Ever notice how many really great reads have been stories fashioned from one small grain of truth? Here’s one more by award-winning author Dan Simmons and wonderfully performed by classically trained actor Patrick Lawlor.
In this case, the small grain of truth is that during World War II when Ernest Hemingway was living in Cuba he asked our government’s permission to operate a spy ring out of his house. Interesting? Yes. But explosive in the hands of Simmons who takes that fact and imagines that Hemingway has gathered a bunch of inexperienced but zealous fellows to form a spy ring, which he calls the “Crook Factory.”
Amateur attempts at espionage can be dangerous so Simmons further posits that in the summer of 1942 J. Edgar Hoover sends FBI agent Joe Lucas to Cuba to report on Hemingway’s anti-submarine patrol. Lucas and Hemingway - what a combination! It’s not long before the pair discover a vital piece of intelligence, and the action heats up as Lucas must guard against counter terrorism groups and the trouble that Hemingway brews.
Alternative history? Speculative fiction? Yes. And richly imagined. Simmons has brilliantly captured the tenor of Cuba in the ‘40s and created a tense, suspenseful tale. THE CROOK FACTORY is can’t-stop-listening-to pleasure.
Ever notice how many really great reads have been stories fashioned from one small grain of truth? Here’s one more by award-winning author Dan Simmons and wonderfully performed by classically trained actor Patrick Lawlor.
In this case, the small grain of truth is that during World War II when Ernest Hemingway was living in Cuba he asked our government’s permission to operate a spy ring out of his house. Interesting? Yes. But explosive in the hands of Simmons who takes that fact and imagines that Hemingway has gathered a bunch of inexperienced but zealous fellows to form a spy ring, which he calls the “Crook Factory.”
Amateur attempts at espionage can be dangerous so Simmons further posits that in the summer of 1942 J. Edgar Hoover sends FBI agent Joe Lucas to Cuba to report on Hemingway’s anti-submarine patrol. Lucas and Hemingway - what a combination! It’s not long before the pair discover a vital piece of intelligence, and the action heats up as Lucas must guard against counter terrorism groups and the trouble that Hemingway brews.
Alternative history? Speculative fiction? Yes. And richly imagined. Simmons has brilliantly captured the tenor of Cuba in the ‘40s and created a tense, suspenseful tale. THE CROOK FACTORY is can’t-stop-listening-to pleasure.
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