The Choice: Embrace the Possible by Edith Eger

Description from Goodreads:

"It’s 1944 and sixteen-year-old ballerina and gymnast Edith Eger is sent to Auschwitz. Separated from her parents on arrival, she endures unimaginable experiences, including being made to dance for the infamous Josef Mengele. When the camp is finally liberated, she is pulled from a pile of bodies, barely alive.

The horrors of the Holocaust didn’t break Edith. In fact, they helped her learn to live again with a life-affirming strength and a truly remarkable resilience. The Choice is her unforgettable story."

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“Our painful experiences aren’t a liability—they’re a gift. They give us perspective and meaning, an opportunity to find our unique purpose and our strength.”  ― Edith Eger,The Choice

Oh my goodness, I can't even begin to tell you how good this book is.  It's not just another Holocaust survivors life-story, it's so much more than that ... it's extraordinary!

Dr Eger is now 90 years old and what an amazing woman she is ... this book tells the story of being a teenager and her relationship with her parents and sisters, the truly horrific time she spent being a prisoner of the Nazis, her astonishing strength and bravery before, during and after the war and of her life once freedom had been achieved.

Once again, I can't tell you how good this book is.  It's beautifully written and flows exceptionally well.  Highly recommended.

My thanks go to the publisher, Penguin Random House UK, Ebury Publishing via NetGalley for my copy in return for an honest review.

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Author website:  Dr. Edith Eva Eger

Autobiography of an Assassin

Autobiography of an Assassin: Part One, The Here and Now

by M. T. Hallgarth

Beneath a seemingly pleasant and unpretentious façade lurks a ruthless predator...

A narcissistic sociopath!

Martin has an unusual life – he works as an assassin, having killed his first victim when he had only just turned sixteen. After fleeing to Belgium, he finds himself recruited by a mercenary organisation, more commonly known as ‘La Légion’. Given a new identity, Martin is taken to Morocco to undergo extensive training... training that is frequently brutal and bestial.

In Vietnam, Martin is recruited into ‘Section 9’, a covert organisation with the British Secret Intelligence Service. Upon discovering they want Martin to become an assassin, fate intervenes. On arriving back in London, he discovers feelings and emotions that he’s never experienced before – love and affection.

But nothing lasts forever...

When tragedy strikes, an assassin is truly born and overnight, Martin becomes a ruthless, heartless killer.

Inspired by authors such as Thomas Harris and Jeff Long, the author explains, “I felt the story of Martin and Autobiography of an Assassin was one that had been with me for many years. After retiring, I found I had to the time to write and share it.” Written as an autobiography of a fictional character, Autobiography of an Assassin is a fast-paced and thrilling read.

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I really don't like giving up on a book and I try my hardest to plod on but I just couldn't do it with this one. I was unable to get into it at all and I found it boring and over descriptive - I skipped about 6 chapters to do with guns ... I don't really care whether a certain gun is to the left, right, above or below another gun! There were snippets of interesting bits when the author provided some insight into the jobs he did but, within the first 20-odd chapters, these were few and far between.

The blurb says it's "a fast-paced and thrilling read" - not for me; it may have got better but I just couldn’t get beyond about chapter 30.

As I said, I don't like giving up so if I have nothing else to read, I may go back to it but, to be honest, can't see this happening any time soon.

Thanks to www.netgalley.com and the publisher, Troubador Publishing Ltd, for the copy in return for an honest review.