I could make this my shortest review ever for Fresh Fiction: I think Andrew Gross' THE ONE MAN is the best thriller ever written about the Second World War and just say: you must read it!

Nathan Blum had escaped Poland, while his family was killed by the Nazis, and Nathan eventually made it to the United States, where he enlisted, and because of his knowledge of several languages, he was drafted into intelligence. It is 1944, the race for the atom bomb is on, and it has come to the ears of the Americans that one Doctor Alfred Mendl, who was last seen in Auschwitz, could have crucial knowledge on making the bomb. An operation is undertaken to get Mendl out of the death camp by having an agent infiltrate Auschwitz and take Mendl to Los Alamos. All previous undertakings had failed, then Nathan is asked because of his skills; it is a desperate operation which has not much hope of succeeding, but Nathan is determined to see it to the end, because he feels he should not have abandoned his family, he should have gone back to Poland, and he so he will return.

A story of the scope of THE ONE MAN, as far as I'm concerned, must be based on a solid background, and Andrew Gross' research is so thorough that, by page fifteen I had learned things I ignored about that era, and I was completely enthralled. I admit that by chapter seven, I looked at the Author's Note which surprisingly only confirmed my respect for Mr. Gross. He admits to taking two minuscule historical liberties, with which I had no problem whatsoever, and I am a stickler for historical accuracy. I will also say that I barely breathed for around three hundred and fifty pages, because I honestly have never read such an electrifying novel; I think I was nearly vibrating with excitement throughout.

Mr. Gross merges historical figures with fictional characters with absolute confidence, his writing is flawless, the pace is relentless, and the characters are positively extraordinary: Nathan, Leo, Dr. Mendl, Greta, Leisa, Ackermann, Franke, Anja, Rozen -- and I am not telling who they are; some are good, some are despicable, and they are all so fully-fleshed, they became living and breathing entities to me. Andrew Gross' scrupulous attention to historical detail makes every facet of THE ONE MAN chillingly realistic: every aspect of the mission, the death camps, the behavior of the Nazis, the inmates; this is what makes a work of historical fiction into literary reality. As Andrew Gross points out, much of this book is based on facts, except for Nathan's story itself, the infiltration and retrieval operation. The author demonstrates an innate talent for impeccable pacing and creating tension that grips you and never lets go, and some tiny details made my heart wrench, "Schubert", was one of those unforgettable moments as well as the piece of sheet music; those are what make a great book into a classic. If John Le Carré is the master of Cold War thrillers, WWII belongs to Andrew Gross. I have not found the precise word for how I feel about THE ONE MAN, except that it is one of the greatest thrillers of all time.