Book Review: The Proxy Assassin by John Knoerle

The American Spy Trilogy comes to an explosive end in The Proxy Assassin by John Knoerle.

Two years have passed since Former OSS Agent Hal Schroeder was sent on his last suicide mission. Maybe it's time for him to start settling down. Hal is invited to Washington D.C. by Frank Wisner, head of the CIA’s new covert ops division. He is then whisked off to Wisner’s Maryland shore retreat and introduced to Romanian royals, including the beautiful Princess Stela Varadja, a direct descendant of Vlad Tepes Draculea.

Wisner asks Hal if he would consider parachuting into a remote mountain camp to meet with the leader of a group of Romanian anti-Communist guerillas? That's when things get scary.

After being totally captivated by the second book of this series, A Despicable Profession, I eagerly anticipated the release of the final book. Hal is faced with a new puzzle to solve in the fight against Communism. Knoerle blends characters from the past book with new fictional and historical characters to create a story where the still infant Central Intelligence Agency is working against another threat to freedom. So much of what I like about Hal is part of this book: his cocky, sarcastic attitude, his ability to creatively get out of messes, and his vulnerability to the opposite sex. Hal is wise beyond his years, and he isn't afraid to tell it like it is.

I have to admit the first half of this the book lagged a bit for me. After reading a thrilling, fast-paced story in A Despicable Profession, I found The Proxy Assassin unfolded much more slowly, at least until around Chapter Nineteen, where the pace and action picked up. Knoerle did a superb job of connecting the past and the present. He managed to add a hint of romance or potential romance to Hal's life without distracting from the unfolding storyline. In addition, the back story was woven in well.  I only wish the tension and suspense had stayed steady.

Post-WWII fiction lovers, those who enjoy espionage novels, and those interested in historical novels set around the early years of the Cold War should consider this one.

Paperback: 280 pages
Publisher: Blue Steel Press (September 1, 2012)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0982090390
ISBN-13: 978-0982090398
SRP:  $15.00
Kindle version only 99 cents

I received a free copy of this book from the author. This review contains my honest opinions, for which I have not been compensated in any way.

This book is the 57th book I've read for the following challenge:

It is the 34th book I've read for the following challenge:

It is the 13th book I've read for the following challenge:

Recent Books Added to My TBR Pile

Is it possible to have too many books? If it is, I think I'm going for a world record. I've recently added these books to my TBR Pile:


Unexpected Christmas Hero by Kathi Macias,

American Patriots: Answering the Call to Freedom by Rick Santorum,

Deadly Plunge by Greg Messel,

A Texan's Choice by Shelley Gray,

Beside Two Rivers by Rita Gerlach,

The Proxy Assassin by John Knoerle.

At a recent writers conference, I purchased some books for myself and some for the girls:

The Treasure Chest: Prince of Air by Ann Hood. She was the afternoon keynote speaker.

Escaping into the Night by D. Dina Friedman,

Borrowed Names by Jeannine Atkins,

Jo's Girls edited by Christian McEwen,

Confectionately Yours: Save the Cupcake by Lisa Papademetriou.

What are some recent additions to your TBR Pile?

Favorite Historical Novels

I've always been fascinated with history. Mostly early American history, but I spread out to other eras and countries from time to time. Thanks to blogging, I have the chance to learn about many historical novels. Here are some of my favorites.

Loss of Innocence by Anne Newton Walther was one of the first books I read when I began reviewing. I didn't even have this blog yet, so I was reviewing for a book review site. Set during the French Revolution, it is a sequel to Walther's A Time for Treason. You can read my review here.

Faith and Honor by Robin Maderich is the first book in the author's Honor trilogy. Colonial America is one of my favorite settings for stories, and this eloquently written book captured the fashion, the language, and tense situation of Colonial Boston . You can read my review here.

I was introduced to the work of C.W. Gortner through Pump Up Your Book. I've reviewed his books and helped him promote two of them. It's hard for me to say one of his books is a favorite over the other, because his eloquent writing style and his attention to detail fill every one I've read. The Tudor Secret, however, appeals to my love of mysteries too.


Set during the summer of 1553, foundling Brendan Prescott's chance meeting with Princess Elizabeth pulls him into a world of danger and intrigue. The style of this one is a bit more casual than Gortner's usual fair, but it is a superbly told story that will captivate readers. My review can be found here.

