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The Nazi Hunter
Nicknamed "the Nazi Hunter," Marek Cain, deputy director of the Office of Special Investigations at the Justice Department, has for ten years been the point man for tracking down ex-Nazis who have fraudulently entered this country since World War II and bringing them to justice.
One late afternoon, a distraught German woman eludes security and slips into Cain's office. "I have documents," she says, "important documents only for the Nazi Hunter." She promises to bring them the next day. When she doesn't show, he dismisses her as just another crackpot. But when he reads in the "Washington Post" next morning that the woman has been brutally murdered, he senses he's on to something big. He must find those documents. The trail leads from Washington to Miami, to Boston, back to the Belzec concentration camp in Poland, where half a million Jews were murdered in the winter of 1942, and into the lair of America's fascist militias.
336 pages, Hardcover
First published June 6, 2007
171 people are currently reading
399 people want to read
About the author
Alan Elsner
15 books9 followersAlan Elsner has 30 years' experience in journalism, covering stories ranging from the September 11, 2001 attacks on America and the crisis in the Middle East to the 2000 Presidential election and the end of the Cold War. Elsners career has been marked by a passion for justice and truth, unquestioned integrity, and a willingness to confront the powerful, the complacent and the evasive.
In The Nazi Hunter he turns that formidable knowledge and expertise towards a gripping thriller weaving together fierce partisan politics, the search for ex-Nazi war criminals, romance, music and a crazed far-right militia intent on bringing down the government.
"
In The Nazi Hunter he turns that formidable knowledge and expertise towards a gripping thriller weaving together fierce partisan politics, the search for ex-Nazi war criminals, romance, music and a crazed far-right militia intent on bringing down the government.
"
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 83 reviews
August 7, 2020
My first by this author and it was a good book. I for a while thought it was an interesting topic and story and for the most part flowed pretty good. The first quarter of the book might have been on the slow side but not too bad. I thought most of the characters were good and the overall dialogue was good. I thought for a while I might give this book 4 stars but I could not do it. I had a few problems with the book. I thought the book could have been a little darker, intense or edger. There was a secondary story and involved a few bad who guys who I think were not needed and that story was not needed. I do not like knowing what bad guys are thinking or what they are up to. This story had two ends to one was related to the secondary story and it was just not needed. The other ending tried to give a twist to the main story it was not needed- the main story ending should have left alone-he tried to be too cute. I just think what this story could have been with a tighter editor. It was a good story and I do say give it a spin it is worth your time to read.. i give it 3.5. It could have been higher.
November 17, 2023
The Story Of Marek Cain
Alan Elsner's first novel, "The Nazi Hunter" (2007), is a quickly-paced suspense novel that tells the story of an attorney in the Office of Special Investigations, DOJ, and his efforts to bring to Justice a notorious Nazi living in the United States who has received world-wide acclaim as a singer of German lieder. The protagonist, Marek (Mark) Cain, 35, is the Deputy Director of his office who, while devoted to his work, is leading a lonely, single life after a breakup with his most recent girlfriend. Cain tells most of the story in the first person. There is also a separate narrative voice: an American neo-Nazi who becomes intertwined with Cain's story and who is part of a plot to blow up government buildings in Washington, D.C.
In November, 1994, Cain receives a strange visit from a disheveled middle-aged German woman who claims to have important documents regarding a Nazi in the States who had participated at the infamous concentration camp of Belzec in Poland. The woman meets a mysterious death before she can convey her information to Cain. The woman describes herself to Cain as "a lover of German songs". As the story unfolds, Cain begins to identify the possible Nazi past of Roberto Delatrucha, who had emigrated from Argentina many years earlier and as about to receive artistic recognition from the President. In the course of the story, Elsner offers a chilling portrayal of the Belzec camp and of many former Nazis. The story builds as Cain gradually discovers Delatrucha's past from what initially appear to be dubious, highly speculative clues.
