His Two Novels – The Hellfire Club and The Devil May Dance – Are Real Page-Turners
by Ray Keating
The Keating Files – July 14, 2021
I’m not exactly a big fan of CNN. But then again, I’m not a fan of any television network’s coverage of politics these days. It’s only the select few reporters, and even fewer commentators, that I can, well, tolerate. But I do appreciate Jake Tapper, CNN’s lead anchor for Washington, DC, events and chief Washington correspondent. Why?
While I agree with him on some issues and disagree on others – more often disagreeing, I think – Tapper seems to annoy both sides of the political aisle. Democrats dislike him when in power and the same goes for Republicans, which says something positive about any political journalist.
Also, after hearing him in a couple of interviews, Tapper is something of a political history nerd. I like that.
Finally, since Donald Trump arrived on the political scene, Tapper has been somewhat careful in separating Trump acolytes and true, traditional conservatives. I very much appreciate that.
But now there’s another reason. I discovered Jake Tapper, the novelist. Tapper has written two excellent political mysteries/thrillers. As both a writer and reader of this genre, I thoroughly enjoyed his first book, The Hellfire Club, which was published in 2018, as well as the follow up, The Devil May Dance, published in May of this year. The two make for a nice combo summer beach reading.
Tapper skillfully walks a line in these books. No punches are pulled as to the underbelly of politics. In this sense, both books have a noirish feel at times. I’m also a big believer in novels being first about characters, obviously followed quite closely by the story. Readers need to care, in some way, about the characters. And Tapper neatly balances the seedy, noirish aspects of his two tales with two eminently likeable main characters. These novels are entries in the Charlie and Margaret Marder Mystery series, and this reader found himself liking and caring for both Charlie and Margaret, and rooting for them through assorted challenges.
In The Hellfire Club, Charlie and Margaret are two academics whose lives get turned upside down after Charlie is appointed to a vacant congressional seat from New York thanks to his family ties. The two work to maintain their bearings inside and outside their marriage throughout both books.
The Hellfire Club involves power, politics, murder, secret societies, double crosses and conspiracies. As for the mystery, the reader keep turning pages (or swiping the Kindle screen) trying to figure out who is involved and in what exactly. Much the same can be said of The Devil May Dance – not that Tapper repeats himself.
The Hellfire Club serves up Washington, D.C., in 1954, with Tapper, the political history nerd, having Charlie and Margaret interacting with the likes of President Eisenhower, Senators Estes Kefauver, Joe McCarthy and Margaret Chase Smith, the Kennedys, and others, and being involved with some actual historical events.
Meanwhile, The Devil May Dance takes Charlie and Margaret to Hollywood in the early 1960s, largely hanging out with Frank Sinatra and the Rat Pack. The Kennedys and the mob play heavily into the plot, as does Scientology. The reader even gets a dead body in trunk (fitting for such a story), along with a key scene taking place at the Oscars.
If you’re looking for an engrossing mystery with fascinating characters and some humor sprinkled throughout, then both The Hellfire Club and The Devil May Dance are for you.
Tapper’s journalistic instincts can be detected throughout these two books. The historical figures brought into his fiction are dealt with in straightforward fashion, not shying away from shortcomings and darks aspects, yet also highlighting positives. And to his credit, Tapper strives for accuracy regarding the historical points sprinkled throughout these works of fiction. Along the way, he occasionally draws some parallels between his characters and situations based in the 1950s and 1960s, to characters and scenarios playing out in our recent, real-world politics. Fortunately, though, he does so with a subtle touch.
Much more can be said about these two books, but I’m not keen on reviews that reveal too many details. After all, that’s why we read the books in the first place. But it is worth coming back to Charlie and Margaret. Here are smart, interesting characters, but not perfect. The reader is glad to ride along with the couple – engrossed, entertained, hoping for the best, and looking forward to the next journey with Charlie and Margaret Marder.
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Ray Keating is a columnist, novelist, economist, podcaster and entrepreneur. Keating has three new books out. Vatican Shadows: A Pastor Stephen Grant Novel is the 13ththriller/mystery in the Pastor Stephen Grant series. Get the paperback or Kindle edition at Amazon, or signed books at www.raykeatingonline.com. Past Lives: A Pastor Stephen Grant Short Story is the 14th book in the series. Get the paperback or Kindle edition at Amazon, or signed book at www.raykeatingonline.com. And order the 15th book in the series What’s Lost? A Pastor Stephen Grant Short Story.
The views expressed here are his own – after all, no one else should be held responsible for this stuff, right?
You also can order his book Behind Enemy Lines: Conservative Communiques from Left-Wing New York from Amazon or signed books at RayKeatingOnline.com. His other recent nonfiction book is Free Trade Rocks! 10 Points on International Trade Everyone Should Know.
One of the best ways to enjoy Ray Keating’s Pastor Stephen Grant thrillers and mysteries is to join the Pastor Stephen Grant Fellowship! For the BEST VALUE, consider the Book of the Month Club. Check it all out at https://www.patreon.com/pastorstephengrantfellowship
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Check out Ray Keating’s Disney news and entertainment site at www.DisneyBizJournal.com.
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