The Whiskey Rebels: A Novel [DECKLE EDGE] (Hardcover)

~ (Author)
Key Phrases: bank scrip, bank launch, whiskey tax, New York, Million Bank, Ethan Saunders (more...)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Set in and around Philadelphia, Pittsburgh and New York City in the years after the Revolutionary War, this clever thriller from Liss (The Ethical Assassin) follows the adventures of Ethan Saunders, once a valiant spy for General Washington, who's fallen on hard times by war's end. Suspected of treason, Ethan has lost the love of his life, Cynthia, who's married the fiendish Jacob Pearson, an entrepreneur who managed to prosper during the British occupation of Philadelphia. At Cynthia's urging, Ethan agrees to go looking for the missing Jacob, prompted in large part by a desire to redeem his reputation. Meanwhile, the so-called whiskey rebels on the western frontier are trying to bring down the hated Alexander Hamilton and his Bank of the United States. The courageous Ethan is a likable rogue, and even though Ethan spends too much time delving into the complications of 18th-century finance, he can be counted on when the chips are down and the odds against him soar. (Oct.)
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From The Washington Post

From The Washington Post's Book World/washingtonpost.com Reviewed by Kevin Baker If timing really is everything, David Liss should have himself a bestseller. His new book, The Whiskey Rebels, revolves around the resentment of Western libertarians toward Eastern elites, a plot to bring down the nation's financial system and a scandal that threatens the federal government. Sound familiar? Everything old is new again. The Whiskey Rebellion of 1794 was a seminal moment in American history, despite its faintly derisive name. For the first time, the national government showed itself willing to assert its authority, sending an army against rebellious frontiersmen in western Pennsylvania. George Washington his uniform back on and led the troops, becoming the only president in our history to serve as commander-in-chief in the field (assuming, of course, that one doesn't count W. on the carrier deck in his "Mission Accomplished" jumpsuit). Wisely, Liss decided not to write about the military action itself, which was the definition of anticlimactic: a handful of rebels rounded up, then pardoned, with hardly a shot fired in anger. Instead, his historical novel is about the financial shenanigans surrounding it. The rebellion was sparked when Alexander Hamilton, the brilliant first secretary of the Treasury, looked to finance the federal government -- and especially his controversial First Bank of the United States -- with an excise tax on the distillation of whiskey. This infuriated the cash-poor Western farmers, who relied on their home brew as an improvised currency, and who already despised the federal government for failing to help with their main preoccupations, namely killing Indians and building decent roads and waterways to bring their crops to Eastern markets. Hamilton judged the bank essential to establishing the United States as a serious country, but his efforts set off a veritable "bank mania" in the financial markets of Philadelphia and New York, as well as a rash of financial skullduggery that threatened to bring the nation's precarious new economy crashing down upon his head. This is an all-too-neglected period in American history, and especially historical fiction, but Liss is on familiar ground. Among his previous four books is the Edgar Award-winning A Conspiracy of Paper, set during England's notorious "South Sea bubble" -- the world's first true stock market crash -- and he is adept at explicating the intricacies of 18th-century finance. The Whiskey Rebels is told through two first-person narrators: Joan Maycott, a Pennsylvania widow who has lost everything she cared about, thanks to the shenanigans of greedy land speculators spurred on by Hamilton's tax and bank schemes; and Ethan Saunders, a disgraced spy from the Revolution who has also hit rock bottom and is now a witty drunk staggering through the rum pits of 1790s Philadelphia. This seems like a promising set-up: the cynical, down-and-out man of mystery still nursing his broken heart, crossing paths with a desperate woman employed in a noble cause (see "Casablanca"). Unfortunately, it takes much too long for that encounter to come about; imagine "Casablanca" if Ingrid Bergman didn't reach Morocco until the final reel. Maycott's story is mostly her background, which at least provides us with a compelling look into the terrors and drudgeries of the early American frontier. Saunders, trying to unravel a growing mystery in the capital that has imperiled his lost love, is supposed to impress us with his spycraft but instead takes us on what becomes a very long slog from tavern to government office to dining room and back again, over and over. Nor is Liss able to really prod his characters to life. All of his good people favor all good things, in keeping with our contemporary sensibilities. They despise greed, tyranny, dishonesty, prevarication, anti-Semitism and racism even when -- in Saunders's case -- they own a slave. This is a common dilemma in historical fiction -- who wants a hero who, say, feels African Americans are inferior? -- but it is not a dilemma that Liss resolves. Saunders's brave, private-eye patter is often funny. Here he is taunting an antagonist with a beautiful wife: "It cannot be easy to have convinced such a gem to marry a man of your stripe." "She's a slut. . . ." "Well . . . that is good news." But such comedy only serves to undermine what is supposed to be his character's despair; we never believe that Saunders is all that down, much less out. Joan Maycott's story is better, but she is so modern as to stretch credibility, even trying to write the great American novel out on the frontier. She is also given to windy, impromptu speeches about true patriotism, and her elaborate plot to avenge herself on Hamilton and his bank -- one that she persuades a large portion of the frontier population to join her in -- is preposterous. Supporting characters fade in and out, including an almost superhuman agent/hit man for Hamilton, a sort that is fast becoming a stock character in American fiction. Important historical personages, such as Jefferson, Washington, Robert Morris, Philip Freneau and Aaron Burr, also make appearances, but they rarely serve to do more than push the lugubrious plot along. Liss has obviously done impressive research, yet even this breaks down at times. At one point someone is asked, "How much do you need to make this go away?" sounding more Godfather than Founding Father. And his characters conceal so many "primed pistols" on their persons that in reality they would surely have blown off many critical pieces of anatomy. Liss does redeem his story somewhat with a dramatic, blood-and-thunder ending. Best of all, though, he has his characters present both sides of the arguments about Hamilton and his bank. Historians have long tended to oscillate between those twin poles of American thought, Hamilton and Jefferson, strong national government and states' rights, depending upon the vagaries of political fashion. Liss manages to see both sides. Now that is something new, and worth reading.
Copyright 2008, The Washington Post. All Rights Reserved.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 544 pages
• Publisher: Random House; 1st edition (September 30, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1400064201
• ISBN-13: 978-1400064205
• Product Dimensions: 9.4 x 6.5 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (127 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #149,422 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

