Ethan Saunders, once among General Washington's most valued spies, now lives in disgrace, haunting the taverns of Philadelphia. An accusation of treason has long since cost him his reputation and his beloved fiancée, Cynthia Pearson, but at his most desperate moment he is recruited for an unlikely task - finding Cynthia's missing husband. To help her, Saunders must serve his old enemy, Treasury Secretary Alexander Hamilton, who is engaged in a bitter power struggle with political rival Thomas Jefferson over the creation of the fragile young nation's first real financial institution: the Bank of the United States.

Meanwhile, Joan Maycott is a young woman married to another Revolutionary War veteran. With the new states unable to support their ex-soldiers, the Maycotts make a desperate gamble: trade the chance of future payment for the hope of a better life on the western Pennsylvania frontier. There, amid hardship and deprivation, they find unlikely friendship and a chance for prosperity with a new method of distilling whiskey. But on an isolated frontier, whiskey is more than a drink; it is currency and power, and the Maycotts' success attracts the brutal attention of men in Hamilton's orbit, men who threaten to destroy all Joan holds dear.

As their causes intertwine, Joan and Saunders - both patriots in their own way - find themselves on opposing sides of a daring scheme that will forever change their lives and their new country. The Whiskey Rebels is a superb rendering of a perilous age and a nation nearly torn apart - and David Liss's most powerful novel yet.

The audio presentation of this sprawling historical novel would have been more successful if it had followed the print version and offered two distinct narrative voices. The story follows Ethan Saunders, a former spy for General Washington, in the period after the Revolutionary War, when he is suspected of treason. Narrator Christopher Lane gives personalities to a wide cast of characters. The difficulty that challenges even Lane's skills is that the story is told in alternating chapters by two protagonists, one male, one female. As Lane narrates, the male character, Saunders, is immediately recognizable. However, it's not as apparent when the female lead, Joan Maycott, has taken over the story. In spite of Lane's excellent performance, this is one instance when two narrators would have increased the listener's enjoyment of an intriguing look at American history. M.O.B. (c) AudioFile 2009, Portland, Maine

 

David Liss is the author of A Spectacle of Corruption, A Conspiracy of Paper (winner of the 2000 Edgar Award for Best First Novel), and The Ethical Assassin. He has a graduate degree in English literature from Columbia University, as well as an M.A. from Georgia State University and a B.S. from Syracuse University. He lives in San Antonio with his wife and daughter.

The Whiskey Rebels by David Liss
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