I began reading Eli's Promise Ronald H. Balson on September 16th, but had to put aside to deal with a blog tour review that needed to be posted on September 20th and other pressing review commitments. When I finally got back to it, September was almost gone. I finished it on September 30. I was intended to be an advance reviewer, but Eli's Promise was released on September 22nd. So I apologize for my lateness. I received my copy from the publisher via Net Galley well in advance.

This is the third book that I've read by Ronald H. Balson. The first two were Karolina's Twins and The Girl From Berlin which are part of the Liam Taggart and Catherine Lockhart legal thriller series. I reviewed them both on Flying High Reviews. It's a blog devoted to strong female protagonists. You can find those Balson books reviewed here and here.

Eli's Promise is a stand alone dealing with the life of Eli Rosen during WWII and the 1960's. There are some wonderful female characters in this book, but the primary focus is on a male protagonist. That's why I decided to post my review on Shomeret: Masked Reviewer where I review any book that interests me.



I have a family that was badly impacted by the Holocaust and I took a course on the Holocaust at Jewish Theological Seminary. This isn't just a historical topic for me. I am reluctant to read any books dealing with the Holocaust, but I agreed to read this one in September when I shouldn't have. There was another book that I was committed to read in September that also contained the liberation of a camp after WWII. The other book was reviewed on Flying High Reviews. Between that novel's Holocaust content and Eli's Promise, I felt emotionally overwhelmed.

When I continued to read Eli's Promise at the end of the month, I experienced nausea. This is a sign that it's well-written. I felt what the characters were going through. I am also under stress in my personal life, and I was saying to myself "I don't need this," but I did commit to read it, so I finished the book. To say that these aren't ideal conditions for me to write a review would be an understatement. I am telling you this, so you understand my context when I say I wish I hadn't read Eli's Promise.

The villain of Eli's Promise is pursued by Eli since he and his family were betrayed by the villain during the Holocaust. Then the narrative is taken up again in the 1960's. At that point Eli was in law enforcement, but this was a very personal case for him.

There are two women that I want to mention in this review. They are Eli's wife, Esther, who wanted to leave Poland in 1939. Unfortunately, Eli wasn't as prescient as she was. The other was Mimi, a U.S. journalist in the 1960's. She agreed to cooperate with law enforcement after her best friend was killed, and risked her own life in the process. If it weren't for Mimi's courage, the case couldn't have been resolved, yet she did get an exclusive story out of it.

I do recommend this book to those who need to be educated about the Holocaust, and readers who want to be immersed in an intense dual period historical thriller.

Eli’s Promise is another exemplary historical fiction by Ronald Balson. ⁣It’s a stand-alone that isn’t a part of the Liam and Katherine series. I was so curious to see how this book would differ. ⁣Balson is such a skilled writer and always finds a way to weave a story with suspense and capture a unique point of view. ⁣
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The book moves between Nazi-occupied Poland, Post-war Germany, and Chicago during the Vietnam era. Eli Rosen is on a quest to find Max Poleski, the man who betrayed his family and bring him to justice. The perspective of this book is unique and completely captivating. With characters that are so easy to love and hate, this is a must-read historical fiction. Thank you so much to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press and for my copy of this book! 4 stars

I really enjoyed previous books by the author that involved Taggert and Lockhart. However, Eli’s Promise did not appeal to me as much. I enjoy historical fiction, especially about WWII. And the author does a good job telling the story of Eli Rosen who suffers through the horrors of the Nazi invasion. I wasn’t as happy with this book. I felt like the story was a little stilted and the characters were not as well developed. I just could not get invested in the book.

While I enjoyed the mystery portion of the book and the multiple time lines, I felt like I needed more from the characters beyond Eli and Max.

I look forward to reading additional books from the Taggert and Lockhart series and hope the author will spend some time taking us back to the adventures we experience with them.

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for my advanced review copy. All opinions and thoughts are my own.

This was a good read! It was real researched and I felt that it describe the events of WW2 that befallen the main character respectfully to the true life events ! It is the perfect read for those who appreciate World War 2. I really enjoyed how the story was split into three time periods that allowed for us to see the growth in Eli’s character. I enjoyed the story and found it well a,an Ed between tragedy and hope !!

Thanks you to NetGalley and the publisher for the advance copy.

Eli and his family live in Lublin Poland. It is 1939 and the war is closing in on the them. The Nazi's take over their city and their lives crumble. He and his son are later at a DP camp trying to get to America. At 26% I am so deeply disappointed to say I decided to DNF this book. I have read every single one of Ronald Balson's books and loved them. Unfortunately I was not invested in these characters and the plot felt very repetitive.

A riveting story full of historical fiction and facts to back it up. I love Eli’s story and his perfect “revenge”. This book takes a hard look at the side of the story we wish hadn’t existed: the profit from war. While sad, I love that the author looked into all aspects and dove deep into the characters. Well written and thought provoking.

