Roots of Honor

The author of The Crusher and Havana X launches a series with this skin-deep saga of Czarist Russiaa harsh but vivid backdrop for the unforgettable politics and pogroms that drove Jews like Samuel Margolavitch to the gates of Ellis Island. The narrative recounts Margolavitch's meteoric rise from shtetl-dweller to surgeon and Russian army general, a much-decorated hero who is neatly framed and then destroyed by a hateful, corrupt and anti-Semitic kangaroo court. As always, though, the conscripted, cuckolded and now-court-marshalled Margolavitch turns adversity to advantage and sails for America, where he predictably prospers. A lack of tension (Margolavitch's heroic behavior is never in doubt) and an overkill of coincidence combine with a hackeyed writing style to rob this chronicle of distinction. (August 6)