Next Stop

By: Benjamin Resnick

Narrated by: Gilli Messer

* FINALIST FOR THE SAMI ROHR PRIZE *

A gripping and hauntingly prescient novel that explores the precariousness of Jewish American life after a black hole consumes Israel, setting off a chain of global anomalies plunging the world into a time of peril and miracles.

When a black hole suddenly consumes Israel and as mysterious anomalies spread across the globe, suddenly the world teeters on the brink of chaos. As antisemitic paranoia and violence escalate, Jewish citizens Ethan and Ella find themselves navigating a landscape fraught with danger and uncertainty.

Ella, a dedicated photojournalist, captures the shifting dynamics of their nameless American city, documenting the resilience and struggles of its Jewish residents. Some are drawn to the anomalies, disappearing into an abandoned subway system that seems to connect the world, while others form militias in the south. Yet, Ethan, Ella, and her young son Michael choose to remain, seeking solace in small joys amidst the hostility.

But then thousands of commercial planes vanish from the sky. Air travel stops. Borders close. Refugees pour into the capital. Eventually all Jews in the city are forced to relocate to the Pale, an area sandwiched between a park and a river. There, under the watchful eye of border guards, drones, and robotic dogs, they form a fragile new society.

Suspenseful, thought-provoking, and brilliantly conceived, Next Stop is a masterful blend of speculative fiction and family drama. Invoking biblical and historical themes in a world eerily similar to our own, it is a profound exploration of memory, identity, and survival.

Wow!

This book expresses the pain and bewilderment that all of us have felt over the last two years. while there are elements of fantasy at various points it hits way too close to home.

Worth a read

Interesting book. The genre is one I like and since I'm Jewish...

I was never bored (this is high praise from me). I found the setting and the premise interesting, but it was confusing (not something I usually say) and vague. No answers to be found, which is ok because other aspects of the book weren't entirely satisfying, I wanted at least ONE answer.

Ella and Ethan were...not likeable or unlikeable. I usually felt pretty neutral about them while occasionally tipping toward like or dislike. Again, not something that I usually feel when reading--I generally like or dislike characters. Michael, Ella's son...well, I guess he was the most likeable MC. I mention this because I generally want at least one MC to be likeable because I want to root for them. If I don't care one way or the other, something else needs to carry the story, and something else did (the plot, description, anti-Semitism thorough a dystopian lens, etc.) so I kept reading.

Excellent first novel

Rabbi Resnick has a great imagination and his book very frighteningly is timed with increased antisemitism in our society. Excellent character development- you end up caring about each of the main characters. Very thought provoking - makes you think of parallels both in history and in the Tanakh. Not just for Jews. Leaves you wanting to know more.

Nonsensical premise results in a laughably overwrought novel

In an attempt to incorporate Jewish themes this quite silly and poorly written novel never fails to disappoint. The exaggerated storytelling incorporates stereotypical elements of Jewish culture and practice and results in an almost nonsensical and juvenile mischaracterization of that very culture. Layered onto a partially developed dystopian sci-fi plot device which we never fully understand, the Jewish themes become silly and strangely and ineffectively apologetic in their efforts to add texture to the story. In fact they do the opposite: so poorly presented and developed they become cumbersome and laughable in their shallow simplicity. I tried to give it a full listen but when I reached the section where the “messiah” appears, I gave up. Is there a Jewish motif this author fails to exploit into ridiculousness?