#TheQuadrantConspiracy – Rosepoint Publishing

Rosepoint Reviews – October Recap—And I’ve Gotta Yell Uncle!

Rosepoint Reviews October Recap

October flew by and it would seem my schedule weighs increasingly heavier. I thought I could relax a bit after achieving the 500 review badge for NetGalley but that achievement coincided with harvest and I got embroiled with juicing, walking trails, and the search for a good used bike. We got our much revered Indian Summer and just couldn’t resist getting out of doors. Now, of course, we are looking at the upcoming holidays—all designed to be time sinks. Let’s face it—something has to give. First, I’ll try giving up one post a week.

Together we read or listened to seventeen books in October, most from NetGalley, but also audiobooks, and several author requests.

October reads

Many Are Invited by Dennis Cuesta (CE review)
How the Wicked Run by Annabelle Lewis
Wrong Place Wrong Time by Gillian McAllister (audiobook)
The Gods of Sanibel by Brian Cook (CE review)
Where Coyotes Howl by Sandra Dallas (CE review)
Finlay Donovan Jumps the Gun by Elle Cosimano
Beartown (audiobook) vs The Winners by Fredrik Backman (CE review)
A Dangerous Business by Jane Smiley (CE review)
Her Deadly Game by Robert Dugoni (CE review)
Fries and Alibis by Trixie Silvertale
Ninety-Nine Fire Hoops by Allison Hong Merrill (audiobook)
The Last Summer in Ireland by Noelle Harrison (CE review)
The Quadrant Conspiracy by James H Lewis (CE review)
Murder at an Irish Bakery by Carlene O’Connor
Bullet Train (movie) vs Bullet Train (audiobook) by Kotaro Isaka
No Quiet Water by Shirley Miller Kamada
O’Brien’s Law by John McNellis (CE review)

I must say that I thoroughly enjoyed Bullet Train, but in a head-to-head which one? Would still have to go with the book. The movie, despite a dead-panning and understated Brad Pitt, was just too much flash bang Hollywood. I preferred the psychological study of the great mix of characters in Isaka’s book.

Did you see the movie or read the book? Both? Did you read any of the others above? I saw many thought The Winners was indeed a winner while the CE could not finish it—and as you know—very unusual for him.

Reading Challenges

My usual battle with trying to catch up the challenges. Lost the battle again, but you’ll see—I’ll eventually catch it up and win the war. My challenges for 2022 are all listed and linked in the widget column on the right. Please check out their progress by clicking the Reading Challenges page. I’m now at 92% of the Goodreads Challenge of 180 books at 166. I’ve already achieved the Audiobook Challenge, Historical Reading Challenge, and the NetGalley Challenge with a 98% Feedback Ratio. Phew! I’m feeling a bit like my granddaughter with our great-grandson—see that face? Yeah…

But speaking of getting older; our little Bichon Frisé, Frosty, will have her seventeenth birthday in January 2023. I’m not sure she’ll make that as she is declining before our eyes. Breaks our hearts and we watch her every day for signs she is suffering. So far, so good; eating and drinking her water, getting me up one to three times during the night to piddle. Maybe it’s not the books and blog that have me exhausted, but we love her too much to give up quite yet.

Thank you for joining me if you are a new follower and as always I appreciate those who continue to read, like, share, and comment—especially comment! Let me know if you saw something above that got your interest.

The Quadrant Conspiracy by James H Lewis – #BookReview – #assassinationthrillers

“The Plot to Kill FDR.”

Book Blurb:

As Anglo-American leaders gather to plan the defeat of Nazi Germany, Hitler orders the death of President Franklin Roosevelt to derail the conference. Brandon Armitage, a Canadian veteran of the Great War, has joined Canada’s Volunteer Guard to oversee German prisoners; it’s a role he’s undertaken to seek revenge for the death of his son during a raid on the French Coast. When one of his prisoners escapes. Armitage pursues him to a remote island above Lake Huron, where FDR is on a pre-conference fishing trip. Suspecting the German is trying to assassinate the American leader, Armitage alerts security officials. When they refuse his help, insisting their security is tight, Armitage must act alone, even as he seeks to rescue his failing marriage.