70 of 74 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Smoother than 40 year old Whiskey, September 3, 2008

By	Colin P. Lindsey (Manchester, NH) - See all my reviews (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

(What's this?)

I was once fortunate enough to receive, as a gift, a bottle of 40 year old single malt scotch, handcrafted in a single barrel on the Isle of Skye. Tasting it was a stunning experience; complex, evocative, mellow, smooth, dense and yet light all at once. Sunshine and butterflies in my mouth it was, and it has left me listless in regards to drinking lesser scotch. The Whiskey Rebels is the literary equivalent of that drink. It is a complex, fascinating, evocative, mellow, smooth, dense and light reading experience and it is my favorite novel of this year. I will be mightily surprised and disappointed if it doesn't make the year-end top ten lists, but this is for me, by far and away, the best book I've read in 2008.

If you have read any of Liss's previous books you already know what a gifted writer he is. If you haven't, then you do yourself an injustice. This book transcends even his earlier works in greatness and I suspect that The Whiskey Rebels could become a classic. It is hard to know where to begin in praising this book. Liss is a wonderfully literate writer, even more so than Iain Pears, and he effortlessly transports you in time and space to the period he wishes to evoke. In this case the year is 1792 and Liss crafts a tale which alternately follows two protagonists until their stories merge near the end of the novel. The first is Captain Ethan Saunders, a spy for the Americans during the revolutionary war, friend of Washington, Hamilton, and other worthies, who found himself disgraced and cashiered at the end of the war when accused of being a double agent. Wallowing in guilt, and the muddy floors of rotgut taverns, Saunders has spent the last ten years trying to drown his sorrows in cheap whiskey. The other protagonist is Joan Maycott, a young woman trying to make her way in the harsh and difficult frontier world who aspires to become a novelist. Both characters are drawn into a whirlwind of deceit, lies, and misdirection as greedy speculators connive to make a run on the newly formed Bank of the United States.

