Red Chaser [Kindle Edition]

Jon Spoelstra (Author)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description

If you enjoy James Ellroy or the Nate Heller books by Max Allan Collins, you'll love this romp into this 1950s history of spies, Commies and the Brooklyn Dodgers.

Jake McHenry spent five years in Germany after Hitler's War and came back laden with ill-gotten Nazi riches.

Back home in Brooklyn, he became a private detective because he needed a pretend job to hide the source of his riches. Mostly, however, he went to most Brooklyn Dodgers games at Ebbets Field and drank beer.

In 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.

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 commie named Arabella Van Dyk. The Ice Queen also happened to be the most beautiful woman that Jake had ever seen.

The break-in of the Ice Queen’s brownstone in Manhattan was easy, but it unleashed Russians, North Koreans, J. Edgar Hoover, mobsters and one stunningly beautiful spy in a wild chase for the list.

In the background is the greatest pennant race in the history of Major League Baseball. In 1951, the New York Giants chased the Brooklyn Dodgers 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—came 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 crime/intrigue 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."

Product Details

• Format: Kindle Edition
• File Size: 897 KB
• Publisher: Jon Spoelstra; 1 edition (December 15, 2008)
• Sold by: Amazon Digital Services
• Language: English
• ASIN: B001NXBUI4
• Text-to-Speech: Enabled
• Lending: Enabled
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (76 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #62,771 Paid in Kindle Store (See Top 100 Paid in Kindle Store)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Good plot line, but did nobody proofread this?, July 19, 2010

By 

Lynx - See all my reviews

This review is from: Red Chaser (Kindle Edition)

Red Chaser, a 1950's noir follows Jake McHenry, chaser turned PI through blackmail, commies, sex, murder and espionage - all while keeping track of the Dodgers progress as they try to make their way to the World Series.

I felt this book had an interesting story line which suffered due to bad dialogue. There were times when sexy and noir felt more like goofy and uncomfortable. For instance the meeting with the Ice Queen. The word play was downright laughable. Unfortunately I don't think that was the authors intention. What should have been a slick femme fatale scene came off as ridiculous and awkward. That along with typos, grammatical errors, missing words and repetitions made it difficult to stay in the mood the author is trying to create.

That being said, I do think all these things could easily be fixed with the help of a professional editor. I felt as though I were reading a manuscript that had a lot of potential. I was shocked to read the author thank an editor at the end of the novel. The fact that this did have an editor and it still came out with such flaws is deplorable. If it were me I wouldn't be thanking him, I'd be firing him!

The best written part of the book comes from the baseball sections. The authors passion for the sport as well as it's history shines through and makes it exciting, never awkward to read. It also shows the authors capabilities as a writer. I just wish the noir scenes were written with such enthusiasm.

I gave this 3 stars for the interesting plot line and fantastic baseball history lesson. Give this to a real editor, spruce up the dialogue and I'd love to give it another read.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent, April 3, 2010

By 

Wendy "baseball fan" (Boston) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Red Chaser (Kindle Edition)

WOW, actually that was fun. Imagine espionage, intrigue, historical fiction and the Brooklyn Dodgers in one book. Hat's off to Jon for writing a truly smart and engaging book. I love the protagonist Jake, so I kept reading until the finish line. i was not disappointed. If you are a history buff, love baseball, and love suspense thrillers this book will make you as excited as it made me. Read this book it's excellent.

(edit)

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Baseball, Beer, Babes, and Brilliance, March 9, 2010

By 

Eva "eee" (Pennsylvania, USA) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Red Chaser (Kindle Edition)

Red Chaser is a novel about a private detective. But it's really a novel about spies. But it's really a novel about sex and blackmail. But it's really a novel about baseball.

I don't know Brooklyn, particularly in the Fifties. I met some pieces and parts of it through this book. The narrator is the kind of guy you might want to have in your corner when you're in a jam, but is not necessarily the guy you want to hang out with on a regular basis, just being friendly. That's okay, he'd probably feel the same way about you, particularly if you're trying to get in the way of his enjoyment of baseball and beer.

I'm used to mystery novels being composed of a more terse prose than Jon Spoelstra offers here. His style is engaging and conversational, and carries you along through the main character's reveries about baseball and killing Nazis.

Red Chaser is fun, exciting, and most importantly, never gets boring.