“Gerster, Jerusalem Gerster” doesn’t have quite the ring as,
“Bond, James Bond” however as a character in author Avraham Azrieli’s book
titled The Jerusalem Inception, James
has nothing over Jerusalem with respect to international espionage, romantic
exploits and nation building.Set in the
time beginning at the end of World War
II, Azrieli describes his opening episode like a period piece; a “Sepia-tone”
imagery of writing about a Nazi “deposit” of tons of diamonds (yes, tons of
diamonds, 18 to be exact) and gold stolen from Jews killed at the death
camps.Although the German General Klaus
von Koenig is killed shortly after creating his secret account number and
password to the Swiss banker, Tanya Galinski, a beautiful young girl traveling
with the General survives and emerges to eventually fall in love with her
captors, Elie Weiss and Abraham Gerster, Jewish resistance fighters.Tanya’s epic feminine lure created an
insatiable sensual attraction to both Elie and Abraham, resulting in a lover’s
triangle; complete with the friction, suspense, and human gratification so articulately
structured using Azrieli’s inherent talent for writing within the book’s
structural underpinnings and plot machinations.
Avraham Azrieli educates as he entertains with his fact
laden style of writing, while he takes the reader forward some twenty years, into
the stressful world status just prior to the historic 6 Day War which broke out on June 5, 1967.As we learn about the destiny of Abraham
Gerster, becoming a Rabbi living within the strict laws of the Torah, Tanya is
once again attracted to him but is kept at bay.She then seduces Gerster’s son, Lemmy Gerster, a young man half her age,
as they embark upon a forbidden relationship.The stolen fortune is not forgotten, as Elie, now an Israeli agent, is
convinced recovering the stolen Nazi money can build a powerful infrastructure for
Israel which will save the Jews from inevitably another Holocaust.
It is the acumen of subject matter combined with the art and
style of Avraham Azrieli to keep the reader introduced to the secret ways of
the Mossad and other international
organizations; drawing from his first hand knowledge, while embellishing
characters of formidable strength and fortitude.He spices the book with steamy sex, love and
lust, along with the emotional perplexity of a lover’s triangle complete with
forbidden taboos.Azrieli keeps true to
the core of historical happenings, while the stage is set for his characters to
manipulate the fate of nations, society and the world as we now know it.This book is by all means a complex matrix of
facts and emotions, one worthy of anyone’s time taken to savor and enjoy.He perfectly mixes words spoken in German,
Hebrew and Yiddish, as the thought processes of the characters, so foreign in
many ways, are represented within their respective dialect, mannerisms and
idiosyncrasies.This brought a level of
authenticity and credibility to the plot, engulfing me into a time and place
only imaginable to those of us born subsequently to these worldly tragic
events.
To those unfamiliar of the living history of Israel, this
book is a must.For those knowing the
facts surrounding the creation of the Jewish State, this book is an absolute
must.The inhumanity of the Nazis during
the Holocaust is represented “first hand” by survivors, which will leave any
sane person altered in some way.The
plot and story play out in the reader’s mind with extraordinarily impressive
attention to detail, as the research and structure of TheJerusalem Inception evolves to more than just a novel,
becoming analogues to Avraham Azrieli’s doctorial thesis on the history of the
world; specifically as related to the current conflict still ongoing in the
Middle East.
Featured book for the month of October, 2011
