THE LAST TEMPTATION

The Last Temptation is the greatest treason, to do the right deed for the wrong reason""- and it is a questionable act on the part of Victor Marmorek -- the appropriation of a list of vital installations -- and the miscarriage of justice to which it leads -- that results in his being shot as an informer and provides a holding drama of personal reparations....For Vic, and Debbie, and their youngster, David, Palestine is the only answer to years of persecution and evasion in Vienna, Prague and Rome, and it is there they hope to find security for David's future. Their friendship with the British Walkers is suspect- and when they leave and Victor is due to return after the hardwon siege of Jerusalem, Debbie is told that he has been shot as a pro-Arab, pro-British spy. In the days which follow- of personal shock and public stigma, David is stoned at school, Debbie loses her job as a nurse, and only George Stern, an American reporter, offers her support in her determination to prove Vic's innocence. The months bring in little proof- only some which might hurt her further; but finally when the case is reopened, Vic ends as a hero, not traitor. Debbie, given the chance to go to America -- with Stern -- chooses instead the country and the home she has fought to recover.... A likable heroine -- and a vulnerable situation -- all provide a strong drama of more popular appeal than other novels which have drawn on the struggle for statehood in Israel -- and finds an impetus in the unreasoning fever heat of national prejudice and pressures.