The Road from Odessa Kindle Edition

If you like epics like Leon Uris and James A. Michener, you may like the shorter, Road From Odessa: A heartwarming thriller where jazz and the mafia collide in Ukraine, New York and New England - A Family's Century of Sin and Song. The book captures Goodman's active imagination and evokes the reader's deepest emotions. It tells the tale of an Eastern European immigrant family who has the determination, resilience, and willingness to do whatever it takes to survive. In the port city of Odessa, Ukraine, "The Fox" is a charismatic and ruthless patriarch who dominates the Russian Jewish Mafia. His life story, a brutal blend of love and tragedy, is shaped by a world of power and violence. When the family is ravaged by one of many devastating pogroms, The Fox's young son makes a heart-wrenching escape to America. Carrying the weight of his gangster heritage as well as an extraordinary musical talent, the son finds himself navigating a new American world and its crime syndicates. His story unfolds in the tumultuous first half of the 20th century. He steps on people to climb the ranks of the underworld. His successes and tragedies mirror the vibrant energy of American Jazz, the new world of rum-running and speakeasies, and the glamour of casinos. He is a witness to a world forever changed by the invention of the phonograph and telephone, the first automobiles and airplanes, and the economic devastation of the Great Depression. His life becomes intertwined with the era's conflicts, from the battlefields of World War I to the tense years leading up to World War II. The ultimate crisis arises not from the streets of the New York and New England, but from the geopolitical stage. As the Nazi war machine rises to power, the President of the United States finds himself without a solution. The novel's climactic challenge is now no longer a matter of crime or power--it is a struggle for survival. Goodman's development of characters is deep. The Road from Odessa is rich in historical details as well as moral complexities. Read more