THE PECULIARITIES, flawed but fun

THE PECULIARITIES
DAVID LISS
Tachyon Publications
$17.95 tradepaper, available now

Rating: 3.75* of five

The Publisher Says: From popular historical alternate history author David Liss (A Conspiracy of Paper) comes the tale of a clueless young man embroiled in a deadly supernatural mystery in London. Rooted in strange conspiracies and secret societies, this absurdist comedic romp combines strange bedfellows with murderous creatures, resulting in an unexpectedly delightful consequences.

All of his life, Thomas Thresher has been free of obligation and responsibility, but that is over now. He is a twenty-three-year-old man whose best days are behind him. Thomas's older brother Walter has trapped him in a tedious clerical job at the family bank in London, and Thomas is expected to wed a wealthy young woman in whom he has no interest.

But Thomas has more serious problems than those of a disaffected young man. There are irregularities at the bank he cannot explain. His childhood friend has mysteriously turned up dead. Worse, a verdant skin malady has infected him: leaves have begun sprouting on his skin. Thomas must conclude that it is due to the long-rumored Peculiarities. London's famous grey fog has been concealing a rash of unnatural afflictions—and worse, the murderous Elegants.

As Thomas grows leafier, the conspiracies surrounding him become more apparent. He cannot determine whom to trust: his own family; his banking co-workers and superiors; the beautiful widow of his companion; the woman he is to marry. Or perhaps a lycanthropic medium; the members of a secret occult society...or even Aleister Crowley.

I RECEIVED A DRC FROM THE PUBLISHER VIA NETGALLEY. THANK YOU.

My Review: Clueless whiny nepo baby Thomas Thresher, clerking at his family's London bank and living a really cushy life, starts to grow leaves from his body. Promising start to a David Liss story. We've got London, though in the early twentieth century not the eighteenth, we've got business shenanigans at the bank, and a world in which there are children with lobster claws, women giving birth to rabbits, killer fogs of supernatural origin, and a werewolf psychic. Oh, and Aleister Crowley.

Why does Walter, Thomas's brother, have such wood for Thomas's marriage to Esther, a Jewish woman with pots of money? What is driving the oddball events in the bank (seriously dodgy loans and very odd property acquisitions) that aren't in service of making money? And, last but not least, what the hell are all these leaves doing on Thomas's body?

The way Thomas sets about trying to make sense of the Peculiarities, the way he simply rolls up his sleeves, picks a few leaves off, and starts looking around for information that could help him...these are positives. They do lead, quite naturally, to a slightly off-putting disconnected style, episodes instead of one smooth narrative. That wasn't entirely to my personal liking but I got accustomed to it.

What I very much didn't get used to was Esther's being the butt of so many nasty, mean-spirited jokes not least from Thomas...the man she's set to marry. It made me very uncomfortable and was absolutely never addressed...Esther end the way she began, a one-note anti-Jewish joke. I couldn't figure out why she was so awful, compared to Thomas's suddenly acquired love interest who was a cypher.

That, and a really cringey sexual assault scene, are the source of my lower-than-expected rating.

I was very taken by the Peculiarities themselves. The fact that we don't find out what the hell's going on here isn't a major issue for me because the verve of Author Liss's tellings of the supernatural events was the actual point. There's no need to explain strange doings if the point of them is to be strange. What Author Liss does overexplain is the world of 1899 London and its many and various restrictions on women and Others. That's really overdone.

Something that might be overdone for some readers is the pseudo-Victorian locutions of Thomas's narration. I myownself found it fun and just on the good side of stilted, but others might feel differently. If you opt to read a sample of the Kindle edition, you'll know right away if this is for you or not. What nearly scuppered my interest, and greatly slowed my reading, was the chest-pokey second-person narration parts.

I must say that, with the different historical luminaries swirling through the story, I was a little bit let down that none of them played a big role in the solution to the strange issues in the book. (Well, except Aleister Crowley.)

Not a perfect read, but a good one; a lot of stuff gets wrapped up in the last ten percent of the book but not, by any means, even close to everything. That is, for me, perfectly okay because very few things in life are wrapped up in tidy little bows. The Peculiarities remain peculiar. And most enjoyably so.

THE DEVIL'S COMPANY, third Benjamin Weaver historical thriller

THE DEVIL'S COMPANY (Benjamin Weaver #3)
DAVID LISS
Random House
$17.00 trade paper, available now

Rating: 3.5* of five

The Publisher Says: The year is 1722. Ruffian for hire, ex-boxer, and master of disguise, Weaver finds himself caught in a deadly game of cat and mouse, pitted against Jerome Cobb, a wealthy and mysterious schemer who needs Weaver’s strength and guile for his own treacherous plans.

