This book was good. But it wasn't as good as I thought it would be and so I was pretty disappointed. The story is thrilling and the facts are fantastic. The problem is that Brian Kilmeade and Don Yaeger gave us a book that handles this treasure poorly. It's not strictly nonfiction because they invent conversations between the spies. And it's not a historical novel. Instead it tries to be both. Yes, the phrases used in conversation are culled from the figures' own letters, but that doesn't make for exciting or believable dialogue.
And stop telling us HOW the characters talk. A wise, wise man named Elmore Leonard once said, "Never use a verb other than "said" to carry dialogue." The dialogue in Secret Six just so wooden and rife with "gruff" or "nervous" men and dialogue that ends up sounding like:
"Consarn it, this goes against mah backwoodsmanlike instincts but ah do so love to ruffle the feathers of them Red Coats that ahl take the risk!" he said gruffly, banging his tankard of Sam Adams Octoberfest on the table.
Ok, I made that up, but I'm only exaggerating slightly.
There are only so many times we need to be told that Mr. Woodhull grumbles and has no social graces, blah blah. We get it, guys. You established a vibrant character, but you don't trust us to remember his most important traits from one page to the next. I would much rather read made up conversations that are actually good or just read it as straight nonfiction. My other issue is that there is no mystery, no slow reveal of who the spies are and what role they play. We get too much information up front and then the dry details are filled in as we go.
I'm not really sure what type of reader would enjoy this book the most. Anyone not fascinated by the American Revolution will be bored. But anyone who has already studied much about the war, and especially the spies, will probably already know these stories of espionage and near misses.
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