TURNCOATp Morrow, May 2002Pete Simon's all-American life was everything he ever wished for: a good home, a satisfying career, and a marriage still strong and loving after nearly twenty years. But in the days following the assassination of John F. Kennedy, everything is about to change. It begins abruptly, with the appearance of a disheveled stranger at his Brooklyn door, an unwelcome visitor madly ranting in French about money, death, and forgiveness. The man is unknown to Pete, but not to his wife, Lily. Only when the man has left, still raving, does the truth come out. The bizarre visitor was Lily's father, whom she had claimed died long ago in their native France, executed by the Nazis during the Occupation. The next day he is dead in reality, his savagely beaten body washed up in a nearby marsh - and a distraught Lily disappears, leaving a note behind begging Pete not to follow. As a nation mourns its fallen leader, Pete Simon, faced with his personal calamity, begins his strange odyssey. With a tattered business card from an antiques dealer in Barcelona as his only lead, he sets out to find his missing wife, embarking on a twisted and perilous journey that will carry him to Spain, to France, and finally to Corsica, where the hideous crimes of the Nazis remain fresh in the minds of those who cannot forget ... or forgive. But each door Pete opens leads him deeper into a painful and shocking past, slowly revealing secrets of greed, terror, guilt, and treacherous collaboration with a monstrous enemy capable of shattering everything he believes in and destroying all that he loves most. Beyond that, he finds that he finds he is no longer simply a concerned husband and the seeker of a bitter truth; he has become the target of desperate, dangerous men and their terrifying vengeance. WHERE TO BUY: BOOKSTORESTHE INDEPENDENT MYSTERY BOOKSELLERS ASSOCIATION These are the bookstores that keep the mystery alive and well. They know and love mysteries and thrillers as no one else does, and they deserve your support. Find your local independents here. WHERE TO BUY: ONLINEAmazon and Barnes & Noble
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"One of the many joys of reading Elkins comes from sorting through his myriad plot layers. In his latest . . . Elkins masterfully weaves both backstory about his characters' lives and WWII history into a highly suspenseful plot. Elkins is best known for his fine series starring forensic anthropologist Gideon Oliver, but he also excels at WWII-era thrillers. An outstanding novel." ------Booklist (starred review) "Best-known for the witty . . . Gideon Oliver mystery series, Elkins here delivers a stand-alone thriller that probes wartime guilt from multiple angles. . . . This first-person novel captivates, largely because Pete's voice, a garlicky mixture of France and Brooklyn, always sounds just right." --Publishers Weekly "One of the fascinations of this book is the two levels of historical time that it explores. The action is happening . . . in 1963 and every once in a while I was surprised by something; the value of money then, for example. We also delve into the events of the war in France through the eyes of the survivors, and this is even more intriguing. . . . All of this makes for a fascinating story peopled by believable and likeable characters. . . . And the reader will encounter surprise after surprise, even to the very end of the story."--Mystery News "(An) engaging thriller . . . likable and satisfying."--Kirkus Reviews |