Weaver is blackmailed into stealing documents from England’s most heavily guarded estate, the headquarters of the ruthless British East India Company, but the theft of corporate secrets is only the first move in a daring conspiracy within the eighteenth century’s most powerful corporation. To save his friends and family from Cobb’s reach, Weaver must infiltrate the Company, navigate its warring factions, and uncover a secret plot of corporate rivals, foreign spies, and government operatives. With millions of pounds and the security of the nation at stake, Weaver will find himself in a labyrinth of hidden agendas, daring enemies, and unexpected allies.

With the explosive action and scrupulous period research that are David Liss’s trademarks, The Devil’s Company, depicting the birth of the modern corporation, is the most impressive achievement yet from an author who continues to set ever higher standards for historical suspense.

I RECEIVED AN ARC FROM THE PUBLISHER. THANK YOU.

My Review: Seriously ugly jacket.

Book is, well, book is...really well plotted, filled with characters whose ideas and motivations I get and even support, and told in a very engaging way.

Liss's trademark business angle is very much in evidence in this book. It's set partially within the confines of the East India Company, and quite a lot of the action takes place around the various business concerns of the characters; all handled in such a way as to make it clear that this story arises from those concerns, driving each actor to his or her next action. It's enviable, the way Liss can see the story in the business and not just the business in the story.

I like this book. I like the hero. I like the way early capitalist London is presented to our senses, and how the author brings us along in our readerly sense of how the sleuth is going to develop across the series.

So why a mingy three-and-a-half?

Because: 1) Several people die, one of whom I know to be a real blow to the future of the series, and in each case the event with its aftermath is curiously flat. The sleuth's response is well-enough drawn, but it's not...the stakes aren't *there* for the (or this) reader. And the quite, quite startling aftermath of one quite important death is announced and left for later, while some very exciting other plot stuff happens.

See? I shouldn't be able to type that sentence without the Nasty Fairy whackin' me a good one, sayin' "too far, boy!" But his whackin' wand is not raised.

2) A surprise reveal late in the chase portion of the story falls sort of flat as well, and a character whose character we are given no reason to admire is revealed to be so amoral as to have—gasp, say it isn't so—slept with men and women both, and for profit! Wouldn't even cause an eyeblink if this were not a) the only time this concept has ever been brought up in the series, and b) a trait presented as somehow amplifying the character's extant perceived vileness.

Full marks for fairness: Benjamin, the sleuth and a self-described vigorously straight man (yawn) does some surprising soul-searching about his sodomitical revulsion. The whorehouse madam makes a pretty good case for the sodomites she serves being pretty much just like the rest of the world. And in the end, a straight man who doesn't write pure scary-o-types when discussing the more fluid borders of sexuality is more to be praised than not. It just doesn't sit right in this case.

3) The Love Interest. Oh god. We now reach the portion of our series where the sleuth must Fall In Love, and with a worthy adversary. Just once, one lousy time, I'd like to see a likable hero like Benjamin Weaver make it through an entire series without a Love Interest. I know it's what the market likes, but yeesh. I content myself with observing that she's a interesting character in her own right.

I like the sleuth, I like the series, and I will buy the next one. You should too.

Recommended for Anglomanes, for business buffs, and for puzzle people; historical fanciers will hyperventilate at some of Liss's more atmospheric passages; and international intrigue fans...stay tuned....

A SPECTACLE OF CORRUPTION, second historical thriller

A SPECTACLE OF CORRUPTION (Benjamin Weaver #2)
DAVID LISS
Random House
$17.00 trade paper,$11.99 Kindle edition, available now

Rating: 4* of five

The Publisher Says: Moments after his conviction for a murder he did not commit, at a trial presided over by a judge determined to find him guilty, Benjamin Weaver is accosted by a stranger who cunningly slips a lockpick and a file into his hands. In an instant he understands two things: Someone had gone to a great deal of trouble to see him condemned to hang--and another equally mysterious agent is determined to see him free.

