Red, White, and Blue: A Novel (Hardcover)

by Susan Isaacs (Author) "If the Statue of Liberty and Uncle Sam had come together for a one-night stand, guess who would have popped out nine months later?..." (more)
Key Phrases: muscle guy, New York, Sally Ann, Jackson Hole (more...)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly
The story of Jewish immigrants in America is a staple of commercial fiction. Still, it is a surprise to find Isaacs, usually the provider of zippy dialogue and suspenseful plots, writing a lackluster novel in this genre. In the first part of this multigenerational saga, she follows the offspring of Dora Schottland and Herschel Blaustein, loutish products of European shtetls whose unhappy union produces descendants who will exemplify dramatically different American experiences. Jake Blaustein, larcenous grifter and general no-goodnik, stays one step ahead of the law by decamping a train in Wyoming, where he changes his name to Blair, marries a half-Indian woman and forgets his Jewish heritage. His sister, Ruthie, stays in New York and marries a successful Jewish lawyer who is killed in WWII. Her children and grandchildren remain identifiably Jewish but not religiously observant. In the second half of the book, the great-great-grandchildren of Dora and Herschel meet (unaware of the fact that they are related, however). Lauren Miller, reporter for the Long Island Jewish News, encounters her distant cousin, FBI agent Charlie Blair, in Jackson Hole. Instant passionate attraction flares between them?though, of course, many obstacles stand in the way of their happiness. Both are on the trail of members of a violent militia that spews racial and anti-Semitic rhetoric. Here the book finally develops some suspense. Isaacs has done her homework well; her depiction of white-supremacist groups is informative and convincing. But the sappy love story overwhelms even this aspect of the narrative, and by the time Isaacs winds up waving the flag in celebration of the values that unite Americans, this sincerely patriotic novel is as heavy as a stale bagel. Editor, Larry Ashmead. Literary Guild main selection; Doubleday Book Club alternate.
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal
Isaacs (Lily White, HarperCollins, 1996) gets really serious here with the story of Westerner Charlie Blair, a special agent with the Federal Bureau of Investigation who is about to infiltrate a white supremacist group, and Lauren Miller, hired by the Jewish News to document the group's anti-Semitism. Their link? Unknown to them, they are both descendants of Jewish immigrants who met on the way to America.
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 416 pages
• Publisher: HarperCollins; 1st edition (October 21, 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0060176083
• ISBN-13: 978-0060176082
• Product Dimensions: 8.2 x 5.6 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (38 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #2,396,282 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

12 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars ROMANCE + THRILLER + HISTORY = GREAT READ, February 16, 2001

By	Gail Cooke (TX, USA) - See all my reviews (TOP 10 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)    (COMMUNITY FORUM 04)

"If the Statue of Liberty and Uncle Sam had come together for a one-night stand," their rangy, blue-eyed boy would have been Charlie Blair, Special Agent, FBI. Petite, inquisitive Lauren Miller is "the child Anne Hutchinson and George Washington never had."

Do the twain ever meet in Susan Isaacs always fresh, sometimes frightening eighth novel, Red, White And Blue? You bet. But first we're introduced to the great-great-grandmother they share: A century ago 15-year-old Dora trembled by the rail of an immigrant laden vessel nudging New York Harbor. She was pregnant and unwed. Therefore, when fellow passenger, winemaker Herschel Blaustein, proposed marriage, Dora uttered her first word of English: yes. They were a mismatched, unhappy pair. He yearned to return to Cracow; she searched crowded streets for the face of her former lover. And, Jake, their early-arriving firstborn is a bit of a crank, perhaps due to the fact that "Dora had never actually exhibited any behavior that might be construed as mother love."

Ruthie, their second child, with two top front teeth so crooked that they practically made an X was sanguine, believing in romance.

As a young man, what glib, handsome Jake lacked in formal education he made up for in legerdemain, raking in jackpot after poker jackpot. Inevitably, he was caught cheating and forced to leap from a moving train smack into frigid Wyoming.

Had it not been for the warmth of Queenie Smith's bed and body, Jake would have become a tall ice cube. He changed his name from Blaustein to Blair, remained with Queenie, and sired four children.

