The Permanent Press
August 28, 2013
Henri Poincarre is a young engineer and he and his partner have won a contract to raise the shipwreck Lutine. Henri meets a young German woman, whose wealthy family is the Klug steel company, and he is soon pulled into their sphere. Henri accepts a job from her brother, but begins to question the working conditions of the labor force in the third world countries the Klug factories are located in, and whether he wants to be involved. Henri also realizes that his Jewish uncle may have worked for the Klug family patriarch during World War II, and begins to research what conditions may have been like, and how Klug escaped charges as a Nazi war criminal. The more Henri researches, the more he realizes that the past has a long reach into the present–and may cut short his future.
THE TENTH WITNESS is the prequel to Rosen’s acclaimed debut novel ALL CRY CHOAS, and is a thoughtful and thought-provoking book that explores the long-reaching effects of war, racism and evil, and how those who live in the present must deal with the deeds of the past. Rosen spins a complicated web of intrigue and lies, but lays it all out neatly for the reader to follow. Poincarre is an immensely sympathetic character who seems to bumble through his first case, connecting dots others overlooked while putting his own life in jeopardy. This case ultimately leads to his joining Interpol and leaving his work as an engineer behind. THE TENTH WITNESS is a compelling look at the banality of evil, and what we are willing to accept as the machinations of war.
Erica Ruth Neubauer