So begins A Spectacle of Corruption, which heralds the return of Benjamin Weaver, the hero of A Conspiracy of Paper. After a daring escape from eighteenth-century London's most notorious prison, Weaver must face another challenge: how to prove himself innocent of a crime when the corrupt courts have already shown they want only to see him hang. To discover the truth and clear his name, he will have to understand the motivations behind a secret scheme to extort a priest, uncover double-dealings in the unrest among London's dockworkers, and expose the conspiracy that links the plot against him to the looming national election--an election with the potential to spark a revolution and topple the monarchy.

Unable to show his face in public, Weaver pursues his inquiry in the guise of a wealthy merchant who seeks to involve himself in the political scene. But he soon finds that the world of polite society and politics is filled with schemers and plotters, men who pursue riches and power--and those who seek to return the son of the deposed king to the throne. Desperately navigating a labyrinth of politicians, crime lords, assassins, and spies, Weaver learns that, in an election year, little is what it seems and the truth comes at a staggeringly high cost.

Once again, acclaimed author David Liss combines historical erudition with mystery, complex characterization, and a captivating sense of humor. A Spectacle of Corruption offers insight into our own world of political scheming, and it firmly establishes David Liss as one of the best writers of intellectual suspense at work today.

My Review: Last time we saw the Lion of Judah, aka Benjamin Weaver (né Lienzo), he had brought a species of justice to some victims of the South Sea Bubble. Now he's standing in the dock, convicted of a murder he didn't commit and facing the death penalty.

Well, there's nothing like making the stakes obvious from the get-go: Fail to solve the crime you've been convicted of and die; solve the crime and bring the political system of your homeland to its knees. Drama for *days*!

And well-done drama, if a bit crowded. Inevitably, setting stakes this high means that some smaller areas of interest (eg, the "romance") don't come to satisfying fruition. But there is more than enough good stuff here to make the less successful moments less important than the overall tale's pleasures. It's very satisfying to see a man of honor operating in that cesspit of dishonor that has always been, and seems as if it will always be, political action.

What I enjoy most about Liss's historical fiction is that it is obvious to me that he roots the action in fact while still making a cracking good yarn. He sees history as "his story," as the college-freshman joke went. And that's how I got interested in history, and it's why I find satisfaction in reading David Liss's books.

A CONSPIRACY OF PAPER, thriller about the South Sea Bubble

A CONSPIRACY OF PAPER (Benjamin Weaver #1)
DAVID LISS
Random House
$17.00 trade paper, $11.99 Kindle edition, available now

Rating: 3.9* of five

The Publisher Says: Benjamin Weaver is an outsider in eighteenth-century London: a Jew among Christians; a ruffian among aristocrats; a retired pugilist who, hired by London's gentry, travels through the criminal underworld in pursuit of debtors and thieves.

In A Conspiracy of Paper, Weaver investigates a crime of the most personal sort: the mysterious death of his estranged father, a notorious stockjobber. To find the answers, Weaver must contend with a desperate prostitute who knows too much about his past, relatives who remind him of his alienation from the Jewish faith, and a cabal of powerful men in the world of British finance who have hidden their business dealings behind an intricate web of deception and violence. Relying on brains and brawn, Weaver uncovers the beginnings of a strange new economic order based on stock speculation--a way of life that poses great risk for investors but real danger for Weaver and his family.

In the tradition of The Alienist and written with scholarly attention to period detail, A Conspiracy of Paper is one of the wittiest and most suspenseful historical novels in recent memory, as well as a perceptive and beguiling depiction of the origin of today's financial markets. In Benjamin Weaver, author David Liss has created an irresistibly appealing protagonist, one who parlays his knowledge of the emerging stock market into a new kind of detective work.

My Review: An honorable man sets out to right a wrong that he cares relatively little about. His quest leads him to wrongs he didn't know were possible, and that he cares a lot about righting. He can't fix it...nobody could then, and nobody can now...because it's all to do with human greed and viciousness.

David Liss came to my attention with this top-notch thriller. He takes the abstruse and impersonal concept put forth by (then-newly minted) economic scientists called "economist"s Hand of the Market, squeezes that bastard tight, and shakes out of it the economists' worst nightmare: The human cost of their depersonalized, accountability-free rent-reaping mills.

What makes Weaver a compelling character is his almost unbelievable level of alienation from every sector of London's social web. A Jew estranged from his family by disobedience. A Jew in the Christian London that persecutes Catholics, allegedly fellow Christians. An educated man who fought with his fists for money. An absolute outsider.

It makes for the best fictional characters, this does, and even better for a sleuth in a mystery. He has access to but not membership in many groups. He can ask questions because he's Different, and he can't be bought off by assimilation--too far outside the pale of anyone's social-group tolerance--nor can he be threatened by exclusion (from what that he isn't excluded from already?).

