Once We Were Brothers by Balson

2&1/2 stars. This is a work of historical fiction based on the investigation of a Nazi hiding in plain sight as a philanthropic Jew in the city of Chicago. It is told from the point of view of a non-Jewish female lawyer who looks into the case of a poor holocaust survivor named Ben, who has been robbed of his due by his adopted brother in war torn Poland. I do not know why inexperienced male authors believe that they have a better handle on telling a story from a female point of views than from a male one, but they do. It fails here. The heroine like most female protagonists drummed up by men is not needy. She is sexy but not exceedingly feminine. She can stand on her own two feet and earns more than her love interest. I liked the underlying mystery and thought the story should have stuck with that. The preface is that a Polish boy abandoned by his German mother to an alcoholic father is left with a kind Jewish family in a small city in Poland during the depression. He lives with Abe and Leah as parental substitutes and he shares a room with their son, Ben. He acts as a brother to their daughter, Beka. When the Nazis come he wants to stay with his Jewish family, but he is encouraged to take a Nazi post by Abe so he can protect his Jewish family. At first he does. However, later, Otto becomes a true Nazi turning against his adopted family. He murders some of them and cheats many of the Jews in the town. After the war via Argentina, Otto reinvents himself as Rosenzweig and buys a lucrative insurance business. His adopted brother sees a photo of him and recognizes him as Otto Piatek. This is the story of Ben’s search for justice and exposure of Rosenzwieg as the Nazi Otto Piatek. The Chicago scenes and descriptions are spot on Chicago. One reason so many Poles were attracted to Chicago was the similarly harsh climate. There are more Poles in Chicago than any Polish city except for Warsaw. Had the story stuck to unmasking a creature like Piatek, it would have been a success. However, instead it also follows a romance between Catherine, the attorney and Liam , the investigator. Naturally, Catherine is called “Cat.” not “Katy.”nor “Cathy”. Another typical name would be “Cassie.” There are way more “Cassies” and “Cats” in literature than in real life. The romance is trite and boring.