This even paced novel tells a unique historical story about a Jewish spy struggling to understand himself during World War II.

Levi’s War has only a grain of truth when it comes to its primary protagonist, Levi Horowitz. The setting is certainly historical, but Levi not so much so. The characters with whom he interacts, both in Berlin and in Assisi, are certainly real: Hitler and his confederates as well as Father Don Aldo Brunacci. But Levi’s actions, and the plot in which he engages, is imagined.

The writing in Levi’s War is good and the plot is evenly paced. The descriptions are careful, and nuanced well in the case of Levi’s intimate moments. His first one occurs with Pierre while swimming in the ocean. “An arm around his chest pulled him back down, and then it happened. Just a second, there and gone.” The same is true later in the story during his romantic liaisons with Erik, and the description of their final encounter is particularly poignant. These presentations lend credibility to occurrences that could easily have otherwise been unbelievable.

Still, the plot of Levi’s War often struggles to fit within the real events of the years in which the story takes place. Being Jewish in Nazi Germany is nothing new, and being homosexual in that time has also been explored in historical literature. One needs only to remember the musical Cabaret for an example of that. To be Jewish and homosexual, as well as a spy, is certainly extraordinary. And this novel strains when it links the two in Levi. In the end, the reader knows little about Levi the person, other than that he was Jewish, a homosexual and a spy. That is disappointing.

On NetGalley, where review copies of Levi’s War were posted by the publisher, the novel is scheduled to be released in 2021. But it was published in fact in 2018, and is the third is a series of novels about the Horowitz family. Whether 2018 or 2021, it is still the weaker of the three, almost an afterthought about the Horowitz’s. One feels when finished reading that one has completed a paint by numbers portrait of the Horowitz family.

I received a copy of Levis War by Julie Thomas from NetGally for my honest opinion. Before receiving this book, I was unaware of it being the third book in a trilogy. I will have to go back and reread this once I find the other two. Aside from that, I thought the book was well written. I enjoy historical fiction novels, and I really enjoyed the mix of fictional and nonfictional characters. I thought it was well written and an enjoyable read overall and well researched. I would not count it as my favorite historical fiction novel, but I would recommend to others. I plan to post a review on goodreads and Instagram following my reading of the entire trilogy.

Goodreads has this published in 2017, Amazon has it published in 2018 and on NetGalley it is to be released in 2021. Not to mention the fact that on Amazon it's only $.099!!! Wow how about that!

In 1938 Levi Horowitz, a bank clerk and talented musician, is on his way to London with fake papers, and hidden family jewelry and his real papers. At the border checkpoint to Norway, he is stopped by the German guards, who suspect his papers and they detain and arrest him. Desperate, Levi slashes out at one guard, knocks him down and is able to sneak away from the other guard and make his way to Norway and safety. With help from friends he does get to London and for a while works in his father’s friends bank, but as the war increases, he is declared an Enemy Alien and is sent to a camp. That is pretty much what his family, those that survived the camps, know about Levi during the war. In September 2017 they are requested by a Major Richard Stratton from the National Archives in Kew, London to come and watch a film made by Levi in 1945. What and why and how could Levi have made a film?

This is number three of the a trilogy written by Ms Thomas and although I had not read the first two I found this did not interfere with enjoying a great story. I immensely enjoyed this book and heartily recommend. One of the most creative stories written about WWII I’ve ever read.

Levi's war takes place in Germany during the 1930's. Levi was one of four children. His family was in banking until the Nazi's occupied the country. Levi was sent to England to escape the horror's of the war. He went to work for a friend of his fathers. Not long after he was there he was approached by TBE British intelligence to become a spy in Germany. Levi had no training but definitely used to do it and try and locate his family. They dropped him in Germany not far from the camps and became a spy. Eventually he ran away after meet the love of his life and joined the resistance in Italy. Most of his family died in the camps. Levi was a war hero but didn't want to accept the highest award for his bravery because he didn't want the recognition! A very inspiring story of differences, acceptance and bravery! Bravo to the author! I received this book from NetGalley.

After reading The Keeper of Secrets and Rachel's Legacy, I really enjoyed Levi's War. Julie Thomas continues the story of a Jewish family from Berlin who were trying to escape the horrors of Nazi Germany in WW2. Her portrayal of the family and its members beautifully illustrate her love for creative and talented individuals. Several times I started playing the musical selections she wrote about while I was reading.

Levi's Story traces the oldest Horowitz brother's escape from Berlin, originally bound for Switzerland but re-routed to the Danish border then England. When the fear of invasion hits England, he is sent to a detention camp in Jersey and from there recruited to return to Germany as a spy. While the storyline is more than incredible (a talented pianist, he becomes a favorite musician of the Fuhrer), it is an excellent work of fiction that portrays the horror of life in the concentration camps and the emotions (high and low) of Nazi Germany.

