As it happens, Hugh Rosen, author of Silent Battlefields, A Novel, has written a wide-ranging novel that explores this ancient quotation from the New Testament, though it seems a contradiction. This book is set in our modern day and the protagonists are progeny of Germans and Jews who still suffer from the holocaust.

Rosen probably didn't set out to examine the concept from this quote; it turns out he did, though, and for the benefit of all who read it, I might add. These readers are the lucky ones, the ones who will be exposed again -may in fact re-learn- the concept that as humans, we are all one.

What better time to come to a novel like this? Like Steven Spielberg with Munich and George Clooney with Good Night and Good Luck, Rosen has chosen to tackle a gigantic theme with a specific and heartfelt story. Would that his book finds the same kind of audience.

In this novel, there are no angels, no devils. Only hard-core people made of blood, bones, and heart. Rosen updates the ancient themes of tolerance, acceptance, and blame to a modern-day mystery with elements of horror that genre fans might find more edifying than their usual fare. By doing so, he makes palatable subjects that some might avoid. Not only but must, but absolutely-must reading.

Battlefields is a first novel from a newly minted MFA graduate. With small improvements in craft, Hugh Rosen will be one of our greats and, it is fervently hoped, one of our nation's most read. Hear, hear Rosen! Here's to a bestselling future!