The Vengeance of Samuel Val by Elyse Hoffman

 The Vengeance of Samuel Val 

by Elyse Hoffman

The Vengeance of Samuel Val by Elyse Hoffman was published on 7th August 2023 by Project 613 publishing.

My thanks to The Write Reads for inviting me to take part on the tour.

Synopsis

Samuel Val is blessed with a loving family and a tight-knit community in his Jewish village of Khruvina. He dreams of becoming Khruvina’s Rabbi, but his dreams are crushed when his family is slaughtered by Nazi Officer Viktor Naden, the Beast of Belorussia.

With Samuel left as Khruvina’s only survivor, he joins the anti-Nazi resistance group known as the Black Foxes. Determined to avenge his family, he swears to hunt down and destroy Viktor Naden. Samuel’s mission of vengeance, however, is put on hold when he is forced to escort a Jewish refugee to a safehouse operated by Black Fox Ten, a high-ranked member of the resistance.

While on his mission to save a life, Samuel discovers that the Beast of Belorussia might be closer than he thought. All at once, Samuel is given the chance to destroy Viktor Naden…but the cost will be high.

Will Samuel sell his soul for vengeance?

My Review

This is a short novella that will stir up many emotions within you as it packs such an emotional punch on many levels. I felt physically sick at the atrocities that took place in the opening pages and totally understood Sam's feelings and need for vengeance, as many of you will as you read the aftermath that follows.

My initial thoughts were that it was too short to cover the storyline in enough depth, but how wrong could I be? The length, the description and the emotive feelings that the writing creates, are expertly construed to make the reader feel as though they are witnessing the different events as they take place. You will create images of all the characters as you follow their descriptions, both physically and emotionally, from Elyse's clever wording and will feel all that they feel.

In my mind Elyse Hoffman is an accomplished author and I will be looking out for more books by her, emotive as they are , in the near future.

About the Author

Elyse Hoffman is an award-winning author who strives to tell historical tales with new twists. Having studied WWII since the age of thirteen and with interests in fantasy and Jewish folklore, she loves to combine them in her writing. Elyse started writing novels at fourteen and finished her first historical fiction work at fifteen. She has published eight books: five in a series called The Barracks of the Holocaust, and three novels, including The Book of Uriel, Where David Threw Stones, and Fracture. In her spare time, she loves to read, work on pretty keyboards, and hang out with her co-authors - her Goldendoodle Ari and her ex-feral cat, Echo.