This is a multi-layered book with much more than the attempt to uncover a former Nazi. The novel shows a great deal of love for lieder, especially the songs of Franz Schubert. Cain rediscovers classical music upon hearing Delatrucha's recording of Schubert's Winterreise, a great song cycle of a man's unrequited love. Schubert's other large song cycle, The Miller's Lovely Daughter also is carefully worked into the story, with the love song "Mein!" that occurs midway in Schubert's score. Other Schubert songs described include the Trout ("delatrucha" in spanish) and the Erl-King, about the killing of a young boy by a demon. In many places, Elsner contrasts the beauty of Schubert and German song with the barbarity of the Nazis. His book could well encourage listeners to explore this music.
Perhaps a larger theme of the book involves Cain himself. Cain's mother died at an early age and he was raised largely by his father, who is also a central character in the novel. Although the family was secular, Cain becomes an Orthodox Jew after college. In his sexual and emotional loneliness, Cain begins a relationship with a colleague, a young, pretty, flirtatious lawyer, Lynn who is a secular Jew with little attraction to religion or Orthodoxy.
Elsner shows a great deal of sympathy for Orthodox Judaism and stresses throughout Cain's efforts to integrate his Orthodoxy with modern American life. Cain is shown often saying his morning prayers, wearing his phylacteries, watching his diet, avoiding work on the Shabbos, and observing the requirements of Jewish religious law. During the romance between Cain and Lynn, the couple discuss their different attitudes towards religion. The discussion turns inevitably to sexuality, as Cain explains to his love that premarital sex is not proscribed in Orthodox Judaism. Implicit in this discussion is a recognition of how difficult the connection between religion and sexuality remains to many people, of whatever religious practice.
With its treatment of important difficult themes, Elsner's novel reads lightly and well. I was absorbed by the story. The book seems to me to share a fault with many first novels in spreading itself too thin. I thought the emphasis on Cain's religiosity overdone. Throughout the book, especially in the long series of climaxes near the end, I thought that too much was being asked of its protagonist, in terms of physical prowess and accomplishment, for an individual who is, as he describes himself, a quiet, nonathletic bookish man. The succession of Cain's triumphs towards the end is not entirely convincing. The book was somewhat more partisanly political in tone than it needed to be. And I can't shake some doubt, in spite of the way the book develops, of the decision to pursue Delatrucha on the basis of initial evidence which appears flimsy or nonexistent. In the story, several colleagues of Cain's express their reservations clearly in the investigation's early stages.
These criticisms notwithstanding, I greatly enjoyed reading this book. I learned something about the Holocaust. And it is always a joy to think about the music of Schubert.
Robin Friedman
Alan Elsner's first novel, "The Nazi Hunter" (2007), is a quickly-paced suspense novel that tells the story of an attorney in the Office of Special Investigations, DOJ, and his efforts to bring to Justice a notorious Nazi living in the United States who has received world-wide acclaim as a singer of German lieder. The protagonist, Marek (Mark) Cain, 35, is the Deputy Director of his office who, while devoted to his work, is leading a lonely, single life after a breakup with his most recent girlfriend. Cain tells most of the story in the first person. There is also a separate narrative voice: an American neo-Nazi who becomes intertwined with Cain's story and who is part of a plot to blow up government buildings in Washington, D.C.
In November, 1994, Cain receives a strange visit from a disheveled middle-aged German woman who claims to have important documents regarding a Nazi in the States who had participated at the infamous concentration camp of Belzec in Poland. The woman meets a mysterious death before she can convey her information to Cain. The woman describes herself to Cain as "a lover of German songs". As the story unfolds, Cain begins to identify the possible Nazi past of Roberto Delatrucha, who had emigrated from Argentina many years earlier and as about to receive artistic recognition from the President. In the course of the story, Elsner offers a chilling portrayal of the Belzec camp and of many former Nazis. The story builds as Cain gradually discovers Delatrucha's past from what initially appear to be dubious, highly speculative clues.
This is a multi-layered book with much more than the attempt to uncover a former Nazi. The novel shows a great deal of love for lieder, especially the songs of Franz Schubert. Cain rediscovers classical music upon hearing Delatrucha's recording of Schubert's Winterreise, a great song cycle of a man's unrequited love. Schubert's other large song cycle, The Miller's Lovely Daughter also is carefully worked into the story, with the love song "Mein!" that occurs midway in Schubert's score. Other Schubert songs described include the Trout ("delatrucha" in spanish) and the Erl-King, about the killing of a young boy by a demon. In many places, Elsner contrasts the beauty of Schubert and German song with the barbarity of the Nazis. His book could well encourage listeners to explore this music.
