This is a marvelous read, the most rare and precious thing, a brand new classic, totally engrossing. The Prisoner of Secrets sprawls across time and space telling the largely untold story of the American origins of the Holocaust and giving new perspective to what happened in the US and Germany. At the center of it all is  an irrepressible hero out of “Catcher in the Rye." Utterly contemporary in its themes—causes of discrimination, white entitlement, child abuse, family dysfunction. You’ll find joy and sadness but won’t put it down as Justin follows his secrets to an unforgettable conclusion.

Justin's life is being destroyed by secrets. His fight for survival is a battlecry for everyone faced with the injustice. Justin's father has expelled him to a repressive New England school, all contact with the family denied, the result of one of many secrets of his dysfunctional family. More secrets at school when two men of historic significance enter his life, both architects of the Holocaust. One dies. Is it murder? At school he is the subject of brutal bullying reminiscent of the deadly attacks on Piggy in “Lord of the Flies." Why him? Another secret. The school is riddled with secrets. Death beckons on many levels, and there are ever more secrets. The magical love of a remarkable girl brings hope. And the story wraps itself in ribald humor and outrageous schoolboy shenanigans like “Catcher in the Rye.” Ultimately Justin discovers that to find murder he must first find himself. Those finding murder become targets. 

The book is a salute to perseverance against unbelievable odds and a lesson that the loving heart can win against anything. Spellbinding, human, full of knowledge, this is a book you will long remember.