Showing results by author "Hugo N. Gerstl" in All Categories

1943: The tide of the War has turned against Hitler. Mussolini is deposed, imprisoned, and hidden. A single commando leads gliders to the top of the highest peak in the Apennines to rescue the Duce. October 1944: Hungary’s Admiral Horthy is about to defect to the Soviets. Hitler’s man kidnaps Horthy’s son, and advises him it’s time to “retire” if he ever wants to see his son again . December 1944: The Battle of the Bulge. Hitler’s favorite soldier, using 2,000 stolen American Army uniforms, leads a group of English-speaking Germans behind enemy lines and wreaks havoc ...

1947 – The UN declares that the British Mandate over Palestine will come to an end. In May 1948 Israel and Arab Palestine will be divided into two independent states. The Arab world reacts immediately: There will be no Jewish state; it will be driven into the sea! Sixty-five million Arabs against six hundred thousand Israeli Jews. Britain has washed its hands of the problem. The United States, under the guise of the Neutrality Act, makes it a felony for any American to supply either side with any arms. Americans Al Schwimmer, Hank Greenspun, and Charlie Winters boldly defy the Neutrality ...

Today, Turkey stands at the center of the world, as it has for millennia. Yet, once again, its position as an international power is ambiguous. It straddles the Occident and the Orient, yet it is neither comfortable with or trusted by either East or West. Beneath its glittering exterior, Turkey is a dormant volcano, ready to explode again, as it has done so many times throughout history. In LEGACY, we meet Turhan Türkoğlu and Abbas Hükümdar, victims of unspeakable poverty and cruelty, each of whom will walk entirely different paths in life. We come face to face with Halide Orhan, one of...

A WOMAN THAT HATH IMPUDENTLY PASSED THE PART OF WOMANHOOD AND BEEN A GREAT SPOILER AND CHIEF COMMANDER AND DIRECTOR OF THIEVES AND MURDERERS AT SEA … SHE HATH BEEN THE MOTHER OF ALL REBELLIONS FOR FORTY YEARS … GRACE O’MALLEY, the “Pirate Queen of Connaught,” was thus vilified by those English authorities who tried to bring stubborn, recalcitrant Ireland to its knees in the Sixteenth Century. Twice married, twice widowed, a passionate lover, gambler, pirate, sea captain, politician, mother of heroes, and, above all, a symbol of the indomitable human spirit and Irish independence. ...

Nowhere in modern literature has any story exceeded COMING OF AGE in the drama that symbolizes, no matter how large or small a role one plays, how important each human being is in the web of history. The never-ending fight to bring freedom of the press, freedom of speech, and freedom to simply live a life where one can attain peace, without fear of tomorrow, lies at the very core of this monumental tour de force, a gargantuan buffet for those who gorge on historical fiction. Here, the reader endures the agony of shattering defeats, the depths of tragically lost love, and the lowest level to...

In Volume One, LEGACY, we witnessed the death of the Ottoman Empire. The Western Powers, who thought they’d have an easy time dismembering the corpse, somehow never reckoned with the courage and resilience of the Turkish people – or that a leader as great as Kemal Atatürk would grab the Motherland by the scruff of the neck and yank it forward five centuries in the span of fifteen years. The fourth major protagonist in this epic, Nadji Akdemir, scion of generations of military pride, enters the tale when Turkey is at its nadir, and afterward joins Turhan Türkoğlu and Halide Orhan at ...

The monastery at Siani was famous throughout the academic world for its library. The monks of medieval days routinely obtained ancient, crumbling manuscripts and recopied them. Among them, hidden in a wall in the cellar, the following parchment was found and faithfully recopied in the practiced hand of the Sianian monks several centuries after its original writing: “According to the official Catalogue of Popes, after the Holy Father Leo IV died in the Year of Our Lord, Eight hundred fifty five, he was succeeded by Pope Benedict III. I, Martin Paschal, swear upon my eternal soul that the ...

Originally, The Motherland Saga ended in 1983, and what came thereafter was a brief epilogue. However, the past thirty-eight years have witnessed unimaginable changes in the fabric of the people, the culture, and the politics of Turkey. The emerging history of this great land compelled the writing of this fourth volume, THE FOOTSTEPS OF FOREVER. While the period from 2005 to 2020 has witnessed a sea change in the fortunes of this tortured nation and what appears to be a complete reversal in Turkey’s international alliances and its worldview, THE FOOTSTEPS OF FOREVER, Volume Four of the ...

The ultimate thriller—with a twist. Forty-five years ago, a set of twins was separated at birth when their parents were caught in the crossfire between police and robbers. Flash forward to the present. Five billionaires plot to assassinate Iran’s Supreme Leader, the Ayatollah Khamenei, by hiring the most expensive killer in the world. Iran learns of the plot through a web of sex, lies, and betrayal, but they know they are hopelessly outclassed in counterterrorism. Only one service in the world has the wherewithal to bring down the assassin—Israel, a country Iran refuses to recognize. ...

