The
story kicks off in 1960 Los Angeles, with the daring kidnapping of the child of
one of America's richest men. It then darts back and forth between a private
detective's urgent search for the child, the saga of a notorious hit man in the
days leading to JFK's assassination, and the modern-day story of a skeptical
journalist researching the still-active conspiracy theories of the 50s and 60s,
with the aim of debunking them. Just as the detective discovers that the
kidnapping is a crime much larger than he imagined, and the hit man finds
himself caught in a web that is astonishingly complex, the journalist
discovers-to his horror, dismay, and even his jeopardy-that the conspiracy
theories might well be true.
With expert pacing, sparkling dialogue, and plot twists that
will keep readers entranced, Tim Baker's irrepressible debut novel is a joy
ride through classic noir traditions, updated with a surprisingly contemporary
sensibility.
Fever
City (Crime Noir)
By
Tim Baker
Europa
Editions www.europaeditions.com
ISBN
#978-1609452872
Price
$12.07 (paperback)
400
Pages
Rating
5-stars
“A
Fast-Paced, Thrill-A-Minute ride.”
Normally, there are two
things I absolutely hate in a story. One is using real people in scenes and
narrative, the second is jumping back and forth in the tale from one point to
another. This story contains both, but the author pulls it off. The author’s
writing is smooth, and he keeps the same people throughout the tale, even if
the years jump from 1959 to 1960, 1963, and 2014. It all stems from the
kidnapping of the Bannister child in 1960 and the private eye handling the
case, to the assassination of JFK in 1963 and one of the assassins hired for
the job, and finally culminates with the son of the private detective searching
for answers to the mystery in 2014. We are led through conspiracies with Marilyn Monroe, Howard
Hughes and the Roswell UFO crash, to secret cabals, the Masons and Illuminati,
and hidden temples in the homes of powerful men who control the political
system of America and the world.
Two leading questions
haunt the tale. First, what became of the missing child, and why are assassins
trying to kill the son of the detective, now a reporter, trying to find answers
to an old mystery. Everyone the reporter questions turns up dead, and some
really weird people are trying to protect him before he meets the same fate.
With most of the original people involved now dead, it seems he will not find
the answer.
The story comes to an
end in France, as the reporter finally learns the truth from one of the main
players in this long-running mystery, although I had figured it out early in
the story, and if readers will pay attention they will also. But it is
certainly a good yarn, even if it does play loosely with real people in
history. This book was hard to put down, and kept me turning the pages. Highly
recommended for noir lovers.
Tom
Johnson
Author
of CARNIVAL OF DEATH
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