For some reason that I am
still trying to figure out, I found that I could not read more than a chapter
at a time of Leonard Rosen’s The Tenth
Witness. On vacation, I was planning
to read the last half but was just too relaxed on the beach to conquer the challenging
read Rosen throws our way. I think what
made it so difficult for me was the combination of scientific and engineering
principles coupled with trying to keep numerous characters straight.
The Tenth Witness is the prequel to the award-winning All Cry Chaos, which also features Henri Poincare as the main
character. In the latest novel, we go
back in time to show how Poincare became an agent for Interpol. On a barge in Germany, he and his engineering
partner think they are sitting over a shipwreck filled with gold. As Poincare is leading the expedition, he
meets and falls in love with Liesel Kraus, the wealthy daughter of the late
steel tycoon, Otto Kraus. Otto had been
compared to Oskar Schindler during the Holocaust, but research Poincare
discovers points to the fact that he was anything but helpful to the Jews. These findings put him in serious danger with
the Kraus family and their friends, who will do anything to keep this secret
hidden.
This is a difficult book
to get through and almost seemed disconnected at times. Some parts had my heart pounding and some
were very dry. However, the ending
really makes up for it and was the best part of the book.