Lovers of Tudor England will most likely know the work of Margaret George. C.W. Gortner turned me onto her work, and I helped the author promote her novel, Elizabeth I.  George set this novel thirty years into the queen's reign. This allowed me to rediscover a piece of history I am familiar with from my travels to North Carolina each summer, because in this novel, Sir Walter Raleigh visits Queen Elizabeth to announce the colony on Roanoke Island has disappeared. Recently, a new clue surfaced regarding the disappearance of this colony. You can read my review of Elizabeth I here. The giveaway, however, is over.

Blogging has also allowed me to find some great World War II and post-World War II novels.

A Despicable Profession by John Knoerle is set in 1946, when America is celebrating its victory over the Germans. This outstanding historical spy novel--while not my typical historical read--blew me away. I loved it beginning to end. I shared it with my father-in-law, who also enjoyed it. He liked it so much, I bought the first book in this series for him as a birthday gift. I'm trying to make room in my schedule to read that one too.


I believe Copper Fire by Suzanne Woods Fisher is the first World War II era novel I read for this blog. It is the second in her Copper Star Series, and the book that made me a fan of her work.

After Louisa Gordon receives a telegram from the International Red Cross Training Service that her young cousin, Elizabeth has been released from a German concentration camp, she decides to go to Germany to collect her cousin and bring her back to the States. She is also eager to discover the whereabouts of Nazi sympathizer, Friedrich Mueller, who fled Copper Springs, AZ. If you love strong heroines, this is a great book. You can read my review here.

There are many other historical novels I've enjoyed through the years, but to share all of them here would make this a novel in and of itself. I didn't include any of my favorite Civil War novels because there are so many the list needs a post all its own.

What are your top three favorite historical novels?  

Book Review: A Despicable Profession by John Knoerle

Do you like spy novels? Do you enjoy mystery and intrigue? Do you enjoy post-WWII fiction?

If you answered yes to any of these, you must pick up a copy of A Despicable Profession: Book Two of The American Spy Trilogy by John Knoerle.

It's May 1946. America is enjoying its victory over the Germans. The OSS has been disbanded and the CIA is still more than a year away from being formed.

Former OSS agent Hal Schroeder is offered a job as a trade rep in Berlin. When he flies to meet his new boss in New York, he's shocked to come face-to-face with former OSS Chief Bill Donovan. Schroeder has no interest in being a spy.

When rumors swirl about the Red Army massing tanks along the Elbe in East Germany, and Hal ends up meeting a man from his past in Berlin, Hal's interests take a backseat to discovering the truth.

My husband and I have this ongoing battle. I prefer to read fiction set during the American Revolution or the Civil War. The birth of our nation and the War that divided our country--in some places still does--fascinate me. I believe they hold a great influence, even today. My husband, however, believes that anything prior to World War II is unimportant. He prefers to read fiction set during that time period.

This helps to explain why I had no idea while I was reading A Despicable Profession that William Donovan was an actual person. The majority of my fiction entertainment dealing with Nazis and WII came in the form of Wonder Woman. But I enjoy mysteries and intrigue, so I figured I would give A Despicable Profession a chance.

It is an outstanding book!

Knoerle immerses the reader in Hal's world. Hal's a bit of a smart ass. Maybe that comes from being sent on repeated suicide missions in WWII. Speaking of that, did I mention that the guy Hal meets in Berlin is Victor Jacobson, the case officer who sent him on all those missions?

If you're getting the idea that Knoerle does an excellent job of pushing Hal to the limits, you would be right. Hal was more than happy to get out of the spy business. Now he's being drawn back in by his former cronies and forced to work with a guy he can't stand. Those naughty Russians, they are messing everything up. Why does the Central Intelligence Group have to be so darn ineffective?

I have to admit I fell in love with Hal. He's probably the only person more sarcastic than me. But the guy knows his stuff. He's a professional. There are so many twists and turns in this book I thought Hal would come out looking like a wrung out wet towel. And Ambrose, Sean, and Patrick Mooney provide some comic relief, but they are guys you won't forget soon.

Knoerle knows how to keep readers turning the pages. Never once did this book lag. I just kept flipping page after page, hoping to sneak in one more chapter before my eyes shut. Character development is certainly the author's strength, but the plot and the attention to detail are equally superb.

I loved A Despicable Profession so much that I am eager to read the first book in this trilogy, A Pure Double Cross. In addition, I hope Knoerle keeps me in mind when the last book comes out.

A Despicable Profession is a book you shouldn't miss!


Title:  A Despicable Profession
Author:  John Knoerle
Publisher: Blue Steel Press
ISBN-10: 0982090307
ISBN-13: 978-0982090305
SRP:  $15.00
 
 

Slang in Fiction Writing by John Knoerle, Author of A Despicable Profession

Today's special guest is John Knoerle, author of the spy thriller, A Despicable Profession: Book Two of The American Spy Trilogy.