This book has it all. Lively action, intrigues within intrigues, daring adventure, taut writing, sparkling dialogue, incredible plotting, depth of characterization, a sense of humor, and a sure hand at the literary tiller. It is so deeply atmospheric that you feel like you are in 1792 Philadelphia. The portrayals of various actual historical figures are realistic, believable, and enjoyable. Hallowed names of yore are brought to vibrant life, sounding and acting as real as your own family, yet their qualities which will make them famous still shine through. In The Whiskey Rebels actual historical personages are not the focus though and the stories of the two fictional protagonists is where this book truly dazzles. As Liss switches between them, chapter by chapter, I was so caught up in their individual experiences that I was inevitably jarred by switching viewpoints. His writing so tightly draws you in and is so absorbing that you don't want to leave the character you're with; yet within a few sentences you are once again completely absorbed with the current character. So it goes, back and forth, until the stunning denouement. If there is one thing that strikes me as magical about Liss's writing it is how well he does period dialogue. Writing compelling and scintillating dialogue is hard enough without having to make it sound natural to the 1790's. Liss does this with ease though; the conversations never ring false and they never stray from their period. The magical part though is the dialogue is as clear and understandable as speaking with a friend.

I have no criticism of this book at all; it was a nearly perfect book and if there was a flaw within it, I couldn't find it. I highly recommend it to any and all. In fact, I give it my highest recommendation.

23 of 24 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Absolutely the best mystery I've read in ages!, October 20, 2008

By	Susan Tunis (San Francisco, CA) - See all my reviews (TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

I have never considered myself especially a fan of historical fiction. Nonetheless, quite a few of my favorite novels fall into that category. Honestly, I sort of love these books in spite of their period setting, not because of it. That said, The Whiskey Rebels by David Liss is the best mystery I've read in a long, long time.

It's set in a period I know little about--post-Revolutionary War America. Again, to be honest, my knowledge of American history in general doesn't go much beyond what I learned in grammar school. It bored me senseless because they never taught the really interesting stuff in school. Liss's tale of the Whisky Rebellion (which I had literally never heard of) was complex and riveting.

Our hero, of sorts, is Ethan Saunders, a thoroughly disgraced former Revolutionary War spy. He was framed as a traitor to the revolution, ultimately causing him to loose the woman he loved, Cynthia Pearson. In the years since, attended by his slave, Leonidas, Saunders has become a penniless, womanizing drunkard. It sounds bad, and it is bad. This man formerly of sterling character has fallen truly low. Still, for all his many flaws, Ethan Saunders is utterly charming. The man charmed my socks right off, and it is his charisma and humor that caused me so much delight throughout this novel. Mr. Liss, I beg you, bring back Ethan Saunders in future novels!

The actually mystery is quite convoluted, and a bit difficult to sum up in a few sentences. It has to do with the early American economy, and given my ignorance of history and economics, I had to pay close attention to follow everything that took place. But that, too, was the pleasure of this novel. It was complex. It was challenging. There was a large cast of characters, with some appearances by people even I remember learning about, such as Alexander Hamilton. This is an intricate 500-page mystery. There were twists and turns and surprises aplenty. At no point could I have guessed how it was going to end. So, in all ways, it was everything a mystery should be. In addition, it was a romance, a buddy story, a history lesson, an espionage novel, and more. I was fascinated, for instance, with the relationship between Ethan and Leonidas, which was unlike any I'd read about before. The Whiskey Rebels is highly recommended for readers of all stripes and inclinations.

24 of 28 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Didn't live up to my expectations, August 29, 2008

By	K. Huff (New York, NY) - See all my reviews (TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

(What's this?)

David Liss is the author of the Conspiracy of Paper novels featuring Benjamin Weaver, and I was looking forward to reading his latest novel, The Whiskey Rebels. I was a little disappointed.

Set in New York, Philadelphia and western Pennsylvania just after the American Revolution, the story is narrated by Ethan Saunders, a likeable loser once accused of treason, and Joan Maycott, a wife on the Western frontier, whose husband is a whiskey distiller. The novel opens when the husband of an old flame of Ethan's disappears. Ethan soon finds himself involved in much more than the case of a missing man: a plot to take down Alexander Hamilton's Bank of the United States.

While the premise is intriguing, and the first fifty pages had me hooked, it was hard for me to keep my attention on the plot of this novel for very long, and I think that this convoluted story could have been delivered in fewer pages. Joan's narrative was unconvincing because her voice didn't even sound like a woman's. Ethan's story was much more convincing. In fact, he pretty much stole the show, and I kept fast-forwarding through Joan's story to get to Ethan. On the other hand, Liss's prose, like the young Republic itself, is straightforward and to the point. Although this is a pretty decent thriller, all things considered, my expectations weren't met.