Block 24, By Evan Tyler

A re-emergence of the past…

 

Natalie Clarke might be spiteful at best and vicious at worst, but was that reason enough for Phillip Gise to leave her lonely and diseased? Fortunately, she has a set of devious plans that just might keep her busy enough to forget her present situation.

 

Guy Lewis has played Best Friend Extraordinaire to Natalie since grade school, supporting her through all of her daily drama. This time around, Guy runs into his own troubles when his fierce, wealthy manager gives him the type of attention he never asked for…or expected.

 

Julia Clarke, Natalie’s younger sister, has arrived in Brooklyn to uncover their grandmother’s secret life in Block 24, the site of Auschwitz’s little-known brothel. What Julia discovers proves more relevant in the present age than ever before.

 

Both heady and sobering, Block 24 is a look at the ways evil from the past can so insidiously visit the present.

Review Time!

Sara's Review:

This is the first book I have read by this author and Oh. Em. Gee.  I’m not sure I’m going to recover from the heartbreak and anger this story stirred in me.  I’m also not entirely sure if the emotions stirred were good or not.

This book has two converging storylines, one in the present day with Natalie and her boyfriend, family and best friend, and one during WWII with Natalie’s Grandmother, Bubbe, while she was a prisoner at Auschwitz.   Natalie is a character that is easy to dislike.  She’s selfish and spiteful, and just generally views the world around her in a completely self-serving way.  There were several points in the story where I wanted to slap her upside the head.  Not that it would have helped, but geez…it’s hard to believe there are probably people in the real world like this.  She’s just not a good person on any level, and I wouldn’t even say she was a character that a reader would love to hate.  You just hate her.

Bubbe’s story is completely and utterly heartbreaking.  I don’t want to spoil any of it for you, but suffice to say she is a prisoner at Auschwitz with her sister, and they are forced into prostitution and both fall in love with the same SS Guard, Hans, who represents all that is good in humanity in a savage place.  What happens, well, it’s about as good as you can imagine a love story set in ghastly circumstances can be.  Adina (aka Bubbe) is an incredibly strong woman.  I really liked her character, and to see that you could go through something so atrocious, but still come out with some shred of humanity and continue on to live your life speaks volumes.  Evan totally hit the nail on the head with the story of Adina and Hans.

If this book were about just Adina and Hans, I’d give it 4.5 stars.  This is tough subject matter to write about, but she did well.  I found the intertwining storylines distracting and unnecessary.  I saw where the author meant to go with it, but it just didn’t quite make it there for me.  I was generally kind of confused by Natalie’s place in the overall story and where she fit in.  Especially where her sister Julia fit in…I’m still not sure I get it.  For that reason, I give this book 3 stars.  

This book is currently $2.99 US Dollars on Amazon.

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