Perhaps a larger theme of the book involves Cain himself. Cain's mother died at an early age and he was raised largely by his father, who is also a central character in the novel. Although the family was secular, Cain becomes an Orthodox Jew after college. In his sexual and emotional loneliness, Cain begins a relationship with a colleague, a young, pretty, flirtatious lawyer, Lynn who is a secular Jew with little attraction to religion or Orthodoxy.
Elsner shows a great deal of sympathy for Orthodox Judaism and stresses throughout Cain's efforts to integrate his Orthodoxy with modern American life. Cain is shown often saying his morning prayers, wearing his phylacteries, watching his diet, avoiding work on the Shabbos, and observing the requirements of Jewish religious law. During the romance between Cain and Lynn, the couple discuss their different attitudes towards religion. The discussion turns inevitably to sexuality, as Cain explains to his love that premarital sex is not proscribed in Orthodox Judaism. Implicit in this discussion is a recognition of how difficult the connection between religion and sexuality remains to many people, of whatever religious practice.
With its treatment of important difficult themes, Elsner's novel reads lightly and well. I was absorbed by the story. The book seems to me to share a fault with many first novels in spreading itself too thin. I thought the emphasis on Cain's religiosity overdone. Throughout the book, especially in the long series of climaxes near the end, I thought that too much was being asked of its protagonist, in terms of physical prowess and accomplishment, for an individual who is, as he describes himself, a quiet, nonathletic bookish man. The succession of Cain's triumphs towards the end is not entirely convincing. The book was somewhat more partisanly political in tone than it needed to be. And I can't shake some doubt, in spite of the way the book develops, of the decision to pursue Delatrucha on the basis of initial evidence which appears flimsy or nonexistent. In the story, several colleagues of Cain's express their reservations clearly in the investigation's early stages.
These criticisms notwithstanding, I greatly enjoyed reading this book. I learned something about the Holocaust. And it is always a joy to think about the music of Schubert.
Robin Friedman
May 19, 2018
5.0 out of 5 stars
A Very good story that teaches without preaching!
By Sherrie Miranda on May 18, 2018
Format: Hardcover|Verified Purchase
I had this book for a long time before I finally read it. Until a couple years ago, I thought all Nazi/Holocaust books would be the same. In fact, quite the opposite; everyone tells a different story.
This being one of the last in my collection, I thought the story wouldn't be satisfying, but it was. The twists and turns, that could all actually happen, were fascinating and surprising. I loved the narrator and the fact that he was a Jew trying to do the whole religious thing despite his dad being quite the opposite.
I enjoyed all the characters & their relationship with each other. The story had surprises right up until the end and is entirely believable. If I didn't know the author was a journalist, I would have sworn that this was based on his own life.
Sherrie Miranda's historically based, coming of age, Adventure novel “Secrets & Lies in El Salvador” will be out en Español soon. It's about an American girl in war-torn El Salvador:
http://tinyurl.com/klxbt4y
Her husband made a video for her novel. He wrote the song too:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P11Ch...
A Very good story that teaches without preaching!
By Sherrie Miranda on May 18, 2018
Format: Hardcover|Verified Purchase
I had this book for a long time before I finally read it. Until a couple years ago, I thought all Nazi/Holocaust books would be the same. In fact, quite the opposite; everyone tells a different story.
This being one of the last in my collection, I thought the story wouldn't be satisfying, but it was. The twists and turns, that could all actually happen, were fascinating and surprising. I loved the narrator and the fact that he was a Jew trying to do the whole religious thing despite his dad being quite the opposite.
I enjoyed all the characters & their relationship with each other. The story had surprises right up until the end and is entirely believable. If I didn't know the author was a journalist, I would have sworn that this was based on his own life.