This book follows three different timelines, all focusing on Eli and his family. In 1939, Eli and his family are struggling with the restrictions on Jews. Forced to sign his company away to Max, Eli demands that Max keep his family safe. In the post-war period, Eli lives with his son in a displaced persons camp. When he hears word that a man named Max is selling immigration documents to the U.S., Eli is determined to find him and seek revenge. In the mid 1960's, the pov changes to Mimi, a young girl who is connected to Chicago politicians via her best friend. Here, Eli is investigating corruption with the U.S. government.

I had trouble with this book. I did not find Eli to be a very likeable character. He seemed unreasonable and hot tempered throughout the pre and post wartime scenes. The third timeline did not work at all. Switching pov halfway through the book was pretty jolting. Overall, this is not a book I would reread or recommend.

Thanks to NetGalley, I received the ARC of Eli's Promise by Ron Balson. This historical novel is set in Nazi era Lublin Poland, a Displaced Persons camp, and a Chicago community during the Vietnam War. Dealing with the topics of black markets, corruption, and profiteering, this is a story of families, connections, and the search for justice.

This is the first book I have read by this author and I was a little disappointed. The book starts out on a high note with the liberation of the Buchenwald concentration camp by the Americans where we meet Eli and his son Izaak. From there it jumps to Eli’s life in a Displaced Persons (DP) camp where we first hear the name Max. The story then goes back in time to Eli’s life in Lublin, Poland starting in 1939 and how conditions deteriorated as the Nazis took over. Maximilian Poleski promised to protect Eli’s family in exchange for money yet he fails to do so which leads to Eli’s promise: "If Maximilian roams the earth again, I will have my day of reckoning. That is my sacred promise!" Eventually the story moves to Chicago where Eli continues his pursuit of Max.

On the whole, Eli’s Promise has an important message about one family’s experiences during the Holocaust and in the years that follow. However, I have several issues with this book. 1) The story jumps around back and forth among these three locations: Lublin, the DP camp, and Chicago, making it very hard to determine the timeline of events, thus giving the novel a disjointed feeling. 2) There isn’t enough in-depth character development and the dialogue is often stilted and repetitive. 3) Nowhere does it relate how Eli ended up in the US and how his search led him to Chicago. 4) The ending has too many coincidences to be satisfying and truly believable.

Eli's Promise opens in 1945 in Central Germany. A plea for help from Buchenwald brings the Super Sixth, part of Patton's 3RD Army to the camp. The horrors that they saw left indelible marks. It is at Buchenwald that we first meet Eli Rosen and his son Izaak. It is unknown if Eli's wife Esther has survived. Eli and his son are moved to Fohrenwald, a Displaced Persons camp in Germany where they wait for word about Esther and for visas to America. Someone is illegally selling American visa's to survivors who can pay. That someone is Max Poleski and he is very well known to Eli. The authorities want Max caught and put on trial for his crimes. Eli wants the same, but he has an additional reason. Max may know what became of Esther.
The story moves back and forth from the American controlled area of Germany in 1945 to 1939 when Eli and his family lived in Nazi occupied Lublin, Poland and then to 1965 to the Albany Park Neighborhood in Chicago during the Viet Nam War. Max Poleski, who has cheated and betrayed the Rosen family is ever present. Will Max ever be held accountable for his crimes?
Eli's Promise is a work of historical fiction that was impeccably researched. It is moving, powerful and memorable. Often heart wrenching, the story is masterfully written, engrossing and packed with emotion. Highly recommended.

I received a complimentary copy of this book from St Martin's through NetGalley. The opinions expressed in this review are my own.

This historical fiction novel tells the story of Eli Rosen and his family through 3 different settings, occupied Poland during World War 2, a DP camp after the war, and 1960s Chicago. The story has very vivid detail, and you can tell the author did his research about the places about which he was writing. I was hooked from the beginning, and I liked the style of writing of this novel. The timeline did jump around, but it was never confusing, as the author always put the year and location at the beginning of each chapter. This is a good read that will make you wonder about a lot of things. If you are looking for a good novel about WW2, this is one to check out. It was just published on Tuesday, September 22!

The book starts in 1939 in Poland. Eli lives with his family wife Ester and their son .
After the Nazi occupation of the town Eli is forced to give up his construction company and Ester a trained nurse has to go and work in the local sewing factory.
Things soon take a turn for the worse and Eli and his son are taken to a camp in the heart of Germany Ester is nowhere to be found.
In 1946 Eli close to death gets reunited with his son and soon start the search for Ester.
After asking the unscrupulous Max for Visa's for America they leave for Chicago, Eli needs to keep is promise to Ester and find out what happened but to what cost?

Ronald Balson has an amazing understanding of the events that occurred during WWII, and he is one of the best storytellers among contemporary authors that I have had the good fortune of reading. His latest novel, Eli’s Promise, will grab at your heartstrings and pull you into a world filled with the struggle for survival and the strength of family bonds.

