The Ramp

Sharp-elbowed, ladder-climbing, and a ferocious political infighter, Deputy Secretary of State Matthew Levinson has finally been offered his dream job after years of a political career hustling inside the DC Beltway. The president, desperately seeking a Nobel Peace Prize as his “swan song” during his last term, believes ascending Levinson to Secretary of State—along with his connections in the diplomatic and intelligence community—will ensure that goal.

However, their confidence in the smooth sailing of the confirmation process is shattered when a shocking exposé finds that Levinson’s grandfather, a survivor of Auschwitz, was in actuality a Kapo, the title for prisoner guards, and so bestial in nature that he was known as “The Bear.” Accusing Levinson of covering up his past to save his career, the article alleges that foreign powers have been blackmailing him for years to keep the truth buried. Given one week to prove that the accusations are false and clear his name, Levinson journeys to find evidence in his favor, taking him through the halls of power in Washington, as well as to Israel, the Palestinian Authority, and Poland, where he also discovers one of Israel’s longtime and tightly held secrets.

With his career on the verge of collapse, and running against the clock, Levinson is forced to unravel a past where the boundaries of morality fray and the dividing lines between humanity and inhumanity are constantly negotiated. The twists and turns he encounters lead him not only to learn of his grandfather’s history but, in addition, a personal reckoning of his own life.