The Quadrant Conspiracy is based on an actual historical incident and is set against the backdrop of the Allied march to defeat the Third Reich. While there are elements of a thriller, the story also centers on the effect of two worldwide conflicts on a marriage.

His Review:

The tide of the second world war is beginning to turn and the allies are not totally in sync regarding the prosecution of the war. Winston Churchill and the British preferred the battles be fought in North Africa and up the Italian peninsula rather than from British soil into France. Stalin is refusing to attend the meetings because of the problems faced on the Eastern Front with the German army. Stalingrad is holding out but the fighting has been vicious and he needed to save his people.

A German pilot is shot down and being held in a Canadian prison. His name is Jorg Schumaker and he desperately wants to get back into a plane and fly for the fatherland. Young, blond, and fair he can masquerade as a local college boy and get away with it. A young girl, smitten by his boyish good looks; decides to assist him in escaping.

Meanwhile, the high command in Germany decides that their best bet to turn the tide of the war is to kill Franklin Delano Roosevelt. FDR is scheduled to take a fishing holiday in Canada and the plot is actuated to complete the mission. Secret communications are relayed to the P.O.W. camp and Jorg Schumaker is tasked with the assassination assignment.

Brandon Armitage is a WW1 veteran who joins the Veterans Guard to assist in helping guard and control the German prisoners in Canada. When Jorg Schumaker escapes again from prison, Brandon is assigned to find Jorg.

Prisoners have been paid a stipend for working in the fields and orchards and have accumulated enough money to attempt another escape. Brandon’s wife is not happy with her husband rejoining the military and leaving her to grieve alone after the loss of one son and the belief the other is dead.

Roosevelt needs a break from the constant pressure of the war on two fronts and the constant meddling by Winston Churchill. After the failed attempt to land troops at Diepp along the French coast, Churchill wishes to have the war proceed through Italy as a land-based affair rather than an attack across the English Channel. Meanwhile, Roosevelt has gone fishing!

The writer has written a very engaging novel of war and the intrigue of three very large world powers not totally in agreement as to how to proceed. You will find this a very informative and engaging read. 4.5 stars – CE Williams

Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with the opportunity to read and review this book.

Rosepoint Publishing: Four point Five Stars

Book Details:

Genre: Assassination Thrillers, Conspiracy Thrillers, World War II Historical Fiction
Publisher: James H Lewis
ISBN-13: ‎ 979-8986379739
ASIN: B0BFV291B5
Print Length: 371 pages
Publication Date: September 23, 2022
Source: Publisher and NetGalley
Title Link: The Quadrant Conspiracy [Amazon]
Barnes & Noble

The Author: James H (Jim) Lewis is the author of six novels. His latest, “The Quadrant Conspiracy,” imagines an attempt on the life of President Franklin Roosevelt while on a fishing trip prior to an Angle-American conference that will determine the course of the Second World War.

“Novak’s Quest,” is the second in his Chief Novak police procedural series, while a family drama, “Belonging,” is being distributed on Kindle Vella.

James is a member of Mystery Writers of America and PennWriters. A former reporter, public media executive, and consultant to non-profit organizations, he has lived and worked in Washington, DC, Florida, Texas, New England, Oregon, and Sweden.

As a journalist, he helped launch and co-hosted FEEDBACK, an innovative public affairs program produced at WJCT, Jacksonville, and funded by the Ford Foundation. He spent a year in Stockholm under a grant from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, working in the Central News Department of Sveriges Radio, Sweden’s national public broadcasting service, for which he produced English-language news reports for distribution through Eurovision.

During his long career in public media, he served stations throughout the country as Executive Producer, Director of Development, Station Manager, and General Manager and as President of the OPB Foundation in Portland, Oregon. In 1996 he co-founded Lewis Kennedy Associates, a consulting firm to non-profit organizations, known today as LKA Fundraising and Communications. He continues to work for LKA as a copywriter.

He was honored by PBS as Fundraising Professional of the Year in 1994 and by Greater Public with its President’s Award on his retirement in 2011. He is a graduate of the University of Massachusetts.

He and his wife live in Pittsburgh where they dote on their two grandchildren. His articles on travel, fundraising, and non-profit management have been published in national newspapers and magazines.