Set in the 1970s, in Germany, Holland and Argentina, we meet the young Poincare who, as a gifted engineer, falls for a beautiful but troubled heiress and is drawn into a world of deception and buried evil. Pursuing justice by exhuming Holocaust secrets , he lays the groundwork for his future career with Interpol, while an ever-widening plot of dissemblance and intrigue carries the reader from the mud flats of the Wadden Sea, to the death camps of the Third Reich and veiled identities in Argentina. Rosen crafts a richly descriptive thriller that explores the underbelly of human nature as well as the steadfastness of the human heart and its capacity to hold darkness without being destroyed.
From Booklist
Starred Review This prequel to the acclaimed All Cry Chaos (2011) goes back in time to show how Henri Poincaré became an Interpol agent. It’s 1978, and Poincaré is a brilliant mechanical engineer who has devised a way for divers to hunt for deeply buried treasure at sea. Two centuries ago Lloyd’s of London insured a ship that sank off the Dutch coast, and now the company hires Poincaré and his partner to try to recoup their loss. While researching the area, Poincaré falls in love with Liesel, who works with her brother for a huge Munich steel company founded by their father, Otto Kraus. Meanwhile, after his favorite uncle passes away, Poincaré is driven to learn more about his uncle’s Holocaust experience and is shocked to discover that his uncle worked as slave labor at a Nazi steel factory run by Kraus—a revelation that prompts Poincaré to dig into his girlfriend’s family history. The Kraus family is protective of its past, however, and does not take kindly to Poincaré’s interference—though Interpol expresses interest in his research. This is a complex, dark, and disturbing story, beautifully told and based in part on history. Poincaré’s character is deeply developed, as Rosen combines a probing Holocaust story with elements of an action thrilller. A fine novel and further indication that Rosen is a writer of immense talent. --Stacy Alesi
Review
This is a complex, dark, and disturbing story, beautifully told and based in part on history. Poincaré s character is deeply developed, as Rosen combines a probing Holocaust story with elements of an action thriller. A fine novel and further indication that Rosen is a writer of immense talent.
--Booklist, starred review
In Rosen s strong prequel to his 2011 debut, All Cry Chaos, Henri Poincaré, not yet an Interpol agent, uncovers a startling secret that brings back the ghosts of WWII...Rosen writes with polish and confidence.
--Publishers Weekly
This is a prequel to Rosen s acclaimed mystery debut, All Cry Chaos, which was set 30 years later when Henri was working as an Interpol investigator. Rosen relies on literary background and considerable research skillfully to portray Henri s confrontation with the nature of evil and his developing detective talents in investigating both dead Nazis and living ones. Another winner. --Library Journal
If it s hard to wring new headlines from Nazi industrialists, Rosen uses this familiar background to tell a story as heartfelt as it is ambitious.
--Kirkus Reviews
The Tenth Witness offers a thoughtful treatise on what it is to forget, to forgive, and to take responsibility for the past. In Henri Poincaré, readers of all ages can appreciate the terrible beauty of a life lived with love for others.
--ForeWord Reviews
If every author s primary responsibility is to keep the reader turning the page while mumbling the mantra just one more chapter . . . just one more chapter then Leonard Rosen has more than accomplished this goal with The Tenth Witness...You will not be disappointed. --NY Journal of Books
Only the very best writers can weave a compelling story from a maze of complicated ideas.... Len Rosen has proven himself to be one of them.
--Arthur Golden, New York Times bestselling author of Memoirs of a Geisha
The Tenth Witness is a brilliant follow up to Rosen's first thriller. Here is an author who cares as much about the pained human heart as a page-turning plot and manages to infuse this book with pathos, wit, wonder, fabulous historical detail, mystery and breathless anticipation. If you're looking for a smart thriller - look no further - Rosen is stupendous!" --International bestseller, M.J. Rose