The Whiskey Rebels

August 4, 2008
Set in and around Philadelphia, Pittsburgh and New York City in the years after the Revolutionary War, this clever thriller from Liss (The Ethical Assassin
) follows the adventures of Ethan Saunders, once a valiant spy for General Washington, who’s fallen on hard times by war’s end. Suspected of treason, Ethan has lost the love of his life, Cynthia, who’s married the fiendish Jacob Pearson, an entrepreneur who managed to prosper during the British occupation of Philadelphia. At Cynthia’s urging, Ethan agrees to go looking for the missing Jacob, prompted in large part by a desire to redeem his reputation. Meanwhile, the so-called whiskey rebels on the western frontier are trying to bring down the hated Alexander Hamilton and his Bank of the United States. The courageous Ethan is a likable rogue, and even though Ethan spends too much time delving into the complications of 18th-century finance, he can be counted on when the chips are down and the odds against him soar.

August 15, 2008
Known for suspenseful novels set in the world of 18th-century finance, e.g., the Edgar Award-winning "A Conspiracy of Paper", Liss often portrays hard-drinking yet likable scoundrels who thwart conspiracies as complex and labyrinthine as finance capitalism itself. Fans of those earlier books won't be disappointed by his fifth novel, a fast-paced and complex narrative that reimagines the events surrounding the Panic of 1792. The book's main characters are reliably roguish Ethan Saunders and beautiful widow Joan Maycott, who encounter Alexander Hamilton, Aaron Burr, and other famous figures of the era. Events get moving when Saunders sets out to find an ex-lover's husband and uncovers a plan to ruin a wealthy financier. As the plot unfolds, however, it becomes clear that the stakes are much higher than personal revenge. Liss portrays post-Revolutionary Philadelphia and New York more effectively than he does the western Pennsylvania frontier, where the villains are somewhat cartoonish, but this detracts only slightly from a thoroughly enjoyable novel. Recommended for all libraries. [See Prepub Alert, "LJ" 6/1/08.]Douglas Southard, CRA International, Inc., Boston

Copyright 2008 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

Starred review from September 1, 2008
Liss is at his best when buried deep in the bowels of eighteenth-century finance, as he was inhis Edgar-winning debut, A Conspiracy of Paper (2000), which starred Benjamin Weaver, a Britishthief-taker (recoverer of stolen goods) in a thriller about Londons notorious Exchange Market. This time he sticks with the period and the financial milieu but moves the action across the ocean to America in the years immediately following the revolution. Its a tumultuous time, with Hamiltonians sparring with Jeffersonians, and Hamilton himself hoping to secure his position with the establishment of the National Bank. Into the mix comes Ethan Saunders, a celebrated spy during the war but now living a dissolute life in Philadelphia as a drunkard and gambler. Attempting to come to the aid of his former lover, the wife of a stock trader and associate of Hamiltons, Saunders falls in with the whiskey rebels, backcountry moonshiners furious with Hamiltons whiskey tax and readywith the help of the wily Joan Maycott, wife of one of the whiskey boysto foment trouble in the financial markets, possibly causing the failure of Hamiltons bank. Like all of Liss novels, this one has a remarkably complex plot, but its so rich in fascinating detailabout the early days of stock trading, about the Federalist movement, and about whiskey makingthat one hardly minds getting lost in the plot machinations now and again. But Liss brings it all together in the end, uniting multiple narrators and different time lines in a bravura finish. Yes, Saunders is an American version of Benjamin Weaver, but whos complaining? A raucous mix of historical fiction and action-adventure thriller.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2008, American Library Association.)