This author participates in the Readers' Favorite Free Book Program, which is open to all readers and is completely free. The author will provide you with a free copy of their book in exchange for an honest review. You and the author will discuss what sites you will post your review to and what kind of copy of the book you would like to receive (eBook, PDF, Word, paperback, etc.). To begin, click the purple email icon to send this author a private email.
This author participates in the Readers' Favorite Book Review Exchange Program, which is open to all authors and is completely free. Simply put, you agree to provide an honest review an author's book in exchange for the author doing the same for you. What sites your reviews are posted on (B&N, Amazon, etc.) and whether you send digital (eBook, PDF, Word, etc.) or hard copies of your books to each other for review is up to you. To begin, click the purple email icon to send this author a private email, and be sure to describe your book or include a link to your Readers' Favorite review page or Amazon page.
This author participates in the Readers' Favorite Book Donation Program, which was created to help nonprofit and charitable organizations (schools, libraries, convalescent homes, soldier donation programs, etc.) by providing them with free books and to help authors garner more exposure for their work. This author is willing to donate free copies of their book in exchange for reviews (if circumstances allow) and the knowledge that their book is being read and enjoyed. To begin, click the purple email icon to send this author a private email. Be sure to tell the author who you are, what organization you are with, how many books you need, how they will be used, and the number of reviews, if any, you would be able to provide.
Reviewed by Jamie Michele for Readers' Favorite
Wayne Clark’s Cold War Con follows Humph Barstal, a former NYPD officer turned private investigator in 1953 New York, as reports of Soviet espionage draw him toward New World Publishing, a company believed to be financed by Moscow. Humph places his stepdaughter Eve inside the firm as a copy editor, where her access gives him a way to watch its operations from within. When evidence suggests the publisher may be carrying coded Soviet communications, Humph brings Chief of Detectives Henry Higgins into the investigation. Their inquiries soon point toward wealthy Staten Island investor Robert Whitaker, whose public reputation sits uneasily beside his interest in the company. As Senator Joseph McCarthy fuels national fear over communist infiltration, Humph must determine what Whitaker is hiding as he tries to keep Eve out of a case that is becoming dangerous.
Wayne Clark’s Cold War Con is outstanding historical detective fiction. The author keeps his 1950s world fully loaded with terrific period detail, like Smalls Paradise, where Dizzy Gillespie takes the stage in an integrated Harlem club Humph remembers from his patrol days. Duffy, Humph’s NYPD friend, is my favorite, and the author gives him irreverent warmth, especially when he jokes about heaven’s reception. I love Gerald Franklin, the World-Telegram managing editor, who has no problem digging through old files when Humph needs a buried history. It takes investigators like these to meet the Soviet network behind the case. As the investigation reaches beyond Manhattan, the author turns settings into assets, from Montreal’s rue St. Hubert after midnight to a clipping morgue packed with decades of reporting. Well written and wholly immersive, readers who enjoy historical private-eye mysteries will adore this.