Sherrie Miranda's historically based, coming of age, Adventure novel “Secrets & Lies in El Salvador” will be out en Español soon. It's about an American girl in war-torn El Salvador:
http://tinyurl.com/klxbt4y
Her husband made a video for her novel. He wrote the song too:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P11Ch...
January 8, 2021
I fun and enjoyable read. This story follows a man that works for Special Operations trying to find Nazi's that evaded capture in WWII. He ends up on the trail of a German SS Officer that took part in the holocaust. All he needs to do is find the right evidence to pinned the SS Officer. The twist at the end made this a three star read for me.
January 13, 2021
This book kept my attention until the very last page. I liked it and will look for more books by this author. I especially liked the Jewish culture of the characters.
May 15, 2009
I really enjoyed this book and I didn't expect to. I read it for a book club and the title alone put me off but it was quite a page turner and I hated to see it end. It's a quick read and while the content is somewhat upsetting, the story line of the main character and his family and lovelife are uplifting. I definitely recommend it.
April 8, 2022
Thought this was an interesting story. It involves a man, Merrick Caine, working for the Justice Department whose job is to find people who were Nazi's and are illegally in the U.S. A woman comes to him saying she has info on a famous singer and before she gives him the info she is murdered. He goes on to investigate the singer who is supposed to be getting an award from the President for great accomplishments and they want to know if the man was really a Nazi before this happens.
The investigation digs into all parts of the man's life and it is quite the task to track down info from WWII. Caine and his team travel to Poland, Ukraine, and Germany. They interview some really old and often reluctant witnesses, look into really old documents and newspapers. It is tedious work but necessary. Found it interesting how some of the information is gathered. They also speak with the man's family and dig into their backgrounds.
At the same time Caine's life is threaten by a redneck and his buddies. It seems that this is a bit of a side story and didn't really like the ramblings of the redneck but it is resolved in the end. There is some interoffice rivalry in the DOJ and some of Caine's colleagues are out to promote themselves and not work for the common good. Not sure I liked his boss very well. Caine ends up in a romantic relationship with his assistant and he reconnects a bit with his father. He is a fairly orthodox Jew and there is a lot of descriptions of the religious practices he holds and how he feels about it and how it impacts his life. Some interesting characters and a good story that held my interest. All the descriptions of the atrocities that occurred during the war and the conditions in the camps really effects me.
The investigation digs into all parts of the man's life and it is quite the task to track down info from WWII. Caine and his team travel to Poland, Ukraine, and Germany. They interview some really old and often reluctant witnesses, look into really old documents and newspapers. It is tedious work but necessary. Found it interesting how some of the information is gathered. They also speak with the man's family and dig into their backgrounds.
At the same time Caine's life is threaten by a redneck and his buddies. It seems that this is a bit of a side story and didn't really like the ramblings of the redneck but it is resolved in the end. There is some interoffice rivalry in the DOJ and some of Caine's colleagues are out to promote themselves and not work for the common good. Not sure I liked his boss very well. Caine ends up in a romantic relationship with his assistant and he reconnects a bit with his father. He is a fairly orthodox Jew and there is a lot of descriptions of the religious practices he holds and how he feels about it and how it impacts his life. Some interesting characters and a good story that held my interest. All the descriptions of the atrocities that occurred during the war and the conditions in the camps really effects me.
January 14, 2021
Audible Audio. The Nazi Hunter is about exactly what you'd think, a Nazi hunter.
Plot. Marek Cain is part of the Office of Special Investigations at the DOJ. For a decade or so, he's been investigating the now aged Nazi officers that have been in hiding for decades and are guilty of war crimes in WWII. A woman appears in his office seeking his help telling him that she has documents that implicate someone. Feeling she can trust him, the woman tells him she'll be back tomorrow with the documents. She is subsequently murdered. And ... we're off! The story moves through a series of side plots of a romance, religious beliefs, moral conflicts, prison camps, surviving witnesses. Throw in the thread of a fanatic with access to a fertilizer bomb.
Anyone schooled in WWII German history won't find much surprising, but it's a fictional story, not textbook history. Interesting details.
Narration by Keith Szarabajka is well done. No issues, except speed - bumped it up to 1.3.
