Rating: 
Summary: Wonderful
Review: On the surface the 6th Lamentation may seem like another Nazi resistance story, only with a twist. However this book deservers much praise. There are two different stories that evetnaully meet up, one being of Lucy and her grandmother Agnes, the other being that of a Monk, Anselm. Each is trying to uncover the past,and eventually they will meet one another.Without going too many details... Lucy's grandmother who has been silent for most of her life finally speaks (writes) about her past, and her involvement with a group known as the Round Table, a ring in France that helped Jews escape. She (Agnes) also writes about how she saw the man that broke this ring on TV. A Nazi war criminal. Eventually Lucy becomes involved into uncovering the details of how the ring was discovered. That same Nazi war criminal claims sanctuary at Larkwood, where Father Anselm resides. He conducts his own investigation into the matter, and that leads him to Rome, France and many other places. The story is a wonderful mystery, and slowly both stories come together to reveal what exactly happened and who was involved. A very interesting twist for a WWII book, especially one that is related to a resistance group. Enjoyable and thrilling to the end.
Rating: 
Summary: Reward Your Patience
Review: Part historical fiction, part detective story, part courtroom drama, this Dickensian tale about the lives connected to a Nazi war criminal will reward your patience. The introductory chapters move slowly at first, but nothing is as it first appears. The intrigue builds to an amazing conclusion. This is a great story about relationships and the human condition. As bonuses, the story never becomes formulaic nor descends into vulgarity. I highly recommend it.
Rating:
Summary: Story of Historic Mystery and Suspense
Review: Since we were leaving for summer vacation to Connecticut I began reading this Mystery on the Plane to Hartford. After a slow and tedious beginning, I started relaxing from walking, jogging and napping on the beach. I used this amazingly written complexity of "stream of consciousnes" story to sandwich in-between lighter reading. It became my intensely profound plot to fill into those empty places for concentration. I already began "The Wisdom of Big Bird" & James Patterson's "Sam's Letters to Jennifer. Soon I really became hooked on this gripping mixture of Father Anselm's attempt to unravel the story of Lucy's Grandmother, Agnes with her shadowed memories of the Nazi German personalities from her horrows of children being protected but then taken away from their families. This writer has such an uncanny gift of mixing a connected history with his imagination...even ornamenting the dreams and delusions of an Agnes from within her lengthy comma. After our first few days, this historic, mystery of suspence occupied my fullest attention. Then came my easier goal of which books to write short first reviews after getting home.
Do not miss getting into this awesome, gripping, intensely written story of love, compassion, and sacrificially realized Hopefulness! Chaplain Fred W. Hood
Rating:
Summary: Outstanding Read
Review: The many reviews posted here tell the plot of the story, and tell it well. However, what is most remarkable about this first novel is the pacing, the depth of the characters, and the passion in the writing. The mystery is not solved until the last page and just when you think you have figuered it out, there is a surprise to show you that you do not have it figured out. The language is exquisite; I read many passages over again because I liked the wording. This book deserves the special handling that booksellers gave Cold Mountain and The Lovely Bones. It deserves to be a best seller. Read it and enjoy and pass the word along.
Rating:
Summary: Close, but no cigar...
