Saving Sophie
by Ronald H. Balson
Eavesdropping on the Internet (facebook, actually), I came upon a recommendation for a great book to read, Saving Sophie. No explanation, just a strong recommendation. I checked out the book briefly on Amazon, saw that it was written by the same author who wrote Once We Were Brothers, a book I very much enjoyed, and Saving Sophie became my next book to read – in audiobook format.
At the start of the book, I was immediately bummed. The reader’s voices (Fred Berman) were immediately recognized by me as the same reader who performed Once We Were Brothers. I hate when I recognize readers because I tend to mix up the books and the characters and it takes a good while to get everything straight. Nevertheless, I continued. It was not long before I started to recognize the writing style as well as the reading style. There were similarities in plot, in theme, in language, and in tone. There was even a scene I recognized from the first book repeated almost verbatim in this one! The decision to read on was difficult, but I did. And then, and then, two of the main characters from Once We Were Brothers appeared. A sequel? Why no references to this as a sequel – on Amazon, in reviews, etc.? Knowing the characters from both books now made this reader more acceptable.
Instead of Hitler’s Germany, Saving Sophie is a modern story of Palestinian terrorism. The reader gets a hefty dose of history. The hatred that is passed down through the generations creating the atmosphere of fear and intolerance as it exists today is explained.
Sophie is a 6-year-old American child born to a Jewish father and the granddaughter of the leader of a Palestinian terrorist organization based in Hebron. Sophie’s mother died suddenly of an incurable infection and Sophie was soon then kidnapped. It was Jack Sommer’s mission to get his daughter back. The ransom was $88 million, embezzled by Jack, money that unbeknownst to Jack would be used to support biological warfare.
The story is intricate, a little too intricate. There are numerous references to Once We Were Brothers, including the continuation of the budding romance of two characters who are key to both novels. Some of the dialogue appears in both novels, and background information is delivered in both novels in the same way – in a formulaic manner. Perhaps the author is trying to build a series based upon these two characters, a female lawyer and her PI co-worker/love interest. For me, however, the series is done.
As I See It 