Reviewed By: Harriet Klausner
The Crook Factory
Amazon US PB Amazon US HC Amazon Canada PB Amazon Canada HC
Dan Simmons
Class/Genre: Mystery Historical Espionage Thriller Biography
Avon, Feb 1999, $24.00, 432 pp.
In the summer of '42, WW II is hot with spies seemingly everywhere at least according to Hoover. Of particular concern to the FBI chief is Ernest "Papa" Hemingway. To insure that the writer stays in line, Hoover sends Agent Joe Lucas to spy on the great author.
With the aid and approval of the American ambassador to Cuba, Hemingway leads an anti-submarine squad of misfits (at least in terms of soldiers) and old buddies from the Spanish Civil War. Lucas figures that all he has to do is relax amidst a bunch of drunken fishermen. However, to his amazement and chagrin, the amateur espionage group soon becomes embroiled in the real thing. Lucas starts to wonder if a conspiracy leading back to his own government and perhaps his agency is behind the abruptly dangerous and deadly activities of the CROOK FACTORY.
Dan Simmons is one of the leading lights of the sub-genre of fictional biographical thrillers. His latest, THE CROOK FACTORY, is a brilliant novel that takes real life happenings in the life of Hemingway and brings them to an incredible fictional accounting. Though no ISLANDS IN THE STREAM, this story makes the macho Hemingway seem so alive that the author catches the literary legend's essence. This novel is the essence of a well-designed espionage thriller, packed with real persona, a fact has been recently exposed as being real by the media. Mr. Simmons is a pioneer, establishing a new field of literature.
Harriet Klausner
Reprinted with permission. Do Not repost without permission from the author, Harriet Klausner
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