The empathy that Balson makes us feel for protagonist Eli Rosen never lets up, as we follow him from Nazi-occupied Poland to post war Germany and finally to Chicago during the Vietnam War era. While Eli was luckier than most Jews in Poland, his family's construction company kept them out of the camps for most of the war, watching what happened to most of Poland and eventually to Eli’s family was heart wrenching. I especially appreciate Balson’s ability to paint a realistic and terrifying picture of the camps without graphically describing the torture.

The sections of the book that focused on allied occupied Germany and the displaced persons camps was a true education for me. I certainly knew these places existed but didn’t realize how uncomfortable they were. Eli and his son spent time trying to help those with nowhere to turn, but the trading of illegal Visas often seemed the only way out. These people had their lives, but there was little else left from the world they once inhabited.

I also enjoyed the sections that took place in the mid sixties in Chicago. It is so alien to what Eli knows, but he is determined to find the truth as he searches for the wife he was separated from so many years before and tries to make his way among strangers who soon become friends.

Balson is a master at characterization, and the reader enjoys the warm relationships between his characters even as he/she is caught up in their pain. He focuses very little attention on the Nazi’s themselves but rather shows us what horrors these men brought to a people who did them no harm.

This books follows Eli and his family during the beginning occupation until liberation. The book talks about a man Max, who claimed to help the Jews but he was working for enemies. He’s supposed to help Eli’s family but does he really?

Eli's Promise
It's difficult to believe this was not a true story, yet at times it seemed to be so. The book kept my interest to the end,

Eli’s Promise follows Eli Rosen and his family - wife Esther and son -Izaak, his brother and his family, and his own father - during the Nazi occupation of Poland and beyond. Only Eli and Izaak survive, and we first meet Eli as American troops liberate the Nazi concentration camps.

The book travels back and forth from the Occupation to the displaced persons camps to the early sixties (where we find Eli living in Chicago). Throughout the story, Eli is haunted by his nemesis Maximilian, a Pole who, when we first meet him, has ingratiated himself with the Nazis and presents himself as a “fixer.” He and Eli encounter each other regularly, never in a positive way.

This was an interesting story that provided a lot of historical insight into the incursion of the Nazis into Jewish life in Eastern Europe and the dedication of one man to pursue justice.

I received this book as an ARC from the publisher and NetGalley.

Since listening to Karolina's Twins by Ronald Balson in May 2020, the audiobook that got me out of my reading/audiobook slump during this quarantine, I knew I wanted to read more of his books. And since May, I have listened to Once We Were Brothers and am now listening to Saving Sophie. Mr. Balson has now become a favorite author and I will continue reading his other books. They are actually waiting in the wings to be read. So when I saw he had a new book coming out, I knew I'd be reading it and was very excited when I received an early copy of Eli's Promise. As in Mr. Balson's previous books, this one had me captivated from the start. It was different from other WWII historical fiction novels I've read as it mostly dealt with corruption and war profiteering, something I was not aware of and found very informative. The story is told in three timelines, from 1939 in German-occupied Poland, 1945-46 post WWII mostly in a displaced persons camp, and 1965-66 in Chicago. I love reading books with different timelines especially when they are well done as it was in this book. Eli was my favorite character but there were many likable characters and they will stay with me for a long time. This was truly an emotional and beautiful story. Historical fiction fans will love it. I highly recommend it.

Thank you to St. Martin's Press and NetGalley for the review copy.

Will Eli ever get the satisfaction of revenge?
We are dealing with three time periods. Within the book we are going back and forth but it is nicely put together so that it doesn't feel confusing. Each chapter brings to light an event or clarifies something that has been puzzling the reader. The time periods are the start and first couple of years of World War II in Poland. At the time of rescue from the concentration camp by the American military followed by a stay in a displaced person camp. The third period is 20 years later in Chicago. All through we see there is always somebody taking advantage of the more desperate people. This book is friction but it feels very real and I have no doubt that similar situations occurred during and after World War II.

First time reading this author, and I’ll be checking out his other’s. A wonderful historical fiction novel, about a family living in Poland during WWII, and the main character Eli’s, dealings with a Nazi sympathizer Max. He’s has a history with Max, after taking his money for his families protection and the deception that results in his quest to find Max, taking him through post war Germany and to 1965 Chicago.
This is a well written and researched historical novel, with strong interesting characters. It is filled with sadness, struggle, pain and loss, with one man’s journey for retribution against a despicable human.
My thanks to the author, #NetGalley and #StMartinsPress for an ARC. My opinions are my own, it’s definitely a ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Ronald Balson writes beautiful novels about people and stories he is passionate about. This story is about Eli, who is from Poland, survives Buchenwald only to be placed in a displaced person’s camp in Germany. Eli promises that he will get the man who is responsible for his family’s ruin, Maximilian . The book starts in Lublin, Poland, to the concentration and displaced persons camps, and finally to Chicago. The story is heart-warming and gut-wrenching Simultaneously.