doesn’t just make this a men’s adventure war story, but includes romance, giving the story wider appeal. It is well-written and an easy book to read.

Many thanks to the publisher for providing a copy for review.

This book gave me three things: mystery, suspense and vengeance.
Well, if you are David, then you know what it means to lose everyone you love at the hand of the Nazis and you also know a thing or two about stealth and attacking your enemy. Better yet, you know how to blend in without losing sight of your goal.
Thanks for the eARC Netgalley, I got to be in David's world, to fight his battles and the author made sure I held my breath every time he went on a mission.