Amazon.com: Customer reviews: The Longest Echo: A Novel

Reviewed in the United States on February 14, 2021

Several small communities in the mountains of Italy were wiped out by the Nazis who came to destroy the women, children and elderly in retaliation for the activities of the Resistance in the area. This is known as the Massacre of Monte Sole. It occurred over a weeks time and murdered over 700 people. It was utterly devastating and horrific what these Nazis did. Very few survived this tragedy. This book is a fictional account of the historic massacre and of one woman’s mission to bring down the man who ordered the slaughter of her family and neighbors. The book is excellently written and reveals the horror and pain of the incident and the desperate struggle of this survivor to come to terms with it all. There are other characters intertwined to bring fullness to the story as well as depth to the main characters. An excellent book. A side of WWII that we haven’t heard much about. Terrible. Heartbreaking!
pamarella
PRCS

30 people found this helpful

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Tina Galli

More than a war story!

Reviewed in the United States on February 17, 2021

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Based on actual events much like most of his work this book shows the research that went into the story. The events that happened at monte sole will never be forgotten, thanks to this book that was so well written and tells the tale of what could have been any teenage girl that actually survived the horrors that happened on that mountain during WWII. Not only that -it deals with so many issues including survivors remorse, the fleeing nazis that escaped justice and finally the way that we as humans deal with tragedy and loss. A worthy read for sure one that I would highly recommend to anyone!

12 people found this helpful

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Athena McQ

This book was inspired by true events, only the MC’s backstory is fictional.

Reviewed in the United States on July 21, 2021

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In September 1944 we meet Liliana as she is preparing to go with her 15 & 16- year-old sisters to a village dance. She’s home from university, a fact much resented by her mother, who believes she should marry and settle down to the same hardscrabble farming life their family has lived for more than 200 years on Monte Sole.
At this time, the Allies had liberated most of Italy, and the Germans are determined to save the remainder for the Reich. Monte Sole is smack in the middle, and amongst the villagers living on the mountain are partisans, rebels, Fascists, and Fascist deserters. To harbor even one of them courts retaliation.
Coming home from the dance, they find James, an escaped American POW, and bring their father who hides him overnight, and takes him to the partisans. There were rumors of an entire village, women, children, men, even their farm animals wiped out, but the partisan leader scoffs at the idea that anyone would kill women and children in retaliation for the death of two Nazi officers. He hears that a jeep carrying more officers would be coming along the road but didn’t know two armored trucks would be following not far behind. In retaliation, Luciana’s village is targeted. The village men hide in the mountains believing the women and children would be safe. They were wrong. Of the 12 members of her family, only Liliana survived. Everyone else in the village was dead. James finds her, and they begin a perilous attempt to find her father and get to the Allied lines. The partisans have all fled or been killed, and the only food they find are scraps left in burned out homes along the way. They need only to cross a river when the Germans catch up to them, and her father dies holding them off. Liliana awakens in a hospital with James at her side. He’s off to rejoin his unit, and he gives her an address where he can be reached once the war is over.
They meet again in 1956; he’s divorced; she had married the surgeon who operated on her, and is now an extremely wealthy widow on Park Avenue. He’s written articles on the massacres on Monte Sole and is now researching Werner Brack, the former SS Hauptsturmfuhrer who ordered the massacres. Both are frustrated that interest in finding and prosecuting war criminals has waned to almost nothing; public interest is now focused on the Soviets and communism.
Liliana’s obsession, along with numerous bribes, has brought them to Bariloche, Argentina, James to write an expose’ on Brack and the “ratline” that brought thousands of SS to safety in Argentina and other countries but also to keep Liliana from “doing anything rash,” especially when he finds her gun. She is aware that, as the crimes were not committed on American soil, all they could hope for is deportation and to have the American government put pressure on West Germans, French, Italians, and Soviets.
So much more happens after they get Brack: they marry, have children, grandchildren. He writes books, they both give lectures, and meet a possible Mossad agent interested in their research. The “longest echo” appears (to me) to be the time between 1944 and 1984 when the past can peacefully be laid to rest.
I give this book 5 stars and look forward to reading other novels by Mr. Dempsey. He creates real people with his characters, with believable dialog, and he never deviates from the importance of his material to a trite or silly romance. It’s hard to believe how normal, average people could perpetrate such atrocities but necessary to understand that such can very well happen again.
www.montesole.org/en.

8 people found this helpful

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Lorrie

An outstanding story built from actual history on a mountain in Italy during WWII.

