Five Bullets

Every Jew who lived through the Holocaust had a story worth telling, but not every Jew has been inclined to tell that story. Such was the case with Karel Bondy, a rising young structural engineer in Prague when the Nazis invaded his nation and began preparing the fortress town of Terezin to receive his people. Married and the father of three when he was taken there (and from there to Auschwitz), he was alone when luck allowed him to fight back, first with the partisans and later the Russian army. And he was alone when after the war he came to America to begin a new life as Carl Barry. What these experiences did to a strong yet sensitive man caught in the grip of the 20th century s greatest tragedy is at the heart of this extraordinary novel. And because Bondy/Barry was not eager to share those experiences, we must rely on his inquisitive American nephew Lewis to ferret out the details for us--and upon author Larry Duberstein to weave their tales together, in all the horror and sadness and, more unexpectedly, the beauty and humor. Karel Bondy is an unforgettable character whose story will by turns shock, intrigue, and amuse you.

Twice before, Larry Duberstein has returned to his native New York in memorable novels, Carnovsky s Retreat ( a virtuoso performance for Duberstein ) and The Handsome Sailor ( fire stolen from heaven ), which was a New York Times Notable Book. In these and other volumes, Mr. Duberstein has produced a body of work rich in language, humor, character, and place. A native of Brooklyn, he now lives and works in rural New Hampshire.