Eagle & Crane

May 28, 2018
Rindell’s satisfying third novel (following Three-Martini Lunch) sets a love triangle against WWII and a traveling barnstorming act. In 1943, FBI Agent Bonner arrives at the Newcastle, Calif., home of Louis Thorn to question him regarding the whereabouts of Harry Yamada, his former barnstorming partner, and Harry’s father, Kenichi, who have escaped from a Japanese-American internment camp. Suddenly, Bonner and Louis witness the takeoff and crash of a biplane. Authorities discover two bodies whom they believe are the Yamadas; Bonner suspects sabotage and investigates. The narrative then jumps back to 1940, when the young, plucky Ava Brooks meets Harry and Louis while traveling with her stepfather’s flying circus. She’s drawn to both young men. The narrative toggles back and forth between the early days of Harry and Louis’s daredevil act, the feud between their families, and Bonner’s investigation of Louis in Harry’s disappearance. At times, Rindell’s prose is stilted, and Ava’s con-artist stepfather is over the top. However, Rindell effectively incorporates the forced internment of Japanese-Americans in camps during WWII, and the fraught, complex friendship between Louis and Harry is as riveting as the truth behind the crash. Rindell’s sweeping generational saga will please fans of immersive, meticulously researched historicals.

Many shocking acts of unbridled racism have taken place in America's history, among them the twentieth-century internment of Japanese-American citizens during WWII. Elizabeth Romanski doesn't disappoint in narrating this multigenerational mystery set in Depression-era California. Louis Thorn and Haruto Yamada are friendly rivals--in piloting and in romance. Both are ace flyers with a traveling air show until the 1941 Japanese bombing of Pearl Harbor tears their lives apart. Romanski makes both men credible and does what she can with underdeveloped secondary characters. Harry and his father escape from a Japanese-American internment camp. A plane that crashes bears two charred bodies. It is assumed they are the Yamadas. But are they? Romanski's performance shines a light on friendship, flying, and inhumane immigration policies. S.J.H. � AudioFile 2018, Portland, Maine