It is 1944 during the last 15 months of WWll in Budapest. 12,000 Jews were herded daily onto the train platforms for shipment to Auschwitz. Yet on another platform, a train with 1,684 Jewish passengers was poised to depart to Switzerland. Orchestrated and led by a young lawyer, Rudolph Kastner, this train becomes the tip of the iceberg of the biggest WWll rescue operation, culminating in the savings of over 400,000 lives.
THE PRECIPICE OPTION reveals these incredible, unbelievable, incongruous and totally improbable adventure-laden plots for the first time in their entirety. The story gallops across war-torn, gritty Vienna, Berlin, Hamburg and Budapest to the Bergen-Belsen and Mauthausen camps, to neutral, elegant Zurich and Stockholm and on to exotic Istanbul, Aleppo, Jerusalem and Cairo in a highly adventurous and breathless chase, aimed at beating the clock by saving as many as possible before the war's end.
It is a tour-de-force of the vagaries of human nature of brain vs. brawn that challenges the mind, a precipitous gamble of life and death in a fast, high-stakes poker game.
It is about time that someone had the courage and the persistence to set the record straight about Rudolf Kastner feats in saving hundred of thousands of lives in Nazi occupied Europe during World War II. This fact based novel does this in riveting style, while at the same time it sets the record straight on a simmering and controversial issue.
Martin B. Deutsch, New York, Former Editor and Publisher of Frequent Flyer magazine.
Kaufman has created a psychological thriller in an historically based adventure novel that is a fascinating read. To tell his story, he draws on his deep understanding of human nature, aided by personal interviews with the actual participants and he conducts the reader into an enormous suspenseful bluff and mind-games involving the ultimate stakes.
Alvin J. Rosenstein, Ph.d, Roslyn, NY, Diplomate, Industrial Psychology, ABpp Professor, Business School, Adelphi University
The Precipice Option is a powerful mind-grabbing story how one heroic man saved hundreds of thousands of lives in World War II. It was difficult to put the book down.
Lou Terenzoni, Arnold, MD, Ret. Engineering executive
The book is a richly detailed historical document. It is inhabited by a colorful cast of characters, villains and heroes and true 007 adventures. Once you start it, you won’t put it down till you finish it.
Fred A. Brill, Rosemont, NJ, Former airline executive
...a highly informative and truly enjoyable read. In a richly woven and engaging narrative the book raises poignant questions about the human condition in times of war, offering the reader a sense of what motivated perpetrators and victims alike.
Dr. Bela Bodo, Professor, Dept of History, Missouri State University, Springfield, MO
It is a fascinating book and an easy read. The further we got into it, the more we became completely enraptured and absorbed in it.
Lucy and Herbert Rosenberg, Pembroke Pines, FL
Epic story telling and facts from the first page to the last combine beautifully to provide the reader with a gripping and emotional book.
Abbie Ben Ari, Former Political and Social analyst. London and Jerusalem
Complex psychological relationships within and among the various groups inhabiting the story keep the reader on edge. An exciting read.
Paula A. Kirsch, PhD, Great Neck, NY
The writer made a great effort to be historically accurate as well as in describing the cultural atmosphere and personalities of that period in time. It is a serious book with flashes of sadness and human folly. It is one of the main strengths of the book.
Leslie Kory, MD , New York
On first picking up The Precipice Option I thought it was just another World War II book. However, upon reading further, I discovered layers upon complex layers of a fascinating adventure story, dedicated to saving thousands of lives and succeeding beyond any expectations.
Clinton Clarke, Tennis Pro, Westbury, NY
A captivating read each page more thrilling than the last.
Ronald Bruell, Auckland, New Zealand
I am so much into the book and sharing Kastner’s frustrations - will he succeed to save or will he be too late? I admit, I usually do not ‘live’ the books I read, so it only shows how well written it is.
Ruth Perry Rosen, Herzliya, Israel
Alex Kaufman’s book is in my view the richest documentation of Kastner’s life and work during World War II in Europe. The way Kaufman chooses to tell the story facilitates the intricacies of the story and the understanding of the events for the younger generation reader.
Joseph Wenkert, Writer and Editor, Jerusalem, Israel
Articulate writing makes this book spellbinding.
Pamela Hayward, Auckland, New Zealand
Having read the advance copy of The Precipice Option I must tell you how I appreciated the contribution it makes to these yet untold events of World War II, and how much I enjoyed the intriguing and some of the amusing descriptions the writer offers in the midst of terrible mayhem. What an exciting movie it can make.
Zev Melamid, Chappaqua, NY, Former Travel and Airline CEO
