Action & Spy

Rookie computer techie Ephraim Freedwald is your ordinary guy living an ordinary life—restlessly dreaming of a more exciting reality, beyond working for his smug, advice-churning cousin and dealing with his kids’ meltdowns. But when the happily married father of four is forced by ruthless criminals to participate in a devious terrorist plot, his life, the safety of his family, and the city of London all hang in a precarious balance.

Whether being held captive by Islamic extremists, shooting the breeze with Royal Family lookalikes, or standing up to British intelligence agents, Ephraim discovers a side of himself he never knew he possessed. In best-selling author Ruthie Pearlman’s latest thriller, readers will encounter an ordinary Wednesday that turns out to be frighteningly extraordinary.

This collection of books featuring Jewish main characters is decidedly non-comprehensive. As we come across books that are described as having Jewish main characters, we add them to this database. The creators of the Jewish Genre Reading Challenge have not read all (or even most) of the books in this database. We have gathered information from many sources and not all may be accurate. Inclusion of a book in our database does not imply endorsement or approval. There is always the possibility that antisemitism may be present in a book, either written into a character's experience or through malicious or ignorant caricature or stereotypical portrayal of Jewish characters and culture. Please take care of yourselves as you read.

PLEASE let us know if you encounter a book in this database that does not have a Jewish main character, if you have corrections or additions for a book's genre categories, or if you have any other concerns about the inclusion of a particular book in this database.