THE FIFTH COLUMN

4.5 stars

As a general rule, I don't enjoy books, movies or TV
shows that involve battles, conflicts and wars. I've even given up on a couple of previously favorite authors because the focus of their latest books shifted too heavily in that direction. So when I started this one, I was more than a bit wary. Can't imagine I'll like it much, I said to myself.

And it just goes to show me not to prejudge. Not only did I enjoy it, but I finished it in only two sittings. In fact, it's a very intriguing plot that is related to World War II but, happily, does not take place on a battlefield at all. It opens in New York in February 1939, when unrest in Europe is heating up and people everywhere are taking sides for and against the Nazis. Charlie Mossman, a sometimes-practicing Jew and often drunk, is in a bar and approached by some belligerent Nazi supporters. A fight ensues, and Charlie unintentionally hits a teenager, an innocent bystander. The young man dies, Charlie is charged and convicted of involuntary manslaughter, and spends the next two years in prison.

When he gets out, he learns his wife has given up on him, although she's still friendly and allows him to spend time with their young daughter Emma. The United States is trying to avoid a war that's growing by leaps and bounds and fast. When he visits Emma, he meets Trudi and Willi Bauer, a couple who seem to love Emma dearly and claim to be Swiss. It doesn't take long, though, for Charllie to find clues that lead him to believe they're something else entirely. Perhaps, he suspects, they might even be members of a "fifth column," a network of German spies embedded in day-to-day life in the states (if you've watched "The Americans" on TV, you get the drift).

As time goes on, Charlie becomes even more suspicious and finally discovers sufficient evidence to be sure he's right. Problem is, no one will believe him. His soon-to-be-ex-wife loves the "Swiss" couple, and Charlie's prison background doesn't exactly make him a reliable source to the police or FBI. Still, he's convinced that something big is about to go down - something that could threaten thousands of U.S. lives. When Pearl Harbor is attacked, drawing America into the war, Charlie just can't pretend everything is fine. What he does, how he does it and what happens in the end make for an exciting story.

So what did I not like so much? There's a fair amount of repetition - Understandably, Charlie has to retell his findings over and over to people he thinks he can trust. But after the second or third time, even somewhat abbreviated, it got a little boring. And it didn't take long for me to wonder if the author is on a crusade against Charles Lindbergh - he pointed out several times that the late pilot at one time was a vocal supporter of Nazi Germany. Actually, that's an historical fact; but one mention would have sufficed.

Those small issues aside, I was very satisfied with this book and thank the publisher, via NetGalley, for the opportunity to read an advance copy.

The Fifth Column by Andrew Gross (Minotaur Books, September 2019); 336 pp.

ONE MILE UNDER

4 stars out of 5

I read the first book in the series featuring detective Ty Hauck, (The Dark Tide), a few years back - mostly prompted, I think, because of the author's association as a co-author of several books with James Patterson. I enjoyed it, but somehow the next two in the series got past me. Not long ago, this one - the fourth - caught my eye. It's been a long time coming for the author, too, who says this one was roughly five years in the making. 

Clearly, plenty of action took place in the two previous books (some of that action is referenced in this one, which is how I know I missed out). That said, while I sort of wish I'd read those other two, reading them prior to this one really isn't necessary.

Several chapters in, though, I began to wonder if I'd picked up the right book; the illustrious Mr. Hauck was nowhere to be found. It begins as whitewater guide Dani Whalen finds the body of a good friend in the water, an apparent kayaking accident. Dani isn't so sure that's the case, especially when a local character named Rooster - who runs a hot air balloon operation - tells her he saw something. He'll meet her the next morning to spill the beans, he says, but he never makes it. He, and the two couples he's taken up in a balloon, inexplicably fall from the sky to their deaths before he and Dani can get together.

Another accident? Yes, according to the local police chief, who also is Dani's stepfather. He insists that she back off and leave the investigation to the professionals. But Dani is stubborn; when she threatens to go to the newspapers with her suspicions, her stepfather throws her in jail, notifying her biological dad of her whereabouts. Her father, in turn, is a friend of Ty's (who also happens to be Dani's godfather), so he gives Ty a call to go get her.

All of this means that 16 chapters go by before Ty makes an appearance. Once he hears her concerns, he's skeptical, but in it to win it. When he and Dani do some sleuthing around, they find that the folks in the small Colorado town, mostly farmers and ranchers, are (as the book description says) "selling their souls to the devil" by selling their much-needed water to a huge energy company for use in its local fracking operation (how's that for a timely hot-button issue)?

Butting heads with the big guns puts Ty, Dani and a few others in mortal danger on more than one occasion and pits them against local powers-that-be who are unwilling to jeopardize what has become an extremely lucrative arrangement. Will they get to the bottom of what's going on and nail whoever's responsible for all those deaths before they end up dead as well?

You'll just have to read it for yourself to find out the answer to that question.

One Mile Under by Andrew Gross (William Morrow, April 2015); 400 pp.