Review: The suggestion by a reviewer appearing on the back cover that Mr. Brodrick might follow in the footsteps of his renowned countryman David Cornwall, known to lovers of spy fiction as John le Carre, prompted me to read this book. Immediately after finishing The 6th Lamentation, I began reading Absolute Friends, the latest book by Mr. le Carre. As an act of kindness I won't compare the efforts of these two authors. I have great patience when reading but I have to admit feeling put off by the disjointed structure of this book. Movements of the main character, Father Anselm, at many points made no sense whatsoever. What appeared to be compelling leads for him to pursue were mysteriously set aside as we find the Father, once again, meandering through the grounds of his monastery conversing with various and sundry characters. The convolutions of the structure and the torpid pace of the inquiry by Father Anselm made it difficult for me to stay engaged with the story, which, in my opinion, is unnecessarily complex. It is also told in such a fragmentary way that it was difficult to hold the pieces together sufficiently to engage one's curiosity. I felt as though plot devices were set up intentionally to jerk me around, whether the fact of a primary character who is unable to talk or a significant finder of fact who stumbles at his table in a cafe and dies from the fall, or the abundance of people telling lies for reasons that escape me. As a fan of historical fiction with a strong element of intrigue I really wanted to love this book but simply couldn't. Reading the autobiographical notes on the author I can appreciate how the various threads of this book came into being. His experience as a monk, attorney and son of a woman with a rare disease all managed to find expression in this piece of fiction. Perhaps next time, having exhausted the store of experiences of his lifetime up to this point, he will be able to sharpen his focus and bring us a story of greater subtlety that will engage and entertain us. And now back to Absolute Friends... (As a footnote I'll observe that people tend to rate most highly those reviews that are laudatory. I'm not certain whether this phenomenon is the product of folks who love the book in question and are offended that someone would think otherwise, or a belief that if you can't say something nice you should say nothing at all. I would like to believe that a well thought through assessment of a product, whether positive or less than positive, is of value to a prospective buyer of that product. But that's just one man's opinion...)
Rating:
Summary: A Dazzling Debut for William Brodrick
Review: There are a chosen few in this world blessed with the talent to craft a good story. William Brodrick has not only the talent but also a graceful way with a pen. While this is his first book, he writes with the polish of a veteran author and brings his readers a story filled with tragedy, love, redemption and forgiveness. His background as an Augustinian friar lends his prose a certain beauty, and his current persona as a lawyer infuses his tale with high intrigue. He spends the first half of the book slowly building the framework of an intricate mystery, then deliciously unravels it piece by piece in the second half. His pace is measured --- so much so that the urge to look ahead was almost irresistible. But that would spoil the surprises. Agnes Aubret survived the German occupation of Paris in 1942. She survived the death camp and its aftermath. Now she is dying --- unfairly, she believes --- of a disease that will take her quickly from her family. She remembers one man from her horrific past who she has waited a lifetime to see account for his crimes. As her time nears an end, she notices him on the television news. To her horror, she realizes he has sought sanctuary at nearby Lakewood Priory. She is stunned and wants answers. But she has precious little time. Lakewood's Father Anselm, barrister turned monk, is asked to handle the delicate situation for the church. The church, it is feared, will be set in a bad light if the Nazi now living within the monastery walls is guilty of the allegations. The monk tracks down leads all over England, and some in France, trying to sort out the truth. It is elusive, however, and often appearances are deceiving. In fact, most of the characters are not what --- or who --- they initially seemed to be. While Father Anselm works to uncover the truth, Agnes's granddaughter Lucy is doing a little investigating of her own. Agnes has recounted her awful history, telling Lucy about The Round Table, a group formed to smuggle Jewish children to safety in Switzerland, and about its ultimate demise. Someone within the small organization betrayed them. Agnes always thought she knew who it was. But maybe she was wrong. Lucy's love for her grandmother thrusts her into a fervid hunt to find out what really happened, so Agnes can die in the peace that has eluded her for so long. Nearly overflowing with characters, THE 6TH LAMENTATION keeps its readers rapt with personalities in addition to action. Aside from Father Anselm, the monks are all distinct individuals, rich with quirky behaviors and odd traits. The cast from Agnes's time in Paris comes alive with their own pasts and motives. The face of evil fades with the years, blurring the hatred that once resided there. Fifty years later, an old man standing before his accusers simply looks frail, not like a murderous barbarian. But who is he inside? Brodrick handles an ugly subject with just the right mix of disgust and gentleness. He blends the utter repulsiveness of that hideous time in history with the compassion due the victims and their families. The wronged are well treated by this author. The guilty are given little sympathy. While Brodrick claims this is a novel, it reads like nonfiction --- fast and true. This is a dazzling debut. --- Reviewed by Kate Ayers
Rating:
Summary: Absolutely a Must Read ...