“Melissa, Melissa, silly little goat, Melissa sta—” Charles Flanders Cunningham III — a name that will rank with Hannibal Lecter as the ultimate evil genius. Charles Flanders Cunningham III — the wealthiest, most influential lawyer in the United States, perhaps the world, trusted counselor to presidents, prime ministers, and world leaders. But Cunningham has a dark side, a very dark side known only to himself and his five accomplices. Cunningham arranges to kidnap children from all over the world, none more than six years old, for a period of two weeks, after which they are ...

Billy Jenkins’ career spans the years 1895-1954. He was King of the Cowboys, the most popular act in all Germany, hero of German pulp fiction – the last genuine hero of the “American” Wild West. Yet, like Karl May before him, he never set foot in America... Billy became one of the world’s earliest superstars. He thrilled millions between the two World Wars, built a palatial mansion on the hill in Berlin, complete with a dude ranch in his backyard. In 1932, after joining the Nazi Party, he became their favorite, and soon reached the pinnacle of his success – this, despite the ...

Laurie Rosensohn’s wealthy parents believe the illness of fascism can be cured by a “green poultice” – money. Not so Laurie, who believes it can only be stopped by fighting on the front lines. She enlists in the international brigades, changes her name, and moves to Spain, where she witnesses the demise of the Republic, and engages in a tumultuous, but ultimately doomed love affair. Returning to the Big Apple, it takes two weeks before she despairs of her future life: being crushed to death by a parlorful of huge-breasted aunts wearing diamonds the size of your fist, an overstuffed ...

Does the rescue of 1600 men, women, and children justify aiding and abetting the murder of more than half a million others? Under these circumstances, is it morally imperative for one man to bring down an entire government? A young attorney defends an old man accused of criminal libel and must confront these agonizing ethical questions arising from the Holocaust. Jerusalem, 1953-1954. A 72-year-old pensioner, Malchiel Greenwald, publishes a mimeographed newsletter accusing Rudolph Kasztner, Deputy Minister for Trade and a prominent Israeli politician, of being complicit in the deaths of ...

ASSASSIN, PART ONE Forty-five years ago, a set of twins was separated at birth when their parents were caught in the crossfire between police and robbers. Flash forward to the present. Five billionaires plot to assassinate Iran’s supreme leader, the Ayatollah Khamenei, by hiring the most expensive killer in the world. Iran learns of the plot through a web of sex, lies, and betrayal, but they know that in counterterrorism. only one service in the world has the wherewithal to bring down the assassin—and it’s operated by a country Iran refuses to recognize. If you like a great thriller, ...

Hang on for a wild ride! The craziest “coalition” in history is out to destroy ISIS! Forty years ago, Don Tommy Aiello was the most feared mafia leader in the United States. Each week, he counted the number of bodies he was responsible for killing. Each week, he counted the number of women he had slept with. But that was forty years ago. Today, he counts the number of pills he takes and the pennies left over from his small Social Security check so he might buy a cheap set of dentures – not covered by Medicare. Life is pretty awful. Twenty miles away, Pedro Sanchez, twenty, has already...

In this monumental historical novel of the late twentieth and early twenty-first century, Lev Arkady survives the murder of his entire family in the closing days of World War II. Rescued by the ultimate showman and huckster, Old Amos, a character as memorable as Falstaff, Lev survives by becoming the ultimate chameleon. Penny Fullerton lives the good life of a 1950s Los Angeles teenager, experiencing the early death of her parents, sexual awakenings, and young heartbreak. She and Lev meet for one glorious evening in Vienna. They will not see each other again for twenty-seven years. In the ...

ASSASSIN, PART THREE Ramp up the suspense, ramp up the excitement, fasten your seatbelt, and try to stop biting your nails as we roar into the third and final section of Assassin. Here’s where it all comes together, and if, by chance, you haven’t grabbed onto your copy of parts one and two, there’s still time to do so! Warning! Try not to flip to the end of the book to find out how it will end – you’ll spoil the surprise for yourself and miss the intricacies which make this, in the words of the subtitle, The Ultimate Thriller. Now that you’ve sampled a taste of someone who may ...

ASSASSIN, PART TWO Forty-five years ago, a set of twins was separated at birth when their parents were caught in the crossfire between police and robbers. Today, five billionaires plot to assassinate Iran’s supreme leader, the Ayatollah Khamenei, by hiring the most expensive killer in the world. Iran learns the vaguest generalities of the plot but they know that only one service in the world had the wherewithal to bring down the assassin—and it’s operated by a country Iran refuses to recognize—Israel. Nevertheless, Iran finally managed to borrow Israel’s — perhaps the world’s...

Thirty-five years ago, Libertyville had a population of 2,000. Its citizens thought it would become the next Atlanta. But it’s now 1989, and the population is down to 278 and falling. The town’s remaining employer, the outdated, money-losing Libertyville Cotton Works, owned by an elderly Holocaust survivor, has been sold to a conglomerate that intends to reap huge tax and political benefits. But two other factions have different ideas. Bishop William Wyatt Walker, spellbinding African-American televangelist whose church takes in $500 million a year in contributions from the poorest of ...