Adding relevance to the story, Ms Thomas brings the story current using DNA proof to connect the offspring of lost family members. The current storyline is beautifully extended from the retelling of the WW2 saga, as the family culture with music and artistry continues through the generations.

Levi’s War was an interesting read. It has a respectable mixture of fact and fiction before and during WWII. There were those characters that did happen, Hitler and his cronies. And there were those characters that could have happened, Levi and his family and friends. Some of the stories were inspiring, and some were horrific.

Unfortunately, the book dragged on a bit too long.

Thank you to NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review Levi’s War.

germany, ww2, espionage, historical-figures, historical-novel, historical-places-events, historical-research, history-and-culture, lgbt

When I read this book I truly believed that it was a fictionalized true story of a man who lived and suffered under Hitler as well as his own conscience. And who is to say I was wrong. The presentation is that of remaining family members now living in England in 2017 being apologized to by the current espionage branch because as they were digitizing records ignored facts were discovered. The story shifts back and forth between 2017 and the life of Levi Horowitz regarding his service as an English spy in the heart of the Reich.
Levi comes from a practicing Jewish family in Berlin and is sent to England (with a hiccup or two) to work and live in London where he is eventually tapped by the service to become a British agent in Berlin. There are many things that test his Faith as well as his sense of self.
A heartwrenching pageturner of a read.
I requested and received a free ebook copy from Harper 360/HarperCollins NZ via NetGalley. Thank you!
There are two previous books in this series of the Horowitz family.

I did not realize this was part of a trilogy of stories so at times I felt very lost in the story. I think I would have enjoyed it a lot more had I read the story from the beginning of the series but I still enjoyed it.

I recieved a copy of Levi's War by Julie Thomas from NetGalley for my honest opinion. This was the first book that I have read by Julie Thomas. I didn't realize that it was a third in the trilogy of the Libowitz family which I did not know when I read it. I will need to reread this book once I have the first two in the trilogy. Here the reader is able to follow along with the Horowitz family history and are able to place more pieces into the puzzle on what happened to the family, in particular Levi, during WWII. I liked how the author combined non fictional and fictional characters in the book.
Well written

Thank you to NetGalley for the opportunity to read this book. I will more than likely have to purchase the book to read it as a glitch in the software did not allow font size to be adjusted and I was honestly holding the book to my nose to read it as the font was so small. I read up to the removal of Levi from his job and home in England as a hostile resident and imprisonment in a camp. The problem is not my iPad as I am able to adjust the font on the other books on my dashboard without difficulty. I don’t know if this was a publisher or NetGalley issue, but it made reading the book impossible.

I really enjoyed this book but thats because I had read The Keeper of Secrets (superb) and Rachel's Legacy. I can see why people get confused if they havent read the previous two books I really enjoy Julie Thomas writing and would recommend to anyone who loves WW2 books. In particular those who have a love for creative and talented inviduals, the description of the music will have you glued to the page as you feel you are right there.

Levi’s War by Julie Thomas is third in the trilogy of the Libowitz family which I did not know when I read it. There were some aspects of the novel which I found really confusing and seemed to have nothing to do with the story. Now that I know there were two previous novels it makes more sense why they were referenced I.e. especially the violin and the painting. The members of the family were difficult to follow also.. I don’t think this should be viewed as a standalone novel. While the main character, Levi, was nicely explored some of the other characters were not. The research and historical aspects were well thought out and interesting. If I had known the background behind the story I might have given this five stars, but as a stand-alone novel I can only give it a four.

I haven't read her two earlier novels that involve some of the same cast of characters, but that didn't detract from enjoying this novel. It is set in two time periods: during WWII and present day, where the progeny of Levi Horowitz are viewing an archive film of his escapades as British spy who returns to his native Germany to literally play piano for Hitler and his generals. The novel takes these and other true situations and weaves a complex fabric of love and loss that sounds so true to life I had to remind myself I was reading fiction.
The wartime period is also set in Italy, where partisans fought for their freedoms and Levi joins up the movement in Assisi. The mixture of factual situations with the characters works well and I highly recommend this book.

This is the third book I've read in the cycle from this author, and just like the others, it tells of a family irrevocably changed by WW2. It is so different from many other WW2-era historical novels in that this saga is set around music and culture, how it infiltrates our lives and brings beauty to even the most horrific of people and situations.

I was not aware when reading this book that it was the third installment is a series. However, I didn't feel as if I was missing anything because of that. There were moments of sadness, joy, and inspiration from the main character. However, the writing at times was dry and left me bored with the story of Levi and his somewhat unbelievable time he spent during WWII.