Review: This book is compelling and a must read. I couldn't put it down and it was the first thing I picked up when I got home each night until it was finished. Brodrick's writing is highly literate and absorbing, yet easy to follow. The reader becomes immersed in the lives of the characters and finds it easy to empathize with their emotions during the Paris occupation and the deportation of the Jews. I would recommend this to anyone who is looking for an intellegent read that is also highly entertaining and will leave you with a great deal to ponder upon.
Rating:
Summary: Truely moving
Review: This is one of the best books I have read. The authors ability to evoke emotions through amazing imagery was wonderful.I found myself thinking about this novel and the questions it raised long after I put it down. The twists were beautifully executed(mostly due to the fully formed characters) always raising the thought in my mind about how peoples actions can be misinterpreted when we don't have all the facts. In my opinion this novel is not really in the spy genre but rather a look at human beings and their action in crisis and how preconceived ideas can cause misunderstandings of tragic proportions -absolutely wonderful novel
Rating:
Summary: A harrowing first novel
Review: Two interrelated tales come together in a harrowing first novel by William Broderick. In Suffolk, England, a man, Eduard Schwermann, asks for sanctuary in a church as he is being sought as a war criminal. Father Anselm is soon asked to look into the matter by the upper echelon of the Catholic church in Rome. He must find a man who worked with Schwermann as a collaborator in France during the occupation of W.W.II. In the meantime, Agnes Aubert is dying of a motor neuron disease and writes her memoirs desperately trying to tell her horrible tale of betrayal and death during the war. It just so happens that Schwermann was the German officer responsible for rounding up Agnes' group whose function was to set up a means of freedom for Jewish children. The two tales eventually converge.
Careful characterizations and a humane treatment of a difficult subject make this novel a cut above the ordinary. However, the plot went on a bit too long while the conclusion was so complex that it becomes very difficult to follow.
Rating:
Summary: a mesmerizing and engrossing read
Review: Usually I start my reviews by giving a brief synopsis of the novel's plot. I'm going to leave off doing so in this case as the plot to "The Sixth Lamentation" can be summed up by noting that it's about what happened in France during WWII, secrets and the quest for truth and justice. What I will do in this brief review is to urge everyone to READ this book! You won't regret it (borrow it from the library if you're leery about spending $24.95 plus tax), because "The Sixth Lamentation is a truly mesmerizing and engrossing read -- it was really hard for me to stop reading and put the book down. As a result, another morning in which I literally had to force myself to wake up and drag myself to work because I had stayed up reading till the early morning hours. Word of warning though: William Broderick's prose style can be a little dense at times. On the other hand, it's a really clever and thoughtful book, masterfully told and dealing with ideas and concepts such as the nature of true heroism and sacrifice, and the difference between myth and actuality. The pacing was brisk and taut so that you really felt the tension and suspense mount as each new revelation opened up some new facet to the "truth" of how Schwermann managed to escape apprehension and prosecution in 1944. And the manner in which the authour brings all his characters to life -- from the terminally ill Agnes Embleton, who has hidden the truth of her life prior to 1944 from her family, to Father Anselm who thinks he's up on every trick in the book, but who's belatedly realizing that he just may not be as clever as he thought he was, to the mysterious Salomon Lachaise who has been following the events that have unfolded at Larkwood Priory with deep interest -- is also noteworthy. How Broderick has woven in each character's different story/history into the events that are presently unfolding in the book, how this impacts on the story at hand (Anselm's unraveling of the truth and the criminal trial of Schwermann), and how everything comes together in a neat and satisfying manner in the final few chapters, is just breathtaking (can you say that about a book, I wonder?). "The Sixth Lamentation" is a remarkable debut novel. I know that there has been a lot of positive reviews from many newsletters and websites, and it's nice to be able to wholeheartedly agree that "The Sixth Lamentation" is definitely a book worth taking note off and recommending as an excellent read. So, if you like books that make you pause and think, books about secrets and truth and if you don't mind that the only 'action' involves the travels of one monk from city to city in search of an elusive truth, you're bound to be satisfied with "The Sixth Lamentation."
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