Reviewed in the United States on June 10, 2021

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What an outstanding read!! This author took one event and built a story around it. One that anyone who reads it will ever forget. A massacre happened on a small Italian mountain when the Germans invaded this small village.

What a compelling story with a constant rhythm of danger that has you cheering them on. Loved Lilliana, a very sweet girl that in one afternoon had to grow up and strive to survive. Loved James Foley from the very beginning, typical New Yorker type American with a heart of gold and the courage to do what's right.

The story was nothing like I thought it would go, which made it very exciting to read. My favorite part of this book was the words that Lilianna's father said to her: "You will survive this - I'll make sure of that. And when you do, you must live the most wondrous life, beyond any of our simple imaginations. Don't let their hatred live. Leave it behind, and you will have won."

Amazing story, he did so well taking a moment in history and breathing a life into it so that we could all witness it....horrid as it was... a story that needed to be told.

6 people found this helpful

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Csaw

Great book, great story, but had to stop reading at the sex scence

Reviewed in the United States on June 30, 2021

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Amazing character depth, great plot, well told, touches on many important issues. Loved it - until about two thirds of the way through when I had to stop reading at the sex scene (which wasn't even between husband and wife). So frustrating. I miss being able to enjoy a great historical fiction book with a romance tied in without compromising my values and filling my mind with impure, unwholesome, ungodly things.

33 people found this helpful

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Tartan Mockingbird

A historical thriller based on actual Nazi atrocities in a small mountain community in Italy.

Reviewed in the United States on September 4, 2021

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Another fast paced historical novel by the talented Irish writer Eoin Dempsey.As the allies close in on the Nazis in Italy, a ragtag group of locals and escaped, allied POWs are fighting back in a mountain village, prompting the SS to massacre the residents. Just one young woman escapes, making it back behind allied lines accompanied by an escaped American POW.
Years later, they meet in NY and together undertake a dangerous journey to S. America & the small Patagoinian town of Bariloche where they will come face to face with evil

2 people found this helpful

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Buddha

Viscous Fighting in Italy

Reviewed in the United States on August 1, 2022

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The Longest Echo is an excellent WW2 story. I enjoyed it for a number of reasons including the authors style, the subject matter and the exceptional characters. It tells of a little known Nazi massacre in a small Italian village that had a peaceful existence for several centuries. What I liked about the authors story was he did not end it when the war ended, but continued to follow the Nazi’s that escaped capture and re-settled in other countries and how they tracked these murderers down to make them pay for their war crimes. It was based on a real event during the war. I would recommend it to anyone who wants to learn about the German atrocities as they retreated through Italy in 1944-1945.

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Cal from NJ

Makes real history most exciting!

Reviewed in the United States on March 5, 2021

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Authoring a historical fictional novel is a unique art and skill. It balances a story through central fictional characters with actual, factual events – with integrity. Eoin Dempsey has achieved another page-turning read which portrays brutal Nazi events in Italy during WWII. Continuing in his style, Eoin takes the history beyond the central event to what happened after the war.

The fictional central characters became real people to me. I even liked the Cape May, NJ connection! Another excellent novel from an author who does his research well and writes an engrossing novel.

3 people found this helpful

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Carol Rioux

Touching, Moving Story

Reviewed in the United States on May 22, 2021

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The treatment of ordinary Italian citizens in World War II Italy, as well as, members of the Italian resistance by the Nazis is rarely covered in history books. Nor is the role of various allied governments in helping former Nazis escape punishment for their war crimes. This book provides the reader with a moving story about the brutal killings of Italian civilians and the destruction of their homes, churches, and farmlands. I have read other books by Eion Dalton but this is the first to touch my heart.

2 people found this helpful

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Tom Stevens

Quality plot. The ending needs work.

Reviewed in the United States on March 4, 2021

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I got hooked on this author after reading White Rose, Black Forest. This novel is not as literary (few are), but the plot is masterful up to the ending. I didn't give it five stars because the last few chapters should have been deleted. The ending introduces unnecessary new characters, changing the feel of the book and robbing the power. As a full-time writer and avid reader, I would have preferred to leave a few threads hanging rather than sewing them up. I hope his editor reads this and the ending to the next novel is more artful. This author can do better. I see a bright future for Eoin Dempsey and look forward to more of his novels.

18 people found this helpful

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5 star		65%
4 star		25%
3 star		7%
2 star		2%
1 star		1%

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