The Zion Deception by Dr. Laurence B. Brown 4/5

 

I haven't done a good old fashioned single book review in a long time, so I think it is finally about time I did one again. I was very excited when I found out Dr. Brown came out with his 3rd work of fiction, The Zion Deception, so I grabbed it in my summer haul. I plan to review his other two novels that I read and loved, but for now, here is a review of his most recent published book.

The back of The Zion Deception reads: "David Cohen’s wife didn’t deserve to die. Sarah Weizmann shouldn’t blame herself for Leah’s murder. But the shocking crime served a militant Zionist group’s strategic purpose. When David and Sarah team up to find Leah’s killer, they are drawn into a maze of murder and intrigue designed to conceal the ugly history of Zionism. Following a path through Poland’s WWII death camps, they are forced to fight for their lives against both a psychopathic Nazi war criminal and Israel’s Mossad. When they discover the dark secret that links their two antagonists, they realize something is bound to die – themselves, the horrifying truth, or all together. The Zion Deception is a fully-annotated and meticulously researched work that expresses pro-Jewish, anti-Zionist views popular among Jewish revisionist historians. Although controversial, it challenges what readers know about anti-Semitism, Zionism, and Israel. With a keen sense of closure and awareness of the interconnectedness behind history’s failings, author Dr. Laurence B. Brown exposes popularized fallacies, and reveals the threat Zionism poses not only to Jews, but to the world as a whole."

The Zion Deception is a real eye opener novel. It is surprising, sad, detailed, and relevant to the world today. Some parts are gruesome and action packed, typical "Brown" fiction. I am not complaining by any means. The action and adventure in Dr. LBB's books made me a fan of his in the first place after reading his previous novels. His book descriptions really catch my attention and gives me high expectations.

The Zion Deception includes some history which I think was interesting, but confusing at times with all the details. I think rereading this book will help me better digest the material. As I said, this book brings in current events, so for someone like myself who really isn't into the news and what is happening around the world (I know this isn't good, but the news is depressing...) the book was interesting and "enlightened" me about the situation between Palestine/ Israel and Zionism in general. Yes, this book is a work of fiction, but there are facts weaved within the story as Brown mentions at the end.

From The Zion Deception, readers will get yet another example of how war changes people through Sarah's experience (pg. 24-25). And I'm sure this wouldn't be the first time either for readers to hear that with joining the army, comes brainwashing. As Sarah explained to her friend, "killing an American was murder, but the army taught us the Iraqis weren't human. In the American soldier's eyes, they were animals. It's the same old story...the Germans were Krauts, the Japanese were Nips, the Chinese, Chinks... the Viet Cong were gooks. In every conflict, the military think tanks dehumanize the enemy, to make it physiologically easier for the soldiers in the field to kill them. After the war, we meet them, maybe managing the corner convenience store, and realize they're just as human as we are" (53). Sounds familiar?

Brown uses a lot of abbreviations like MP, POW, APC, etc. and while some of them can be easily figured out, I wish Brown spelled them out at least once so we wouldn't have to guess at their meanings. There are some disturbing bits in The Zion Deception such as the details in being spied on page 139. The gruesome history of Zionism and the Zionist Jews contribution to the Holocaust stands out the most in the book though. For those people who don't know what Zionism is, it is the "political movement to establish a Jewish nation-state" (Foreword). In chapter 20 in which Sarah tours the concentration camps, we learn about Josef Mengele. Mengele would perform "experiments" usually on twins, "dissecting them side by side, alive, without anesthesia... even went as far as to remove limbs and stitch siblings together" (161). By the middle of the book (pages 196-197), readers will be in shock when they read about the Transfer Agreement.

Readers will also be surprised and in suspense at almost every turn of the page. Closer to the end of The Zion Deception, we learn something shocking. I won't ruin it here, but let me just say that learning the origin of the majority of Jews makes Brown's book worth reading. Besides all the interesting, surprising, detailed facts mixed in with a good storyline, there are some funny bits as well as a lot of action. I could go on about this book (I wrote down a ton of notes), but will spoil the story no more.

Overall, I gave this book ****/***** I would consider The Zion Deception to be a realistic historical crime fiction novel (is that even possible???). Anyone into that sort of stuff would really enjoy this book. If you can digest some of the material that I have mentioned and want to learn more about this subject, I also highly recommend The Zion Deception to you. If you would like to purchase this book, go to http://ziondeception.com/