NOTE: I was not paid to review this book. It is an unbiased and objective review. If you have a book with Jewish or Israel related content and would like me to write a review, contact me for details of where to send me a review copy of the book.

Book Review: The Hidden Saint, by Mark Levenson

The Hidden Saint, by Mark Levenson, is a fantasy Jewish themed novel based on "the historical horrors of eighteenth century Eastern Europe" combined with creatures from Jewish lore.

This novel is fantastical, but is quite a book. I have not finished reading it yet but I wanted to get my review out so you could have a chance to get it in time the Pesach holiday. 

To be fair, I almost did not bother. I read the first couple of pages of The Hidden Saint and it felt kind of choppy, not a smooth read, like it was going to be a lot of work. With 99% of books I read, at that point I normally would have just put it down and said it is not worth the bother. 

And I should note that I normally do not like fantasy books, so that was another strike against it applied even before I ever picked it up.

Something about the story though was pulling me in even though I did not like the style of the first few pages. So I continued reading. I figured I would give it a little bit longer before giving up on it.

And I quickly got hooked. I am not going to say what was different about the first few pages from the rest of the book so as not to give anything away but after those first few pages it really gets good. 

The story is somewhat of a fantasy, set in 18th century Eastern Europe with a shtetl rabbi trying to save his family from demons, werewolves, imps (I dont even really know what an imp is), the famous Lilith and more. And what would a Jewish fantasy book be without Lilith and a golem along the way? Oh yeah, and how can I forget about the 36 hidden tzadikim keeping the world in existence?  I know this sounds ridiculous, and it does to me as I am writing this, but these mythical creatures are woven into the story making me wonder why reading about golem's and "sheidim" in the past never made me think of them as subjects of fantasy.

The Hidden Saint is a good fantasy story using Jewish icons and imagery that will keep you busy and even enraptured for a few days.

buy The Hidden Saint on Amazon.com



NOTE: I was not paid to review this book. It is an unbiased and objective review. If you have a book with Jewish or Israel related content and would like me to write a review, contact me for details of where to send me a review copy of the book.