A band of young Jewish refugees criss-crosses war-torn Europe in Perkal’s historical novel about endurance and survival during World War II.

The author takes inspiration from the true story of her aunt Ruth’s lengthy and arduous journey to escape the Nazis. In the novel, Ruth is one of a group of “Berlin Girls” (adolescents and young children) who flee the German capital and traverse Europe until they can find a way to Israel. Their journey is immediately beset by challenges and near-misses. In Yugoslavia, they are forced into a refugee camp; after a great delay, their fear of encroaching fascist control sends them to Ljubljana, where they make camp in an abandoned villa and enjoy greater freedom. This respite can’t last, and the group must once again decamp, this time to Italy for an idyllic period of farming, feasting, and dancing with young partisan soldiers. Even the end of the war brings chaos and confusion: Once these Jewish survivors become classified as displaced persons, all of their options seem perilous and bureaucratically impossible. The Berlin Girls’ story is propulsive and inspiring—they keep working and walking, fueled by an absolute refusal to fall into the Nazi’s hands. Just as important as the girls’ suffering and endurance are the camaraderie and joy the refugees manage to experience, even in the direst circumstances. They farm the earth, sing songs, and take music lessons, which all helps to create a sense of hope; the refugees emerge as not simply victims, but people who are still capable of feeling pleasure and joy. “Despite the hard work,” Ruth reflects, “these were cheerful days.” The inspirational narrative is deepened by a serious examination of the moral relativism that inevitably taints relationships during wartime. Ruth embarks on an on-again, off-again romance with the mysterious Marko, who brings food and information to the group, procuring both by vague and shady means; is it possible to truly love someone so cruel and unreliable when one considers how much good he has done by getting dirty?

A moving meditation on resilience, camaraderie, and impossible choices during wartime.

In Roubenoff’s novel, reunited siblings investigate murder and conspiracy at a biotech company.

When a woman’s body, wrapped tightly in blue laboratory film, turns up in a park outside of Boston, Sgt. Maggie Thompson of the Massachusetts State Police and her detectives, Eddie and Jimmy, follow the trail to Quercus Therapeutics, a biotech company on the brink of going public. The victim, Lilly Zhao, was Quercus’ head of toxicology, a scientist whose work tested the safety of the company’s flagship ALS drug, QT-101. Maggie’s estranged half-brother, Benny Mason, whom she hasn’t seen since their father’s funeral three years earlier, also works at Quercus and knew Lilly. The siblings’ reunion is awkward (“She was startled to see that Benny had grayed at the temples”), then practical: Maggie goes undercover as Benny’s assistant, infiltrating the company’s culture of ambition, secrecy, and, increasingly, danger. Flashbacks sketch their fractured childhoods and the mysterious life of their father, an Army captain whose diaries reveal the existence of a third sibling. Together, Maggie and Benny uncover a conspiracy inside Quercus. The body of another Quercus employee is found before a dramatic confrontation leads to tragedy. In the end, Maggie is left with another mystery: Is her father’s other child still alive? Roubenoff, who himself comes from the biomedical world, has crafted an intriguing, sometimes romantic (thanks to Maggie’s new boyfriend, Brad), and pulse-pounding thriller that explores the intersection of medicine and corruption. The author masterfully integrates the jargon and acronyms that pervade the biotech culture, and his characters are well-drawn and largely sympathetic, if flawed. Roubenoff also does a good job of balancing the murder and ensuing investigation with the less pressing—but no less engaging—subplots involving Maggie’s family and her love life. It all adds up to a compelling suspense yarn that’s easy to follow and will have readers guessing until the final pages.

Medicine meets murder in a captivating thriller set inside Massachusetts’ research community.