The Commandant of Lubizec: A Novel of The Holocaust and Operation Reinhard
"A heart-rending novel about a Nazi death camp that didn't exist—but could have. Hicks. . . tells the story of the fictional Lubizec as if it were a historical account, complete with footnotes and quotes from future fictional documentaries, to devastating effect. . . . Hicks' prose is clear and unflinching, and while, as a result, there are many difficult-to-read scenes, this is as it should be. . . .Thought-provoking and gut-wrenchingly powerful."-- Kirkus Reviews"The fictional presentation here measures up to any factual account of the Holocaust this reviewer has ever read. Highly recommended, especially for general readers who wish to know more about this unspeakable chapter of human history. Even specialists will be taken in by its human-interest dimension." -- Library Journal"This is a vividly detailed, terrifying, convincing, and completely spellbinding story rooted in those murderous events we now call the Holocaust.  It is also the story of a loving, good-humored family man who each morning goes off to oversee mass homicide -- a dramatic example of what Hannah Arendt once referred to as 'the banality of evil.'  Patrick Hicks has accomplished a very difficult literary task.  He has a given a believable and fresh and original face to barbarism.  What a fine book this is."-- Tim O'Brien, author ofThe Things They Carried"Out of the cooling ashes of Holocaust history, Patrick Hicks manages to break our hearts with a story we thought we already knew.The Commandant of Lubizecis profound, provocative, and profane in all the best ways. While readingThe Commandant of Lubizec, one question kept running through my mind: 'Was it really this bad?' Through his all-too-real fiction, Patrick Hicks convinces me that, sadly, the answer is 'Yes.' The Commandant of Lubizec is important and unforgettable."-- David Abrams, author ofFobbit, a novel about the Iraq War"In a powerful blend of research and imagination, Patrick Hicks ushers us through the history of a prototypical death camp during the Holocaust. This novel mourns the millions who were silenced, while reminding us how ordinary and matter-of-fact the face of evil can be.The Commandant of Lubizecis a painfully necessary book." --Clint McCown, author ofWar MemorialsandHaints;winner of the American Fiction Prize"InThe Commandant of Lubizec, Patrick Hicks imagines the unimaginable and thus gives us a glimpse into the terrible complexity of the human heart. This is a fascinating and important book." -- Robert Olen Butler, Pulitzer Prize winner, author ofGood Scent from a Strange Mountain,They Whisper, andA Small Hotel"The Commandant of Lubizecmelds the historian’s factual precision with a storyteller’s compassion and love for humanity. This is fiction at its highest register -- creating inroads into the past so that we might hear those murdered in the extermination camps of the Holocaust, so that we might better recognize the world we have inherited. Profound and trenchant,The Commandant of Lubizecis a brave and unflinching book. It is a stunning literary debut. I urge you to read it before it’s made into a film."  --Brian Turner, author ofHere, BulletandPhantom Noise"In The Commandant of Lubizec, Patrick Hicks may have invented a brand new genre, the fictional documentary. This novel seems so convincingly based in evidence that any reader unsure of the names of the Nazi death camps is likely to read it as non-fiction—which is part of Hicks’ deep intent. He reveals to us how quickly we lose track of history and how troubling that loss is. In writing a novel about those who survived a fictional death camp, he mysteriously makes us feel and understand the millions of deaths in the real ones. Through his playful art, he makes us feel and understand the horror of the Holocaust in ways most non-fiction simply cannot. It’s a remarkable and elegant artistic achievement. This is a novel I deeply admire." --Kent Meyers, author ofThe Work of WolvesandTwisted Tree"[Hicks] is an extremely gifted crafter of words, one who is more than capable of making us understand the importance of a single life of a man staring at an incomprehensible, unjust death in the face. . . If such events make us want to turn away, it is the power of Hicks' novel to rally us to stand with those we can only imagine, opening our eyes to a wider universe of those shared, small moments we ignore at our own peril." --The Briar Cliff Review