Willie, their eldest, had dreams. He didn't want to be like his father who couldn't do anything a man was supposed to do - split a log, ride, or shoot. Willie yearned to own a ranch. Fortunately for the cash poor young man along came Lois, heiress to the Circle B. They produced Charles Bryant Blair who, in the fullness of time, fathered our hero, Charlie Blair.

In parallel begettings, Ruthie married a brutish ne'er-do-well. She named their daughter Sally Ann because "It was the most American name Ruthie could think of for a child who, she knew, was going to be in need of a land of opportunity."

Marty Freund was the man Sally Ann married. Their progeny included Barbara, a dependable girl, prone to considering her place in the universe. She wondered if there was any place for her "from sea to shining sea." During a Catskills singles weekend Barbara found her niche when she met history teacher Jed Miller. Their daughter, Lauren Miller, has her father's red hair, the black eyes of her great-great-grandmother Dora, and a favorite question - why?

Lauren became a reporter, presently employed by the New York based Jewish News. Hearing of a video store bombing in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, supposedly a hate crime perpetrated by a group called Wrath, Lauren is convinced that this story is her ticket to fame. She heads West.

Suspecting that their Wrath informant is double-dealing, the FBI needs an undercover agent to infiltrate the brace of bigots. Divorced, dissatisfied with his status quo, and willing, Charlie is dispatched to Wyoming.

At this point the novel's pace accelerates, spinning into a gripping, rapid-fire thriller. Especially noteworthy is the author's ability to mime the prurient invective spouted by white supremacist groups - one shudders.

Working as a garage mechanic, Charlie ingratiates himself with Wrath's leader, Vernon Ostergard - "Not an obvious nutcase, but a guy who had no interests beyond his own bigotry." In the process of winning the degenerate leader's confidence, Charlie alienates Ostergard's general, Kyle McIntyre, a psychopathic killer, and one of the slimiest characters to slither across a page.

Lauren asks too many questions, and is stalked by Ostergard's lieutenant, Gus Lang, "A bully, a man who liked to crush things."

Nonetheless, Charlie and Lauren have found each other. They're in love and in danger, as they pit themselves against unspeakable evil.

A bit like a virtuoso's solo recital, Red, White And Blue gives Ms. Isaacs an opportunity to display her many faceted talent. And, she gives a bravura performance in offering a story which is at once a moving exploration of what it means to be an American, an expose of mankind's darker side, and a touching romance.

9 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars not up to snuff, April 19, 2000

By	"loralyn" (Philadelphia, PA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Red, White and Blue (Mass Market Paperback)

I've thoroughly enjoyed Susan Isaacs' previous novels which are marked by sharp and sometimes caustic wit, spunky and sympathetic protagonists and engaging plot lines. This one just doesn't compare. If this is your first encounter with Ms. Isaacs' work, I'd urge you to give her another shot.

9 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Big disappointment!, September 13, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Red, White and Blue (Mass Market Paperback)

As an ardent Susan Isaac fan, and like most of her admirers, I was excited to find she had finally written another novel. I bought the book and looked forward, with relish, to the usual great read. The first (and major) part of the book dealt with the ancestry of the two (supposedly) main-characters-to-come. It was interesting, but just as I became involved with each new group of characters, they were gone. When we finally got to Charlie and Lauren, it felt as if everything moved along way too fast so the author could finish the book in the publisher's alloted number of pages. The fact that they were in bed together in a flash was very disappointing. I did not relate to them at all. And where was the tie-in with the first section of the book? What was the point??? It would have been nice if Charlie and Lauren had, at the very least, discovered their common ancestry. By the end of the book, I didn't care if they lived happily ever after or never saw each other again. The whole storyline about the white surpremacy group, Wrath, seemed very contrived, innocuous, and open-ended.

My advice to readers new to Ms. Isaacs is to start with one of her other novels. After reading "Shining Through," which I LOVED, I couldn't get enough of her wit and great writing style and read all the rest of her published books in succession. This one was such a letdown.

Ms. Isaacs, PLEASE go back to your former style!