A successful thriller combines plausible action in service of believable stakes by a character with a definite and powerful moral compass. Delivered here in trumps. It's a pleasure to read a book that makes it clear that markets, all markets always and everywhere, must be controlled, damped down, and regulated to prevent the vile and contemptible from abusing the greedy and gullible. It is, in the end, the rest of us who pay the bill. It was ever thus. It will ever be thus, world without end.

Until we're no longer human beings, that is.

THE WHISKEY REBELS, excellent historical thriller about how far back anti-gummint fervor goes in the US

THE WHISKEY REBELS
DAVID LISS
Random House
$17.00 trade paper, available now

Rating: 4.5* of five

The Publisher Says: David Liss’s bestselling historical thrillers, including A Conspiracy of Paper and The Coffee Trader, have been called remarkable and rousing: the perfect combination of scrupulous research and breathless excitement. Now Liss delivers his best novel yet in an entirely new setting–America in the years after the Revolution, an unstable nation where desperate schemers vie for wealth, power, and a chance to shape a country’s destiny.

Ethan Saunders, once among General Washington’s most valued spies, now lives in disgrace, haunting the taverns of Philadelphia. An accusation of treason has long since cost him his reputation and his beloved fiancée, Cynthia Pearson, but at his most desperate moment he is recruited for an unlikely task–finding Cynthia’s missing husband. To help her, Saunders must serve his old enemy, Treasury Secretary Alexander Hamilton, who is engaged in a bitter power struggle with political rival Thomas Jefferson over the fragile young nation’s first real financial institution: the Bank of the United States.

Meanwhile, Joan Maycott is a young woman married to another Revolutionary War veteran. With the new states unable to support their ex-soldiers, the Maycotts make a desperate gamble: trade the chance of future payment for the hope of a better life on the western Pennsylvania frontier. There, amid hardship and deprivation, they find unlikely friendship and a chance for prosperity with a new method of distilling whiskey. But on an isolated frontier, whiskey is more than a drink; it is currency and power, and the Maycotts’ success attracts the brutal attention of men in Hamilton’s orbit, men who threaten to destroy all Joan holds dear.

As their causes intertwine, Joan and Saunders–both patriots in their own way–find themselves on opposing sides of a daring scheme that will forever change their lives and their new country. The Whiskey Rebels is a superb rendering of a perilous age and a nation nearly torn apart–and David Liss’s most powerful novel yet.

I RECEIVED AN ARC FROM THE PUBLISHER. THANK YOU.

My Review: Liss in true Liss form! I adored A Conspiracy of Paper and A Spectacle of Corruption and enjoyed greatly The Coffee Trader. Mr. Liss is a writer with several gifts, and seemingly displays them to their best advantage in works of historical fiction. (I was no fan of The Ethical Assassin since it felt undeveloped and unfinished to me. And don't get me started on The Devil's Company and its icky anti-bisexual silliness that added nothing to the plot.)

Most unusually, Mr. Liss can take any business conflict and make it into a story. He tells us the story of the business panic that in part led to the Whiskey Rebellion in this novel (I grossly oversimplify the twists and turns, but that’s the penalty of wanting to keep this under 5000 words!) from the points of view held by two victims of honor. Ethan Saunders and Joan Maycott have wildly diverging aims in this novel; their conflict is completely believable; they are characters representing very real conflicts in American society at that time, and they do so without feeling like invented mouthpieces for a particular cause or view. This is Mr. Liss’s extraordinary gift to historical fiction, that his characters breathe enough life to seem as though their actions are inevitable outgrowths of their described and/or demonstrated interests. This talent above all others should win Mr. Liss a place on the bestseller lists, since he competes against authors of creative facility and character-building imbecility (eg, James Patterson, John Grisham) for male readership.

Another of the gifts Mr. Liss brings to the table is his deftness of plotting. It takes a writer of skill to make a complex issue like a bank failure (and how timely is that choice of plot point!) into something exciting to the reader and highly personal to the characters. I was riveted to the descriptions of one character’s machinations to achieve a particular result to the failure of the Million Bank and the reasons for that character’s venomous hatreds and callously indifferent behaviors was both cause and effect in the spiraling, stomach-churning race that forms the last thrilling 40 pages of this novel.

Really highly recommended for anyone looking to find a fine writer with a gift for storytelling coupled to a sense of timing that cannot be beat.