Customer Reviews

Red, White and Blue

5 star:		(9)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(9)
2 star:		(7)
1 star:		(8)

 

 

"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.

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!

This book disappointed me so much, To think that I've read ALL of Ms. Isaacs's books and loved them all. This book was one big bore! It put me to sleep at night and I had to force myself to hurry up and get it finished. The ending was soooo predictable and the storyline sooooo boring... I just hope next time Susan Issacs goes back to her witty, funny style that is so enjoyable to read. I loved Lily White and Almost Paradise, etc. Reading about Wrath was the most boring torture to have to go through! Was it necessary to go so much into detail about such a stupid and unbelievable organization? Don't waste your money nor time on this one. I should have believed the reviews I had already read in Amazon.

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.

I'm disappointed not in the novel, but in seeing how horribly so many of the Isaacs fans before me have missed the point of this latest work. Red, White, and Blue begins as a tapestry of brightly woven character vignettes where the journey takes precedence over the destination, and ends with the assertion that American patriotism is something that develops not through espousing a political agenda but through generations of living and striving to make a life for oneself in this country.

I don't find it at all troubling that these characters descend from the same semi-reluctant immigrant woman, or that we know this at the outset while they do not. This bit of irony only underscores the novel's message about being American. It matters less how we identify ourselves (urban Jew, traditional western rancher) than how our history and shared cultural experiences through generations shape who we are at the core. As Americans so few of us have any grasp of our heritage going back more than a few decades, and what we do know is merely the product of what someone dared to speak aloud to the younger generation. Although we may not understand the actions or motivations of our ancestors on a conscious level, this knowledge imbues itself in our approach to the world around us and our response to adversities we face.

Isaacs throws geographic, ideological, and religious barricades in front of the protagonists, setting them on opposite sides of the country and sociocultural spectrum, then sets about demonstrating all that they share without a heavy-handed shared genetic material revelation. For this, I thank her. I thank her also for shaping once again a novel of grand proportions that doesn't sacrifice the humanity of minor characters along the way.

I've read all of Isaacs books, so was looking forward to this one. As I liked the family history through the generations of "Almost Paradise", I was hoping to get more of that good 'down through the generations' stuff. Sadly, there was not enough meat on the bare bones of these ancestral sketches. I found myself wanting more details of the interaction between family members. This would have helped explain the reactions of the children once they got out on their own.

Being a some-time genealogist, I found the idea that Charlie and Blair were third cousins quite plausible. There are more than a few family trees with knots in them, and I have myself become friends with distant relations without knowing until much later about the relationship.

'The Americans' portion of the book also left too much unsaid. While I felt I had a clear picture of Charlie and his motivations, I felt decidedly detached from Lauren. She came across as much more a cardboard character, possibly because it seemed she'd never had any real adversity in her life.

The depiction of the white supremacy group was almost too tame. Of course, I live in Michigan, where militia ranting seems to be at a much higher decibel level than portrayed in this book. Isaacs also cleaned up the language of her militants -- probably because the real thing is so shocking. The acts of violence she has these characters act out are not out of the ordinary for these people, either. Once again, however, it would have been a better read if the reader could have been drawn in more to how these people think.

All in all, while this was a good read, it could have been a great one. It wasn't.

Having read and thoroughly enjoyed all of Ms Isaac's previous works, I eagerly looked forward to this new one. Having just finished it, I can hardly believe it was written by Ms Isaacs, who's "Lily White" was a true joy, as were her other wonderful works. The difference between "R,W, and B" and all the other novels is startling.

"R,W, and B" starts out good, going back in time and telling stories of long ago. This was the best part of the book, the most interesting, and the most Isaac-like. The second half, the Wyoming-FBI-terrorism part, must have been written by a ghost writer. There was no mystery, no depth of character, no surprises. It was almost embarassing to read, it was so awful. It was not possible to care about the two main characters, who were just too perfect. The shoot-out scene on the deserted road was nauseating while at the same time so implausable.

I look forward to Ms Isaac's next book, because it can only be an improvement.

This is my first Susan Issac work and I found myself struggling to stay focused. As much as I wanted to get into the characters, Issac would break in with her own witty narrative (A Woody Allen she isn't). I found these interruptions a distraction as well as a poor excuse for character development. All the while I waited patiently for the lengthy introduction to tie itself together at the later part of the book. The book never met my expectations. Her characters are suitable for a Fox Network miniseries. She allowed herself to become trapped in the cliche of the family tree and let it take too much precedence in the story without giving it more than a trite justification. Wrong story for such an idea. The credibility of the characters never succeeded. Ms Issac would serve herself better (as well as the readers) by focusing on the characters and less on creating a "hook" of faraway related individuals caught in a neo-militia-love story-wild west tale. The impact of the book was as dull as Vernon Ostergard's diatribes on ZOG and the government. A disappointment considering there was a great deal of potential lost in the frozen snowdrifts of Wyoming.

I should have known when I realized the book they were reviewing on the back cover as wonderful was her Lily White and not this one. I have read a few of her books which I enjoyed but this one put me to sleep. I could not keep track of who was who and tie it in to the second half of the story. I was glad to finally get it done. It all was very predictable at the finish.

I'm surprised this book didn't get more positive reviews. It was another excellent read by Susan Isaacs. I actually loved the generational background of both characters. What I find most pleasing about all her books is that her female characters are real women, with real emotions. Most male authors, Jonathan Kellerman, Stephen White, Leonard Goldberg, etc., have female characters that actually make me angry. (I still love their books however, even though all of their females are on the border of being witches to live with.) Why is it that so many male authors see women in this light? It's truly refreshing to read Ms. Isaacs books and have likeable female characters. She's a truly wonderful author to read and I'm always anxious to get her next book. The Jewish flavor and history in her novels is so delightful...I simply love it.