Plot. Marek Cain is part of the Office of Special Investigations at the DOJ. For a decade or so, he's been investigating the now aged Nazi officers that have been in hiding for decades and are guilty of war crimes in WWII. A woman appears in his office seeking his help telling him that she has documents that implicate someone. Feeling she can trust him, the woman tells him she'll be back tomorrow with the documents. She is subsequently murdered. And ... we're off! The story moves through a series of side plots of a romance, religious beliefs, moral conflicts, prison camps, surviving witnesses. Throw in the thread of a fanatic with access to a fertilizer bomb.
Anyone schooled in WWII German history won't find much surprising, but it's a fictional story, not textbook history. Interesting details.
Narration by Keith Szarabajka is well done. No issues, except speed - bumped it up to 1.3.
October 19, 2019
Looking at the cover of this book, I saw the image of a mysterious figure with a gun, silhouetted against the Capital building. I anticipated an exciting, mysterious, and intriguing tale of an Indiana Jones-type traveling to desolate areas of Argentina to track down mass murderers, at great risk to his own life.
Yeah, not so much. The title of this book should have been, "The Nazi Researcher." Most of the book took place in an office or a museum. The author did his best to create some suspense with a bumbling murderer, an office traitor, and a romance for the hero, but overall all this book was rather dull.
I was especially bothered by how the whole story hinged on the fact that a murdered woman was found with a music CD in her possession, so the singer on that CD immediately became the prime suspect in a Nazi investigation.
Yeah, not so much. The title of this book should have been, "The Nazi Researcher." Most of the book took place in an office or a museum. The author did his best to create some suspense with a bumbling murderer, an office traitor, and a romance for the hero, but overall all this book was rather dull.
I was especially bothered by how the whole story hinged on the fact that a murdered woman was found with a music CD in her possession, so the singer on that CD immediately became the prime suspect in a Nazi investigation.
September 16, 2022
This novel had portions I enjoyed, as well as portions that I found quite uninteresting. The sections covering the research that it takes to actually make an iron clad case against a suspected war criminal were fascinating. The evidence that was painstakingly pieced together made this book bearable for me. The sections where the Jewish religion was dissected and dispensed too heavily throughout the novel were quite boring and a bit monotonous. This even hampered the love story, which I feel would have been better served by analyzing why these two disparate people were drawn to each other instead of focusing on how the one observing the religious tenets of his faith expected the other to just roll over and allow him to dictate how things were going to be. As a result, what could have been an excellent novel is merely an okay read.
May 15, 2019
Something new
I would give it 3.5 stars but I bumped it to 4 rather than 3. This book is quite interesting because of genre and topic. I never read any book that talking about the nazi hunter that hunting the former nazi while chased by neo-nazis. Even learned something new about Jewish religious practices too! However, I would say this book would be one time thing for me. It is borderline between excitement and waiting suspense. The ending was little unsatisfactory but again everyone have different opinion.
I would give it 3.5 stars but I bumped it to 4 rather than 3. This book is quite interesting because of genre and topic. I never read any book that talking about the nazi hunter that hunting the former nazi while chased by neo-nazis. Even learned something new about Jewish religious practices too! However, I would say this book would be one time thing for me. It is borderline between excitement and waiting suspense. The ending was little unsatisfactory but again everyone have different opinion.
January 18, 2021
Another Nazi on the loose in America and people are being killed when they look into the murders. I have almost zero tolerance for White Supremists so it was hard to listen to the garbage they speak. I know these things have happened in the past, and I have read many books about the holocaust, but I didn't walk away with being annoyed.
On a positive note Marek and his personal story was really the highlight for me. I learned a lot about the life of an orthodox Jew. Enlightening
On a positive note Marek and his personal story was really the highlight for me. I learned a lot about the life of an orthodox Jew. Enlightening
February 9, 2017
The nerdy researcher who has to deal with today's neo-Nazis while following solving the mystery around a Nazi war criminal is rather far fetched, but the details of the concentration camp Belzec and the underlying then and now anti-Semitism are well described and make the book worth reading if you are interested in this kind of a story line.
