Lev Raphael

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RAVE REVIEWS FOR THE GERMAN MONEY

"What a gift for a writer to be able to sustain unflagging, sweaty-palm suspense in a novel almost through character alone. This is what the prodigious Lev Raphael pulls off in The German Money, a mystery whose shocking denouement is so organic to the whole thing that it feels as if a boiling volcano has finally let loose. Best known for his fiction and nonfiction about Holocaust survivors' children, Raphael has also written five witty mysteries. The German Money combines his multiple talents with his understanding of Holocaust survivors and their families to produce one of the most powerful suspense novels in years, a kind of Kafka meets Philip Roth meets le Carré -- a beautifully modulated narrative."
-The Washington Post Book World

"If you're starving for a powerful novel, buy Lev Raphael's latest book, The German Money, a potent, contemporary story about the complicated lives of three Jewish siblings, descendants of a mother who survived the death factories of the Holocaust, and had a closely guarded a terrible secret, the kind that tears lives apart. Raphael carefully escorts his readers into the sad, touching lives of the siblings, then expertly guides us among the powerful scenes."
-The Fort Worth Star-Sentinel

"A tighly plotted novel that is part psychological thriller and part tale of how the past is never past."
-Hadassah

"A provocative psychological thriller."
-The Seattle Times

"Raphael applies his talents as a suspense writer to this unconventional Holocaust novel... The sharpness of the family portrait and the appeal of the romantic subplot make this an engaging read."
-Publishers Weekly

"A kind of genealogy thriller, the book asks difficult questions about Jewish life after the Holocaust, and addresses the complexity of the healing process that Jews and Germans are wrestling with today."
-Uncut Magazine (London)

"Raphael's novel offers not only astute observations on how siblings interact -- and find it so difficult to escape childhood behavioural patterns -- but also a gentle and enjoyable mystery tale."
-The Jewish Chronicle (London)

"Raphael has said that he wanted to 'write a novel about the things people don't say.' In this he has succeeded brilliantly. The German Money is a special story, one that, in addition to conveying an idea of damage done, provides some basis of hope."
-The Forward

"An inventive mixture of Second Generation family and mystery tales... Raphael has a fine ear for the diction and accents of New York and of refugee life especially, and he has a writer's mordant eye for revealing his main character's inner life..."
-Jerusalem Report

"Lev Raphael delivers the goods in a thriller with a wicked twist: The German Money is a fast, engaging read, with glints of insight, and a deeper, twisting message about the ambiguities of history and human nature."
-The Jerusalem Post

"A heartfelt story of rediscovered romance."
-Booklist

"Truly inspired."
-The Denver Post

"A gripping mystery that deserves a wider audience."
-Lambda Book Report

"This is a very intimate book. Bright and creative. Unexpected and significant. For a man who has spent his life refusing to accept that the Holocaust has anything to do with him, inheriting these funds feels like anything but a blessing. Eventually the truth reveals itself in a shocking conclusion. Having recognized that truth, I was wrapped up in Paul's journey and found it quite compelling."
-Jewish Book World

"An intriguing, coming-of-age novel for adults, Raphael's exceptionally well-crafted tale moves smoothly and adroitly towards an unexpected conclusion."
-Lansing State Journal

"Raphael has written short stories and novels dealing with the Holocaust and crime, and The German Money can be seen as a distillation of all of them. He lets the story unfold slowly, giving the reader time to become acquainted with the characters before reaching deep into the emotional undertow and exposing the tensions that bind and divide a family."
-Harrisburg Patriot-News (PA)

"My favorite book to recommend to book groups this month is a new novel called The German Money. I agree with Kafka when he says, 'A book must be the ax for the frozen sea within us,' especially when it comes to book club reading. If you don't find your world rocked and your assumptions challenged, then what will there be to discuss? This is an intense novel that insists its reader fall into a world filled with secrets and silences, the world, in fact, of many children of Holocaust survivors. Readers will know what it is to be an angry and embittered young Jewish man who has spent the better part of his life running from something that happened over fifty years ago, to a completely different person. The German Money wields a sharp axe at a vast frozen sea, indeed."
-Nicki Leone, WHQR 91.3 FM, North Carolina Public Radio

"This novel is a finely executed quest, a voyage of discovery, and at last a hopeful tribute to the ability of the damaged human heart to heal."
-Steven Hartov, The Detroit Jewish News

"As surprising as anything Patricia Cornwell could dream up... the book leaves the reader thinking, as well as satisfied."
-The Jewish Journal of Greater Los Angeles

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