⋙ Download Gratis Herald Square A Novel of the Cold War The First Trumpet Jefferson Flanders Books

Herald Square A Novel of the Cold War The First Trumpet Jefferson Flanders Books

Download As PDF : Herald Square A Novel of the Cold War The First Trumpet Jefferson Flanders Books

Herald Square A Novel of the Cold War The First Trumpet Jefferson Flanders Books

This novel does an excellent job capturing the post World War 2 era of Cold War espionage. The writing is smooth and easy to read and of the highest professional standards. The character of the protagonist journalist Dennis Collins is fascinating. He is no cardboard character. He is flawed yet idealistic. He is comfortable with his middle class background in a local bar,yet seeks to reconnect with an old love with outings at the Stork Club where she is more at home. He fears governmental intrusion upon free speech and scare tactics against liberal leaning figures, yet he believes in the men who fought for freedom in the war and who he believes will in the end do the right thing in the name of justice.
This is a tricky war filled with deception and it is portrayed wonderfully by the author. The atmosphere he creates with references to Bogart and Bacall, the 1949 pennant races in both leagues, and other events of the day contribute to the feeling that you have been taken back in time. It is the beginning of a time when government operatives had to balance between individual justice and the greater good against a clandestine enemy that had invaded the upper levels of the country. While there were some slow moments, the book is solid and intriguing. The last 25% of the book is a pure page turner. It's hard to believe this is Mr. Flanders' first novel. I hope this is a series because I'll be reading his next effort. Well done!!


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Herald Square A Novel of the Cold War The First Trumpet Jefferson Flanders Books Reviews

I read this first because it was set around the time I was born, 1948 in the City of my birth New York. It was a much different time with the Red Scare and all. The writing was very good but the ending was depressing but it was a period in time when the Red scare of post world war two let a lot of people in the government very paranoid. In later history this was reflected in politicians like Nixon and Regan and that whole conservative thing and the media was much more controlled then that now. I couldn't give it five stars because it left me with a depressed feeling and normally I like books with clear winners and in this book there seemed to have none!
I followed previous reviews saying it's a must to read the Flanders Trilogy. Although it draw my attention and I was eager to finish it and enjoyed the experience I must say that pages and pages of the book providing details of the baseball league and boxers from 1950 does not add a dime to the plot and may well be very boring for a person not fan of those sports.
I am now begining with Book 2 and hope there will be no such boring and page consuming details and references to baseball and boxing,
Herald Square delivers a one-two punch as Jefferson Flanders deftly combines his extensive knowledge of the newspaper industry (his prime character is a columnist) and sports. Set in 1949, the suspenseful Cold War narrative delves into intrigue with ties to NYC, Washington, and abroad. He keeps readers wondering about motives and loyalties of friends, loves, coworkers and spies. I read on my and found it hard to put down.
This is a good solid read, with well developed characters and a strong sense of time and place. I would say the novel is more character driven than plot driven, which I like. Unlike strict genre fiction, there's is time to settle into the story. What I didn't like so much was the emphasis on sports, and especially baseball. It was very detailed and though it contributed to establishing the period it was overdone. At times I wondered if the author had forgotten what his novel was supposed to be about. Would I read another by Jefferson Flanders? Yes. That says a lot.
This is a carefully crafted tale of espionage and its fallible practitioners, set in 1949. As a baseball fan, I well recall that American League pennant race that year, well described as a side plot by Mr. Flanders. The setting is well done, in the prose equivalent of noir. The only possible error might have been the order of a bottle of Cabernet Sauvignon in a New York French restaurant. I'm not sure that would have been accurate for the period. But that is a minor matter. One keeps hoping that things will turn out for the best, particularly for the much abused refugee girl Karina. But that was not to be. One hopes that Collins will find some happiness away from the ball park, but it seems unlikely. The sinuous movements of counterspy and would be spy are well done and believable. This is a fine book, too sad to be fully entertaining, but all the more interesting for that focus.
My intent as I read Herald Square by Jefferson Flanders, was to rate it with three stars. It had been one of those books that was interesting, but very " Put-down able" to coin a phrase, meaning that it would not keep me reading past my bedtime.
Sure, it had an espionage plot set during the early Cold War days involving a NY sports writer, and his old boyhood friend, a Washington diplomat with "progressive" leanings who was under investigation by HUAC . There was really interesting local color as the story evolved during the last days of hot pennant reaches in both baseball leagues. But...a bit too much about lost love affairs, and I thought, a hero, the reporter, who was a touch too naive for an ex-war correspondent and long-time newshound.
Then the book began to get better with each chapter, until by the end, I did not want to lay it aside to finish another day.
In the end, which was very exciting, btw, I enjoyed the book enough to say I look forward to reading more by the author.
Recommended.
Some love scenes, not too graphic. Some violence. Lots of NYC in the 1950's ..the Stork Club, Wise guy Cab drivers from the Bronx and everybody smoked-unfiltered- and ate corned beef sandwiches from a corner deli. Miss those days...
It has everything - clash of working class and Ivy League values, NY baseball's golden era, scenes of 1950s Manhattan, shame of McCarthy era, an intense love story, gripping espionage. Intense,gripping read.
This novel does an excellent job capturing the post World War 2 era of Cold War espionage. The writing is smooth and easy to read and of the highest professional standards. The character of the protagonist journalist Dennis Collins is fascinating. He is no cardboard character. He is flawed yet idealistic. He is comfortable with his middle class background in a local bar,yet seeks to reconnect with an old love with outings at the Stork Club where she is more at home. He fears governmental intrusion upon free speech and scare tactics against liberal leaning figures, yet he believes in the men who fought for freedom in the war and who he believes will in the end do the right thing in the name of justice.
This is a tricky war filled with deception and it is portrayed wonderfully by the author. The atmosphere he creates with references to Bogart and Bacall, the 1949 pennant races in both leagues, and other events of the day contribute to the feeling that you have been taken back in time. It is the beginning of a time when government operatives had to balance between individual justice and the greater good against a clandestine enemy that had invaded the upper levels of the country. While there were some slow moments, the book is solid and intriguing. The last 25% of the book is a pure page turner. It's hard to believe this is Mr. Flanders' first novel. I hope this is a series because I'll be reading his next effort. Well done!!