A determined reporter and a reluctant FBI agent face off against fascist elements in this gripping historical thriller set in World War II-era Boston from the multi-award-nominated author.
Reporter Anne Lemire writes the Rumor Clinic, a newspaper column that disproves the many harmful rumors floating around town, some of them spread by Axis spies and others just gossip mixed with fear and ignorance. Tired of chasing silly rumors, she wants to write about something bigger.
Special Agent Devon Mulvey, one of the few Catholics at the FBI, spends his weekdays preventing industrial sabotage and his Sundays spying on clerics with suspect loyalties – and he spends his evenings wooing the many lonely women whose husbands are off at war.
When Anne’s story about Nazi propaganda intersects with Devon’s investigation into the death of a factory worker, the two are led down a dangerous trail of espionage, organized crime, and domestic fascism – one that implicates their own tangled pasts and threatens to engulf the city in violence.
With vibrant historical atmosphere and a riveting mystery that illuminates still-timely issues about disinformation and power, Thomas Mullen delivers another powerful thriller.
Reporter Anne Lemire writes the Rumor Clinic, a newspaper column that disproves the many harmful rumors floating around town, some of them spread by Axis spies and others just gossip mixed with fear and ignorance. Tired of chasing silly rumors, she wants to write about something bigger.
Special Agent Devon Mulvey, one of the few Catholics at the FBI, spends his weekdays preventing industrial sabotage and his Sundays spying on clerics with suspect loyalties – and he spends his evenings wooing the many lonely women whose husbands are off at war.
When Anne’s story about Nazi propaganda intersects with Devon’s investigation into the death of a factory worker, the two are led down a dangerous trail of espionage, organized crime, and domestic fascism – one that implicates their own tangled pasts and threatens to engulf the city in violence.
With vibrant historical atmosphere and a riveting mystery that illuminates still-timely issues about disinformation and power, Thomas Mullen delivers another powerful thriller.
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Reviews
Begins as a slow burn and then races at a breakneck pace to a dramatic conclusion... vivid. The writing is tight... characters are well-drawn
Mullen evokes a perilous world of fascist sympathisers and German spies with skill and evocative detail in this original, thought-provoking tale
Mullen excels at pulling us gradually into these complexities, never letting the plot's various lines
grow tangled even as his protagonists navigate a complicated world of conflicting
allegiances
Mullen should be every bit as big as Lehane
An unrelenting page turner with a cast of some of the most memorable characters I have encountered in recent times. The Rumor Game is that rare thing in historical crime fiction - one that is relevant and important. Quite an achievement!
A remarkably good book, smartly conceived and beautifully executed
An unnervingly timely tale of prejudice, hatred, and violence
A first-class historical thriller
Thomas Mullen has a rare ability to write fiction that combines historical detail with the twisting plot of a thriller