Thursday, March 21, 2013

FACE OF THE ENEMY



                                                                             


Several months ago, I responded to a blog in which Beverle Graves Myers was being interviewed. I don’t remember whose blog it was, but my comment got me a free book, Face of the Enemy, co-authored by Joanne Dobson. Because my TBR pile was so high and included books for my book clubs which had to be read first, it took me a while to get to this book. Once I started it though, it was hard to put down.

Face of the Enemy takes place in New York City shortly before the bombing of Pearl Harbor in 1941. As the cover blurb states, the attack caused patriotism and paranoia to grip the city as it prepared for war. Both the Japanese and German residents, even if they were U.S. citizens, lived with understandable fear.

When the owner of an art gallery is murdered, Masako Fumi, an artist who had her avant-garde art exhibited that evening in the gallery, comes under suspicion. Louise Hunter, a nurse who was caring for Masako’s critically ill husband in their apartment, is horrified when Masako is taken away by the FBI. She and Masako had become friends, and she doesn’t believe Masako would be a killer so she sets about trying to prove her innocence.

Cabby Ward, a roommate of Louise’s in a boarding house run by a German immigrant, is trying to make a name for herself as a journalist. She sees Masako’s problem as a way to gain a headline story and help her advance as an investigative reporter at her newspaper.

Lieutenant McKenna is working the case and doesn’t totally believe Masako is guilty, but he is being thwarted in his investigation at every turn by higher powers in the police station, the higher echelons of NYC government, and the FBI. They want a quick end to the murder investigation with Masako proven guilty.

The historical aspect of this book along with the plot twists and turns makes the book hard to stop reading. Add to that believable characters a reader cares about, and the mix makes Face of the Enemy a rich book that stays in the mind long after finishing the last page, and one I highly recommend.

Joanne Dobson won an Agatha nomination for Quieter Than Sleep, the first book in her Professor Karen Pelletier mystery series. For many years Joanne was an English Professor at Fordham University, teaching literature and creative writing. She lives in New York. www.joannedobson.com

Beverle Graves Myers is the author of the Tito Amato mystery series. Her novels and short stories have earned nominations for the Macavity, Derringer, and Kentucky Literary Awards. A retired psychiatrist, Bev is also a lifelong opera lover and avid traveler. She lives in Kentucky. www.beverlegravesmyers.com



9 comments:

  1. Our treatment of citizens of German of Japanese descent is one of our less attractive historical features, but the inherent conflict can make a great background for stories.

    Thanks for bringing this book to my attention.

    ~ Jim

    ReplyDelete
  2. You're write about that, Jim. I was more familiar with what the Japanese on the west coast went through than those in New York City until I read this book. It's up there with our treatment of Native Americans and African Americans.

    ReplyDelete
  3. The book sounds like an interesting read with parallels to our own times. What rights do we sacrifice in pursuit of national safety?

    ReplyDelete
  4. I didn't realize that the hysteria was so wide spread. I knew about the West Coast (Snow Falling on Cedar) and the Japanese discrimination, but I hadn't realized that it extended to the East Coast and German descent.

    I love books that also teach about eras to which I've have no exposure.

    ReplyDelete
  5. On the German discrimination issue, I think it was worse in World War I thatn WWII relative to Germans. One of the times I lived in New Jersey, I lived in Oldwick -- which prior to 1917 was called New Germantown.

    ~ Jim

    ReplyDelete
  6. My mother's family emigrated from Germany in the late 1800s. Prior and during WWII they were scared they would be jailed and/or harassed even though they were U.S. citizens. Some family members changed their names so they didn't sound German.

    Thank you for the book suggestion, Gloria.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Warren, it does make you wonder, doesn't it.

    Like you, E.B., I knew about the paranoia on the west coast but not in the east.

    Kara, I think there's the same discrimination today towards those of middle-eastern background. I haven't personally witnessed it, but my daughter had a Persian friend, who was always pulled off flights to her parents' home in Canada even though she was a U.S. citizen.

    My great-grandmother and her 8 year old son, my grandfather, came over from Slovakia. While they didn't have to fear for their life, they were looked down upon by those with English backgrounds.

    ReplyDelete
  8. Jim, I think you're right. I've heard of the Japanese being rounded up and sent to detention camps, but never the Germans. Probably it was because Japan actually attacked us, while the Germans were a threat, but it seemed more over there and not over here.

    Still, before television, I remember when I went to the movies and they had the news reels before the main feature, I remember the audience cheering when a German plane was shot down. But again they were "Over There."

    ReplyDelete
  9. The innocent always suffer during war time. As long as there is warfare this will be true. Savage thinking allowed people to turn on their fellow immigrant citizens. Not that I would ever condone that behavior, but before you become too incensed with your fellow Americans, try reading about the internment camps in Asia and the concentration camps in Europe, and I don't mean anything in the way of light reading. Humans will be humans and act that way until we can improve upon the original design. At the moment we are about a micro smidge above savages and no religious belief tempers it.
    JMHO
    Patg

    ReplyDelete