September 30, 2019
Not bad
Not a homerun but a solid triple. The only part that really could've had a little more background was the 2 bombers. That just sort of fizzled out a long with the other characters. The ex wife...the singer himself...the daughter...Sophie
.they all couldve used a little more time in the book.
Not a homerun but a solid triple. The only part that really could've had a little more background was the 2 bombers. That just sort of fizzled out a long with the other characters. The ex wife...the singer himself...the daughter...Sophie
.they all couldve used a little more time in the book.
July 20, 2020
The most touching book about a investigation to take down a nazi ever
Wow - sensitive and thoughtful - action packed and scary - deeply aware of Jewish faith, nazism and how this evil has no place in a civilized world. Worth the time - and you will have moments of quiet reflection that leave you crying.
Wow - sensitive and thoughtful - action packed and scary - deeply aware of Jewish faith, nazism and how this evil has no place in a civilized world. Worth the time - and you will have moments of quiet reflection that leave you crying.
September 12, 2020
Superb!
What a terrific job Eisner has done. He has created a convoluted mystery which reveals much about the twin abominations of the Holocaust and America’s neo-nazi vermin. And his tale of the young Nazi hunter is also a love story as we watch the hero grow in courage and wisdom.
What a terrific job Eisner has done. He has created a convoluted mystery which reveals much about the twin abominations of the Holocaust and America’s neo-nazi vermin. And his tale of the young Nazi hunter is also a love story as we watch the hero grow in courage and wisdom.
May 4, 2021
Interesting a story that is so real in many ways. It is a piece of fiction but much of the story is unfortunately true. The concentration camps and the ugliness of what they represent. The relentless search for those war criminals, the interesting ways the detectives have to find the truth, the patience, the perseverance, are well presented in this book.
June 7, 2017
Nazi Hunter
This book started out well, began to drag in the middle then recovered and went like gangbusters to the end.
I liked the characters and felt like they were real.
Good book!
This book started out well, began to drag in the middle then recovered and went like gangbusters to the end.
I liked the characters and felt like they were real.
Good book!
September 12, 2019
I found this to be a well-written and thought-provoking mystery/thriller. Not only did it have an interesting plot line that held my interest throughout; but also provided some insights into the Holocaust, Judaism, and right-wing terrorism.
March 26, 2020
This is a thriller, but is a "cut above" in terms of quality of writing & character development. The author also includes a good deal of factual information about the extermination camp at Belzec, where his own grandparents were murdered.
August 17, 2020
Thrilling
This book was highly entertaining and educational. The hair-raising suspense made it the best kind of informative read. And a touching romance. I'll be looking for this author again.
This book was highly entertaining and educational. The hair-raising suspense made it the best kind of informative read. And a touching romance. I'll be looking for this author again.
January 1, 2021
I read over 35% of the book and couldn't bear to go any further. It was just a drag from page to page to chapter. I concluded that even if I finished the book...so what?! Just drag on to possibly a capture of an old man or no capture... thus resulting in a "so what response!" Sorry, I tried!
August 16, 2021
Oh man! I had a hard time putting this book down! Although not entirely focused on the Holocaust it certainly was a thriller that followed the story of a Nazi Hunter. There were some seriously unexpected events and some called its but it had my heart racing. I loved this book!
September 13, 2019
A good book
A book that could have been true. The whole thing was mystery and suspense. It was good from Behr to end.
A book that could have been true. The whole thing was mystery and suspense. It was good from Behr to end.
September 20, 2019
A great read. This book is well written and interesting. The plot had me from the start. The history side has made me more interested in that time period and will follow up.
October 24, 2019
Well written and thought provoking. I definitely recommend this book.
November 15, 2019
4.5 Stars for a great combination of history and fiction from a first-time author.
July 23, 2020
Couldn’t put it down
Fast paced, intriguing, historical fiction. Loved the plot and it’s twits and turns. Great writing style, easy read and very enjoyable.
Fast paced, intriguing, historical fiction. Loved the plot and it’s twits and turns. Great writing style, easy read and very enjoyable.
September 9, 2020
A little slow and heavy on setup at times but a good story and kept me engaged, for the most part. Keith Szarabajka as usual with an excellent performance.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 83 reviews