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Bezig met laden... Red Chaser: A noir thriller of the 1950s, the cold war and the Brooklyn Dodgers (editie 2008)door Jon Spoelstra (Auteur)
Informatie over het werkRed Chaser door Jon Spoelstra
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 Meld je aan bij LibraryThing om erachter te komen of je dit boek goed zult vinden. Op dit moment geen Discussie gesprekken over dit boek.  BobbyZim | May 11, 2024 |    ) Fish_Witch | Jul 4, 2023 | Jake, a former OSS agent who tracked down Nazi networks after the war (and made a ton of money in the process) is running a small private detective agency mostly for appearances and to account for his income, when he is approached by an old friend Nick, who brings along Senator McCarthy who wants to hire Jake for a small job. He is to break into the house of the "Ice Maiden", a beautiful commie agent who has a list (McCarthy, like Arlen Specter, was obsessed with those lists that always seemed to remain in his pocket) of reds in government. Jake takes along a couple of friends, succesfully gains entry to the building and a couple of safes where he discovers not a list of names, but pornigraphic photographs of prominent men in in flagrante delicto (such a delicious phrase, that) with the Ice Queen and one of those is "Tail-Gunner Joe" in positions befitting his nickname. He also discovers drawings that appear to be of a bomb and lots of writing in Korean. Realizing he is getting into the middle of an extortion racket, he turns photographs of everything over to Nick and opts out - he hopes. Then he becomes the target. I must say that for some odd reason, baseball has been a theme in several recent books. Baseball lore provides an important backdrop to this story (even includes a picture of Ebbetts field, although why is totally beyond my comprehenson) and Jesse Stone and Sunny Randall mysteries by Robert Parker also have baseball lore permeating the story. (  ) ecw0647 | Sep 30, 2013 | For those looking for a book that gets straight to the point, Mr. Spoelstra delivers the first few chapters in a way that pulls the reader in quickly. The first line of the book, "I went to war poor," hints at a deep history beyond the scope of the novel itself, however there is a rather slow build up before I found the main character to be deemed interesting. I must note that I have very little interest in history, war, or baseball, three strong subject matters of the novel, so I found myself skimming over the more detailed accounts of the Vietnam war and the history of the Dodgers. The good news is that Red Chaser is not limited by one's disinterest in this topics. By the middle of the novel the character's level of complexity really drove the interest of the story for me. Jake, the main character, begins the story as a disappointingly simple guy, but as the story progresses he becomes an intriguing factor in the plot as this self diagnosed psychotic will shock you with the level of depravity he allows himself to operate at. Overall, I felt that Red Chaser starts out slow, but as the level of character detail proliferates halfway through the novel, the book really starts to capture your imagination. The book is fun and entertaining, but the true creative writing really shines as the complex plot lines draw together in the end. It's an easy read that will charm anyone, especially if you are a fan of baseball or the Vietnam war. ( ) chriSchaeffer | Apr 8, 2013 | For those looking for a book that gets straight to the point, Mr. Spoelstra delivers the first few chapters in a way that pulls the reader in quickly. The first line of the book, "I went to war poor," hints at a deep history beyond the scope of the novel itself, however there is a rather slow build up before I found the main character to be deemed interesting. I must note that I have very little interest in history, war, or baseball, three strong subject matters of the novel, so I found myself skimming over the more detailed accounts of the Vietnam war and the history of the Dodgers. The good news is that Red Chaser is not limited by one's disinterest in this topics. By the middle of the novel the character's level of complexity really drove the interest of the story for me. Jake, the main character, begins the story as a disappointingly simple guy, but as the story progresses he becomes an intriguing factor in the plot as this self diagnosed psychotic will shock you with the level of depravity he allows himself to operate at. Overall, I felt that Red Chaser starts out slow, but as the level of character detail proliferates halfway through the novel, the book really starts to capture your imagination. The book is fun and entertaining, but the true creative writing really shines as the complex plot lines draw together in the end. It's an easy read that will charm anyone, especially if you are a fan of baseball or the Vietnam war. ( ) chriSchaeffer | Mar 29, 2013 | geen besprekingen | voeg een bespreking toe
Red Chaser tosses you right into the 1950s. You'll meet the kinkiest and most beautiful spy this side of the Iron Curtain. You'll meet Joe McCarthy. Best of all, you'll live the life of Jake McHenry. Jake seems to have a near-perfect life. After all, he spent five years in Germany after World War II and came back laden with ill-gotten Nazi riches. Being young and rich ain't bad. Back home in Brooklyn, Jake became a private detective for the simple reason that he needed a pretend job to hide the source of his riches. Mostly, however, he went to Brooklyn Dodgers games at Ebbets Field and drank beer. Between games, Jake did occasionally work at being a detective. His specialty was looking for candid photo-ops of husbands trying to get a little on the side. Sort of seedy, but not a bad diversion. Then Joe McCarthy entered the picture. A childhood buddy introduced Jake to Tailgunner Joe. They wanted Jake to steal a secret list of celebrity communists from the Ice Queen, a rich high-society leftist named Arabella Van Dyk. The Ice Queen also happened to be the most beautiful--and most depraved--woman that Jake had ever seen. The break-in of the Ice Queen's brownstone in Manhattan was easy, but it unleashed a flurry of Russians, North Koreans, J. Edgar Hoover and mobsters in a wild chase for the list. The backdrop to all this is the greatest pennant race in the history of Major League Baseball. The New York Giants chased the Brooklyn Dodgers all summer long for the National League pennant. That's the year that Bobby Thompson hit the "shot heard 'round the world." The pennant--and Jake's life--comes down to the last inning and the last pitch at the Polo Grounds in New York City on Wednesday, October 3, 1951. Red Chaser is a fresh spin on the historical mystery novel. It's fun, it's 1950s noir, it's Brooklyn, it keeps you guessing and when you finish the last page you say, "Wow, that was fun." [close] Geen bibliotheekbeschrijvingen gevonden. |
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In 1951, as the Brooklyn Dodgers race the New York Giants for the National League Pennant and their third try in five years to defeat their arch-nemeses the New York Yankees, Ebbets Field regular and private detective Jake McHenry receives a special case: His old neighborhood buddy Nick Salzano now works in the office of Sen. Joe McCarthy. Nick has told the Senator of Jake's experience in military intelligence after World War II, finding German Nazi spies to learn what they know about Soviet Communist spies, earning Jake the nickname "Red Chaser." Sen. McCarthy hires Jake to steal a list of celebrities who are supposed communists from redheaded seductress Arabella Van Dyck, aka the Ice Queen. This seemingly simple case - albeit one for a Senator - draws Jake and his assistant, a beautiful young Japanese woman named Hiromi Kitahara, into a web of politicians and spies, federal agents and mobsters, all against the backdrop of a baseball season for the history books.
I gave this book five stars not because Jon Spoelstra is the next Raymond Chandler. Too often, his historical notes - which are admittedly particularly interesting for those interested in Washington politics during the early Cold War, a post-war history of Brooklyn, or fans of baseball just before the Dodgers and Giants moved to California - get in the way of his electrifying, knuckle-whitening neo-pulp prose and story, which will be particularly enjoyed by fans of (appropriately enough) Brooklynite Mickey Spillane. I rated the novel so highly because despite its flaws, this is one of the best neo-pulps I've ever read, and I'd love to read more from Jon Spoelstra, and I highly recommend him to my fellow Spillane fans. (