Ronald H. Balson has 8 audiobooks on Listento.it, narrated by 4 narrators, with an average listener rating of 4.4★ across 144 ratings. The most-rated is The Girl from Berlin.
The Girl from Berlin
Summary
In the newest audiobook from internationally best-selling author Ronald H. Balson, Liam and Catherine come to the aid of an old friend and are drawn into a property dispute in Tuscany that unearths long-buried secrets. An old friend calls Catherine Lockhart and Liam Taggart to his famous Italian restaurant to enlist their help. His aunt is being evicted from her home in the Tuscan hills by a powerful corporation claiming they own the deeds, even though she can produce her own set of deeds to her land. Catherine and Liam’s only clue is a bound, handwritten manuscript, entirely in German, and hidden in its pages is a story long-forgotten.... Ada Baumgarten was born in Berlin in 1918, at the end of the war. The daughter of an accomplished first-chair violinist in the prestigious Berlin Philharmonic and herself a violin prodigy, Ada’s life was full of the rich culture of Berlin’s interwar society. She formed a deep attachment to her childhood friend Kurt, but they were torn apart by the growing unrest as her Jewish family came under suspicion. As the tides of history turned, it was her extraordinary talent that would carry her through an unraveling society turned to war and make her a target even as it saved her, allowing her to move to Bologna - though Italy was not the haven her family had hoped, and further heartache awaited. What became of Ada? How is she connected to the conflicting land deeds of a small Italian villa? As they dig through the layers of lies, corruption, and human evil, Catherine and Liam uncover an unfinished story of heart, redemption, and hope - the ending of which is yet to be written.
©2018 Ronald H. Balson (P)2018 Macmillan Audio
Once We Were Brothers
Summary
The gripping tale about two boys, once as close as brothers, who find themselves on opposite sides of the Holocaust. Elliot Rosenzweig, a respected civic leader and philanthropist, is attending a fundraiser when he is suddenly accosted and accused of being a former Nazi SS officer named Otto Piatek, the Butcher of Zamosc. Although the charges are denounced as preposterous, his accuser is convinced he is right and engages attorney Catherine Lockhart to bring Rosenzweig to justice. Solomon persuades attorney Catherine Lockhart to take his case, revealing that the true Piatek was abandoned as a child and raised by Solomon's own family only to betray them during the Nazi occupation. But has Solomon accused the right man? Once We Were Brothers is Ronald H. Balson's compelling tale of two boys and a family who struggle to survive in war-torn Poland, and a young love that struggles to endure the unspeakable cruelty of the Holocaust. Two lives, two worlds, and 60 years converge in an explosive race to redemption that makes for a moving and powerful tale of love, survival, and ultimately the triumph of the human spirit.
©2009 Ronald H. Balson (P)2013 Macmillan Audio
Karolina's Twins
Summary
From Ronald H. Balson, author of the international best seller Once We Were Brothers, comes a saga inspired by true events of a Holocaust survivor's quest to fulfill a promise, return to Poland, and find two sisters lost during World War II.
©2016 Ronald H. Balson (P)2016 Macmillan Audio
Practice Perfect
Summary
Rules for developing talent with disciplined, deliberate, intelligent practice. We live in a competition loving culture. We love the performance, the big win, the ticking seconds of the clock as the game comes down to the wire. We watch games and cheer, sometimes to the point of obsession, but if we really wanted to see greatness - wanted to cheer for it, see it happen, understand what made it happen - we’d spend our time watching, obsessing on, and maybe even cheering the practices instead. This book puts practice on the front burner of all who seek to instill talent and achievement in others as well as in themselves. This is a journey to understand that practice, not games, makes champions. In this book, the authors engage the dream of better, both in fields and endeavors where participants know they should practice and also in those where many do not yet recognize the transformative power of practice. And it’s not just whether you practice. How you practice may be a true competitive advantage. Deliberately engineered and designed practice can revolutionize our most important endeavors. The clear set of rules presented in Practice Perfect will make us better in virtually every performance of life. The “how-to” rules of practice cover such topics as rethinking practice, modeling excellent practice, using feedback, creating a culture of practice, making new skills stick, and hiring for practice. Discover new ways to think about practice. Learn how to design successful practice. Apply practice across a wide range of realms, both personal and professional. The authors include specific activities to jump-start practice. Doug Lemov is the best-selling author of Teach Like a Champion. A hands-on resource to practice, the rules within will help to create positive outliers and world-changing reservoirs of talent.
©2012 Doug Lemov, Erica Woolway, and Katie Yezzi (P)2012 Audible, Inc.
