The Rumor Game by Thomas Mullen

 

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 about Rosie Riveters' safety on the job, 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.

Amazon 

 

About The Author

 Thomas Mullen is the author of Darktown, an NPR Best Book of the Year, which has been shortlisted for the Los Angeles Times Book Prize, the Southern Book Prize, the Indies Choice Book Award, has been nominated for two Crime Writers Association Dagger Awards, and is being developed for television by Sony Pictures with executive producer Jamie Foxx; The Last Town on Earth, which was named Best Debut Novel of 2006 by USA Today and was awarded the James Fenimore Cooper Prize for excellence in historical fiction; The Many Deaths of the Firefly Brothers; and The Revisionists. He lives in Atlanta with his wife and sons.

 

My Review

While this is a fictional read, there is a lot of truth built into this book.
This is WWII time, and we are in an area of the country that wants us to isolate from what is going on in the rest of the world, and the spread of hate for a religion.
We are given a bit of romance, family drama, and actual gangs beating up and hurting others, we thought this was only in Europe.
This is an eye opener for me, yes, my family lived in this area at that time, and yes, they were of the same faith and nationality. Sad.
I found this a page turner, and had a hard time putting it down, and it helped me understand remarks made in the past! I love the the drama of romance against family, and we are there for the decisions!
Don't forget to read the author's notes!
I received this book through Net Galley and the Publisher St. Martin's Press, and was not required to give a positive review.