Red Chaser: A noir thriller of the 1950s, the cold war and the Brooklyn Dodgers

"I went to war poor. Nine years later I came back rich. Along the way, I became known as a Red Chaser. Now, I was going to meet the greatest Red Chaser of them all. Senator Joe McCarthy. Tailgunner Joe himself."

If you enjoy James Ellroy or the Nate Heller books by Max Allan Collins, you'll love this romp into this 1950s history of spies, Commies and the Brooklyn Dodgers.

The novel Red Chaser tosses you right into the 1950s. In the 1950s, you'll meet the kinkiest and most beautiful spy this side of the Iron Curtain. You'll meet Joe McCarthy. Best of all, you'll live the life of Jake McHenry.

Jake seems to have a near-perfect life. After all, he spent five years in Germany after World War II and came back laden with ill-gotten Nazi riches. Being young and rich ain't bad.

Back home in Brooklyn, Jake became a private detective for the simple reason that he needed a pretend job to hide the source of his riches. Mostly, however, he went to Brooklyn Dodgers games at Ebbets Field and drank beer.

Between games, Jake did occasionally work at being a detective. His specialty was looking for candid photo-ops of husbands trying to get a little on the side. Sort of seedy, but not a bad diversion.

Then Joe McCarthy entered the picture. A childhood buddy introduced Jake to Tailgunner Joe. They wanted Jake to steal a secret list of celebrity communists from the Ice Queen, a rich high-society leftist named Arabella Van Dyk. The Ice Queen also happened to be the most beautiful--and most depraved--woman that Jake had ever seen.

The break-in of the Ice Queen's brownstone in Manhattan was easy, but it unleashed a flurry of Russians, North Koreans, J. Edgar Hoover and mobsters in a wild chase for the list.

The backdrop to all this is the greatest pennant race in the history of Major League Baseball. The New York Giants chased the Brooklyn Dodgers all summer long for the National League pennant. That’s the year that Bobby Thompson hit the "shot heard 'round the world." The pennant--and Jake's life--comes down to the last inning and the last pitch at the Polo Grounds in New York City on Wednesday, October 3, 1951.

Red Chaser is a fresh spin on the historical mystery novel. It's fun, it's 1950s noir, it's Brooklyn, it keeps you guessing and when you finish the last page you say, "Wow, that was fun."