G967 Book Review of The company files the good man by Gabriel Valjan

Name of Book:The Company Files: 1. The Good Man

Author: Gabriel Valjan

ISBN: 9781941058732

Publisher: Winter Goose Publishing

Part of a Series: The Company Files

Type of book: Spying, 1948-1950, Vienna Austria, British, German, Russians, reprisals, former Nazis, secrets, Americans, allies, wild cards, mysterious coins

Year it was published: 2017

Summary:

Jack Marshall had served with Walker during the war, and now they work for The Company in postwar Vienna. With the help of Leslie, an analyst who worked undercover gathering intelligence from Hitler’s inner circle, they are tasked to do the inconceivable: recruit former Nazis with knowledge that can help the U.S. in the atomic race. But someone else is looking for these men. And when he finds them, he does not leave them alive. In this tale of historical noir, of corruption and deceit, no one is who they say they are. Who is The Good Man in a world where an enemy may be a friend, an ally the enemy, and governments deny everything?

Characters:

Main characters include Jack Marshall who is best described as the brains behind trying to figure out what happened to his friend Whittaker. He is resourceful, intelligent and cunning as well as loyal to his friends, be they new or old. Walker is intelligent but seems to lack creativity that Jack has. He has been trying to get over a girl and is also loyal. There is also Sheldon, a mysterious Jewish tailor who also was a Kommando in Auschwitz and who helps out Jack and and Walker. There are villains such as Mr. Meeks, a Southerner who loves to believe he is British and another mysterious villain is exposed towards the end. Leslie and Whittaker are best described as wild-cards because one doesn't know where their loyalties lie. 

Theme:

Everyone has secrets they don't want exposed, enemy of my enemy is my friend

Plot:

The story is written in third person narrative primarily from Walker's, Jack's and Sheldon's points of view. I have to say that I really enjoyed the double entendres Sheldon gives to Jack and Walker when they confront him about his activities. Power play and shifting allegiances between the players also add to a lot of fun as well as figuring what each player wants and how they will get it.

Author Information:
(From iRead Book Tours)

Buy the Book:
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Meet the Author:

Gabriel Valjan is the author of The Roma Seriesfrom Winter Goose Publishing. He lives in Boston, Massachusetts, where he enjoys the local restaurants, and his two cats, Squeak and Squawk, keep him honest to the story on the screen.

Connect with the Author: Website ~ Twitter ~ Facebook

Opinion:

I know that I liked and enjoyed the book a lot, but trying to understand what is going on takes up a lot of mental fortitude to sift through the plot and the characters and put the pieces together and hope that you are understanding the tale correctly. Its really unlike anything else I've read. The author parcels out information about the main characters but at the same time he gives enough to be satisfied. The characters tend to cross, double cross as well as triple cross the nations they work for and its dizzying to watch how they switch allegiances. For a mental puzzle don't miss this one out.

This is for iRead Book Tours

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Feb 13 - The All Night Library - review / author interview
Feb 14 - The World As I See It - review / giveaway
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Feb 16 - T's Stuff - book spotlight / guest post ./ giveaway
Feb 19 - Rocksprings Crafts - review / giveaway
Feb 20 - A Mama's Corner of the World - review / giveaway
Feb 21 - Library of Clean Reads - review / giveaway
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Feb 23 - 411 on Books, Authors, and Publishing News - bk spotlight / interview /gw
Feb 26 - Bound 4 Escape - review / giveaway
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Feb 28 - Rockin' Book Reviews - review / guest post / giveaway
March 1 - Jayne’s Books - review 
March 1 - JBronder Book Reviews - review / guest post
March 2 - Laurie's Thoughts and Reviews - book spotlight / guest post / giveaway

4 out of 5
(0: Stay away unless a masochist 1: Good for insomnia 2: Horrible but readable; 3: Readable and quickly forgettable, 4: Good, enjoyable 5: Buy it, keep it and never let it go.)