Eli's Promise
Summary
"National Jewish Book Award winter Ron Balson returns triumphantly with Eli’s Promise, a captivating saga of the Holocaust and its aftermath spanning decades and continents. Readers will not be able to put this book down, but will turn the pages compulsively with heart in throat, eager to learn the fate of the Rosen family. Balson’s meticulous historical detail, vivid prose and unforgettable characters further solidify his place among the most esteemed writers of historical fiction today." (Pam Jenoff, New York Times best-selling author of The Lost Girls of Paris) A "fixer" in a Polish town during World War II, his betrayal of a Jewish family, and a search for justice 25 years later - by the winner of the National Jewish Book Award. Eli's Promise is a masterful work of historical fiction spanning three eras - Nazi-occupied Poland, the American Zone of post-war Germany, and Chicago at the height of the Vietnam War. Award-winning author Ronald H. Balson explores the human cost of war, the mixed blessings of survival, and the enduring strength of family bonds. 1939: Eli Rosen lives with his wife Esther and their young son in the Polish town of Lublin, where his family owns a construction company. As a consequence of the Nazi occupation, Eli’s company is Aryanized, appropriated and transferred to Maximilian Poleski - an unprincipled profiteer who peddles favors to Lublin’s subjugated residents. An uneasy alliance is formed; Poleski will keep the Rosen family safe if Eli will manage the business. Will Poleski honor his promise or will their relationship end in betrayal and tragedy? 1946: Eli resides with his son in a displaced persons camp in Allied-occupied Germany hoping for a visa to America. His wife has been missing since the war. One man is sneaking around the camps selling illegal visas; might he know what has happened to her? 1965: Eli rents a room in Albany Park, Chicago. He is on a mission. With patience, cunning, and relentless focus, he navigates unfamiliar streets and dangerous political backrooms, searching for the truth. Powerful and emotional, Ronald H. Balson's Eli's Promise is a rich, rewarding novel of World War II and a husband’s quest for justice. A Macmillan Audio production from St. Martin's Press "Ron Balson’s latest historical novel Eli's Promise is a powerful, superbly crafted tale. With meticulous historical detail, the novel is equal parts heartbreaking and life affirming, with themes that are as relevant today as ever. Eli's Promise is historical fiction at its finest..." (Jane Healey, best-selling author of The Beantown Girls)
©2020 Ronald H. Balson (P)2020 Macmillan Audio
Saving Sophie
Summary
From Ronald H. Balson, author of Once We Were Brothers, Saving Sophie is the powerful story of the lengths a father will go through to protect his daughter and an action-packed thriller that will take you on an unforgettable journey of murder and deception, testing the bonds of family and love. Jack Sommers was just an ordinary accountant from Chicago - that is until his wife passed away, his young daughter was kidnapped, and he became the main suspect in an $88 million embezzlement case. Now Jack is on the run, hoping to avoid the feds long enough to rescue his daughter, Sophie, from her maternal grandfather, a suspected terrorist in Palestine. With the help of investigative team Liam and Catherine, and a new CIA operative, a secret mission is launched to not only rescue Sophie, but also to thwart a major terrorist attack in Hebron. But will being caught in the crossfires of the Palestine-Israeli conflict keep their team from accomplishing the task at hand, or can they overcome the odds and save countless lives, including their own?
©2015 Ronald H. Balson (P)2015 Macmillan Audio
The Trust
Summary
The newest audiobook from Ronald H. Balson, the international best-selling author of Once We Were Brothers, finds private investigator Liam Taggart returning to his childhood home for an uncle's funeral, only to discover his death might not have been natural. When his uncle dies, Liam Taggart reluctantly returns to his childhood home in Northern Ireland for the funeral - a home he left years ago after a bitter confrontation with his family, never to look back. But when he arrives, Liam learns that not only was his uncle shot to death, but he'd anticipated his own murder: In an astonishing last will and testament, Uncle Fergus has left his entire estate to a secret trust, directing that no distributions be made to any person until the killer is found. Did Fergus know but refuse to name his killer? Was this a crime of revenge, a vendetta leftover from Northern Ireland's bloody sectarian war? After all, the Taggarts were deeply involved in the IRA. Or is it possible that the killer is a family member seeking Fergus' estate? Otherwise, why postpone distributions to the heirs? Most menacingly, does the killer now have his sights on other family members? As his investigation draws Liam further and further into the past he has abandoned, he realizes he is forced to reopen doors long ago shut and locked. Now, accepting the appointment as sole trustee of the Fergus Taggart Trust, Liam realizes he has stepped into the center of a firestorm. The Trust is a gripping audiobook from an acknowledged master of secrecy and suspense.
©2017 Ronald H. Balson (P)2017 Macmillan Audio
A French Affair
Summary
Brand new from the best-selling author of Villa of Sun and Secrets. What will be will be. Belinda Marshall’s idyllic teenage life in Brittany, France, fell apart when her parents dramatically separated and her mother took her back to England. Fast forward 35 years when Belinda’s world is once again turned upside down. It’s the week before Christmas and her employer 'surprises’ Belinda by asking for her help to rejuvenate their latest investment, a run-down campsite in Brittany. Memories and anxieties that had lain dormant for years suddenly begin to resurface. As secrets from a lost life threaten to overwhelm her, there is a realisation that maybe she wasn’t told the whole truth all those years ago. Can Belinda reconcile her emotions and find happiness once more in the place she so loved and called home?
©2020 Jennifer Bohnet (P)2020 Boldwood Books