Book Review: ‘The Last Checkmate: A Novel’ By Gabriella Saab

The debut novel from author Saab is an intense read set during the time of WWII and the Holocaust. It’s a two-part story set in 1945 with one woman looking for revenge and a look at how she got to this point. It keeps the reader engaged throughout the story and you won’t want to put it down, as it takes most of the book to find out how The Last Checkmate plays out. The story starts in 1945 and it’s been 3 months since Maria escaped from Auschwitz and she wants revenge against the guard that killed her family on the day they arrived in 1941. She’s been dreaming of this day all these years and returns to the place where it began on that day four years ago. Maria is a chess expert and she always seems to win when she plays. They duel in a last game where Maria plans to take him in for his crimes. We get flashbacks to her life and how she and her family got sent to Auschwitz and how this day came about and what her life was like over the years at the camp.

You can pick up The Last Checkmate in stores on Tuesday, October 21st from William Morrow Paperbacks.