From the Critics
From View From the Hill
If Arnold Simon can write this well for his first novel, A Break In The Storm, I can't wait to receive his second. "A Break In The Storm" carries you along from the first page to the last. It's a wonderful read, like a Robert Ludlum novel. The pace is fast, the characters well developed and it's well researched….
— Robert Magid, Editor
From Sunpiper Press
Author Arnold Simon tackles this subject brilliantly.… Simon's accounts are so clear and precise, you might wonder if it is truly `fiction'…. This book lends human emotion to an era most of us only read about in textbooks. Arnold Simon delivers unparalleled social, political and historical fiction in "A Break in the Storm". I recommend it to everyone [who] enjoys history and pays respect to the WWII generation."
— Robert Denson
The Jewish News (Los Angeles)
"This book is a gripping story that melds fiction with historical facts...shows a true sense of intrigue...a fascinating and suspenseful novel that is interesting throughout."
— Carol Kaufman Siegel
From Crystal Reviews
The pace is speedy, the characters finely developed…. Very well done and accurately presented picture of this period that needs to be remembered….so that it can somehow be prevented from ever recurring again.
— Viviane Crystal
American Radio Network
"It's a very good read, I must tell you."
— Gerri Garner, radio host
Customer Reviews
5 Stars
So real it could BE history!
"A Break in the Storm" may be fiction, but the storyline is woven so closely with known historical fact that it might have happened. Just as Jules Verne's 19th century science fiction foreshadowed 20th century developments (Nuclear submarines, Space travel), and Tom Clancy's cold war novels tell of plots that might have happened and are still secret, or might yet happen - Arnold Simon's story tells the story of events leading up to WWII in a way that helps the reader to better understand the issues and traumas of the period. It may not BE history, but if you're a student of the period, and like to discuss it, or explain it to others, this is a book you'll enjoy.
Other books of the WWII period that I've enjoyed - "The Secret War" by Brian Johnson, "They Were Expendable" by W. L. White, "Thirty Seconds over Tokyo" by Capt. Ted W. Lawson, "Tarawa" by Robert Sherrod. "A Break in the Storm" by Arnold Simon gives you that same sense of real-time involvement.
— Frederick H. Wagner (Cypress, CA USA)
5 Stars
A Suspenseful Read
As someone who was in his teens and living in Germany during the period covered by this novel, I can confirm that the description of both the political situation and of the characters like Steeg mirror the reality of that time exactly. The novel's form, especially in its discussions, combines with the content to create a touching unity. The historical facts are correct, and the story itself is told in an extraordinarily suspenseful way. I was impressed by the author's empathy for the atmosphere, including the antisemitic horrors and the tremendous pressure that was directed by the government of the time against German citizens of Jewish faith. I can only recommend this book to anybody who wants to get an accurate historical picture of that time and of the overall political situation in Germany.
— Rudolf Heck (Germany)
5 Stars
Who would have thought?
I read 2 newspapers every day. I read Smithsonian magazine and books about gardening. Lately, I have been reading some books about gracefully entering my "golden years." I rarely, if ever, read novels and I especially don't read historical novels. "A Break in the Storm" was recommended to me by a friend. I told him I avoid historical novels like the plague, and particularly ones about Nazi Germany. I think "The Diary of Anne Frank" that I read as a teenager was all I wanted to know about that bleak period in world history. Well, I took the book and unenthusiastically promised to read it.
Who would have thought? I finally picked up the book and started to read it. I couldn't put it down. I found myself reading it in the car as I waited for my son to come out of his dental appointment. I read it while my car was being washed. I especially loved the fact that the time moved from future years in the character's lives and then to past years. That meant I had to read thoughtfully to interpret how the characters fit into the time in the book. The reader had to really know the characters, the times, the places. It was a fascinating exercise and quite thrilling. Thank God, the names were simple to remember. Thank God, there were not long, boring, slow moving descriptions of each character's nose size and eye color and each geographical site down to the names of the trees and color of the buildings. I stayed with the characters as they played out their lives in every aspect.
I truly enjoyed every minute of the book. You'll love it. I just may pick up another historical novel!!
— Patricia H. Gafford
4 Stars
This novel holds your attention with its suspenseful plot while simultaneously presenting fascinating historical data. It is a particularly interesting way to learn about this period in history as it approaches the topic of World Wars I & II from a fresh angle that I have never seen represented in any of the myriad other books and films on the subject. It in fact has the makings of an excellent film.
— Mme Ruthanne Mileti (Paris, France)
4 Stars
An interesting story of complex relationships set against the backdrop of the two world wars of the 20th Century, and their effect on people's lives. The title refers to the period between those two wars: "a break in the storm of death" that defined each of them. Simon has clearly done his homework: younger readers could learn a lot about Hitler's preliminary advances in Europe, and older readers have their memories renewed. A must-read for lovers of suspense -- and history.
— Jeanne Weiner "Reader" (Pacific Palisades, CA)
5 Stars
" A Break in the Storm" by Arnold Simon is a well-written book with the characters holding true throughout. The story flowed along in a captivating way and the author helps the reader understand how the tumultuous events during this important period in history may have affected individual lives. I hope Mr. Simon is working on a second novel.
— Fred K. Lappin "RJL" (New Hampshire)
