The Boy Who Saw: A Solomon Creed Novel

Toyne’s meticulously researched if flawed sequel to 2015’s The Searcher takes amnesiac mystery man Solomon Creed to southern France, in search of a tailor, Josef Engel, who possesses the only clue to his past: an impeccably constructed white jacket with his name stitched on the label. Creed arrives to find Josef—who was one of the few survivors of a notorious Nazi concentration camp—brutally murdered, with a Star of David carved in his chest. Vowing to protect Josef’s daughter and grandson from harm, Creed sets out to solve the mystery of who’s killing off the last remaining survivors of the death camp—and why. Excerpts from a survivor’s journal accentuate the horrors of the past. But while the themes explored are profoundly moving and timely given the rise of right-wing nationalism throughout the world, the backstory surrounding Creed as some kind of messianic figure comes across as convoluted and contrived. Agent: Alice Saunders, LAW Agency. (July)