Editorial Content for The One Man
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Reviewer (text)
Andrew Gross, who is known for his engrossing and gripping thrillers, creates one of intrigue, daring and hope in THE ONE MAN. The novel is set in 1944 during the final days of World War II in Poland and the United States.
Dr. Alfred Mendl is Jewish. He is an electromagnetic physicist who has been sent to Auschwitz. His important scientific papers have been burned by the Nazis, but he may hold the key to information that the Americans need for their secret atomic bomb program. Is he really in Auschwitz? The Americans think so, based on new information from European sources. Two escapees from the camp verify that a man who fits Mendl’s description is still alive. And so the Americans develop a daring plan to rescue him.
"Andrew Gross has written one of the most gripping historical suspense novels I’ve ever read. The characters he has created and the dialogue between them provide insight and meaning into this story of heroes whose lives are always at stake."
Captain Peter Strauss, who is himself a Polish Jew and the son of a cantor, works with “Wild Bill” Donovan and FDR on this top-secret mission name Operation Catfish. Captain Strauss enlists Nathan Blum, an OSS translator fluent in Polish and German. Nathan escaped from Nazi Poland. He, too, has lost his family to the Nazis. He has been doing a desk job and wants to be involved more in the war effort. Nathan may just have the crucial skills to rescue Mendl. He realizes that this mission is one that could easily be a death sentence if he’s caught --- and he has one evening to think it over. He chooses to become involved in Operation Catfish and is sent to Europe to get Mendl.
Meanwhile, Mendl, a man of many talents, has been spared because he speaks fluent German. In the camp, he reconstructs his formulas and work, only to have it destroyed a second time. As he is watching a young man play chess, Mendl realizes that fellow prisoner Leo Wolciek has a unique gift –-- an eidetic memory, with the ability to recall things in precise and exact detail --- and persuades him to memorize his scientific work. It is a race against time as Mendl worries that he will die before Leo is given the precious knowledge and formulas that the physicist needs to impart.
U.S. Army operative and translator Nathan Blum arrives at Auschwitz. Is Mendl still alive? Yes, he is. However, the Germans have been alerted that the Allies have some kind of operation in the works. Will Nathan be able to get out of Auschwitz without the Germans catching on? Will he make it back to the checkpoint with Alfred and Leo in hand? What prices will be paid if the mission is to succeed?
Andrew Gross has written one of the most gripping historical suspense novels I’ve ever read. The characters he has created and the dialogue between them provide insight and meaning into this story of heroes whose lives are always at stake. Gross has a gift of pacing with an intensity that will draw readers into the story and keep them turning pages to discover the final result.
Teaser
Poland, 1944. Alfred Mendl and his family are brought on a crowded train to a Nazi concentration camp after being caught trying to flee Paris with forged papers. A renowned physicist, Mendl holds knowledge that only two people in the world possess. And the other is already at work for the Nazi war machine. In Washington, DC, Intelligence lieutenant Nathan Blum routinely decodes messages from occupied Poland. But never did he expect the proposal he receives from “Wild” Bill Donovan, head of the OSS: to sneak into the most guarded place on earth on a mission to find and escape with one man --- the one man the Allies believe can ensure them victory in the war.
Promo
Poland, 1944. Alfred Mendl and his family are brought on a crowded train to a Nazi concentration camp after being caught trying to flee Paris with forged papers. A renowned physicist, Mendl holds knowledge that only two people in the world possess. And the other is already at work for the Nazi war machine. In Washington, DC, Intelligence lieutenant Nathan Blum routinely decodes messages from occupied Poland. But never did he expect the proposal he receives from “Wild” Bill Donovan, head of the OSS: to sneak into the most guarded place on earth on a mission to find and escape with one man --- the one man the Allies believe can ensure them victory in the war.
About the Book
Poland. 1944. Alfred Mendl and his family are brought on a crowded train to a Nazi concentration camp after being caught trying to flee Paris with forged papers. His family is torn away from him on arrival, his life’s work burned before his eyes. To the guards, he is just another prisoner, but in fact Mendl --- a renowned physicist --- holds knowledge that only two people in the world possess. And the other is already at work for the Nazi war machine.
Four thousand miles away, in Washington, DC, Intelligence lieutenant Nathan Blum routinely decodes messages from occupied Poland. Having escaped the Krakow ghetto as a teenager after the Nazis executed his family, Nathan longs to do more for his new country in the war. But never did he expect the proposal he receives from “Wild” Bill Donovan, head of the OSS: to sneak into the most guarded place on earth, a living hell, on a mission to find and escape with one man, the one man the Allies believe can ensure them victory in the war.
Bursting with compelling characters and tense story lines, this historical thriller from New York Times bestseller Andrew Gross is a deeply affecting, unputdownable series of twists and turns through a landscape at times horrifyingly familiar but still completely new and compelling.
Audiobook available, read by Edoardo Ballerini
