Andrew Gross

'An overwhelming, immersive, suspenseful success.' - Lee Child Auschwitz, 1944. Alfred Mendl's days are numbered. But he has little left to live for – his family were torn away from him, his life's work burned in front of his eyes – until a glimmer of hope arises as he watches a game of chess. To the guards Mendl is just another prisoner, but in fact he holds knowledge that only two people in the world possess. The other is working hard for the Nazi war machine. Four thousand miles away, in Washington DC, intelligence lieutenant Nathan Blum decodes messages from occupied Poland. After the Nazis murdered his family, Nathan escaped the Krakow ghetto and is determined to support his new country – and the US government knows exactly how he can. They want to send Nathan on a mission to rescue one man from a place no one can break in to – or out of. Even if Nathan does make it in and finds him, can they escape the most heavily guarded place on earth? The One Man is a thrilling tale of heroism from master of the genre, Andrew Gross.

The One Man

"1944. Physics professor Alfred Mendl is separated from his family and sent to the men's camp, where all of his belongings are tossed on a roaring fire. His books, his papers, his life's work. The Nazis have no idea what they have just destroyed. And without that physical record, Alfred is one of only two people in the world with his particular knowledge. Knowledge that could start a war, or end it. Nathan Blum works behind a desk at an intelligence office in Washington, DC, but he longs to contribute to the war effort in a more meaningful way, and he has a particular skill set the U.S. suddenly needs. Nathan is fluent in German and Polish, he is Semitic looking, and he proved his scrappiness at a young age when he escaped from the Polish ghetto. Now, the government wants him to take on the most dangerous assignment of his life: Nathan must sneak into Auschwitz, on a mission to find and escape with one man. 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 compelling"--

A Novel

Melissa Palmer

Book #18 Read in 2017
The One Man by Andrew Gross 

This was an excellent historical fiction read. Blum is a government operative in America. He is asked to commit to a mission that will send him into Auschwitz in order to find and break out a physicist who has knowledge to build an atomic bomb. The Americans want his knowledge for their war effort. Trials and tribulations are vividly portrayed for the 72-hour period that Blum has to survive in the concentration camp. The brutality is harsh and real. This is a must read for high school student as well as adult readers. I highly recommend it.

Carla Aquino

Won from a Goodreads Giveaway

Oh my goodness!!! I absolutely loved this book. This era always draws me in...it makes my blood boil at what was done to hundreds of thousands of lives... and my heart goes out to all lives lost. Furthermore, to all the heroic individuals who sacrificed all to save the people they could no matter how many...as long as lives could be saved. This particular novel focused on Alfred Mendl the physicist whose work along with those who partook in The Manhattan Project helped with the development of the atomic bomb!!! The novel also focused on officer Blum and a boy named Leo...along with a few others and their lives in the concentration camp. You just have to read it or listen along because I won't give up the details.

Even though this was an audiobook the narrator did an amazing job and I was pulled in right away. By the end I had tears in my eyes (as always with this era) and was sobbing like a baby. When the family dynamics were revealed I cried even more. Such an amazing story!!! A Must read if WWII draws you in like it does with me. I always wonder if I was around during those times would I be as heroic and willing to give my life to save others. Something to ponder definitely!

The One Man

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