May, 1946. America is basking in hard-won peace and prosperity. The OSS has been disbanded, CIA does not yet exist. Rumors swirl about the Red Army massing tanks along the Elbe in East Germany.

Former OSS agent Hal Schroeder gets an offer from Global Commerce LTD to be a trade rep in Berlin. He flies to New York to meet his new boss. Hal’s jaw drops when former OSS Chief Wild Bill Donovan strides in. Schroeder, who survived perilous duty behind German lines, says he is no longer interested in being a spy. General Donovan assures him that’s not part of his job description.
Hal comes to doubt that when he meets his immediate superior in Berlin. It’s Victor Jacobson, the case officer who sent him on repeated suicide missions in WWII.

John Knoerle's Glossary of Slang

As I fiction writer I love slang, there’s a certain poetry to it. And as a writer of late ‘40s spy and mystery novels I especially love the argot of the underworld of that era. I put a glossary of that slang together from reading everything from Black Mask magazine to Mickey Spillane novels. The films noir were also a good source.


Here’s a sample of what I found. For a more extensive list visit my website at http://www.bluesteelpress.com/

--John Knoerle


“The buttons don’t like it when a slewfoot gets topped. Especially with his own gat by a gowed-up twist in a rib joint.”


To translate, see below:

arm-breaker - hired muscle

bangtail - racehorse, also a prostitute

basted, boiled, oiled, out on the roof, roofed, tanked - drunk

beezer - nose

berries, cabbage, plasters, snaps - cash money, dollar bills

bindlestiff - hobo, migrant worker

bitch kitty – an obnoxious woman or girl

bones - dice

box job - safe cracking

bughouse - insane asylum

bulls - railroad police, prison guards

burleycue – burlesque show

busted flush - a bad deal, a failure

butter and egg man - the man with the money

buttons, elbows, goms, Johns, muzzlers - cops

buzzer, potsy, tin - a policeman’s badge

C, C-note - hundred dollar bill

caboose, icehouse, jug, sneezer - jail

cackle-broad - a society woman

cake eater - a dandy, a ladies’ man

California bible, California prayer book - deck of playing cards

Chicago overcoat - a casket

Chicago typewriter - a machine gun

to chill, clip, grease, ice, push, set over, spot, top, top off - kill

Chinese angle - unusual twist

to clank - panic

clean sneak - a successful getaway

coffin nail, gasper, pill - cigarette

coffin varnish, panther piss, phlegm cutter, tarantula soup - cheap liquor

corn, cush, geetus, jack - money

creep joint - a gambling parlor that migrates to avoid detection

croaker - doctor

dangle, drift, dust, dust out - go, leave

darb - a beautiful woman, anything of high quality

deek - detective

ding donger - aggressive person

dipsy doodle - chicanery

dog wagon - cheap restaurant

eightball - a loser

have your elbows checked - get arrested

fin - five dollars

frail, jane, twist, wren, x-ray - a woman or girl

frogskin - a dollar bill

to gaff - shortchange

gams, pins, stems - a woman’s legs

gat, heater, iron, piece, rod, roscoe, tickler - a handgun

get a can on, tie a bag on - get drunk

gink - a stupid man

to glim, to hinge - see, take a look

to glom - seize, steal

goozle - throat

gow, hop - heroin, any narcotic

gunsel - an armed criminal, also a young homosexual

Harlem sunset - a fatality with a knife

head fulla bees - crazy

heaters, peepers - eyes

highbinder - a corrupt politician

high pillow - the boss

hotcha - desirable, especially a woman

ing bing - a fit, an outburst

in jigtime - quickly

jingle brained - addled

to jug - to incarcerate

juice dealer - a loan shark

kelly, lid, skimmer - a man’s hat

kick - complaint

the lay - the setup, the arrangement

to lay paper - to pass counterfeit cash or bad checks

left handed - dubious, unlucky

loogan - a hoodlum, especially Irish

lunch hooks - hands

map - face

meat wagon - ambulance

the mop - the final word, the summation of events

mush, yap - mouth

nance - an effeminate man

to nick - take money from

nippers - handcuffs

on the nut, on my uppers - broke

on the pad - on the take

orphan paper - a bad check

oyster fruit - pearls

palm oil, salve - a bribe

to peach, to squeal, to turn up - inform

pissing on ice - living well

plaster - a tail, also a banknote

poke - wallet, bankroll

pro skirt - a prostitute

rats and mice - dice, craps

rib joint - a brothel

rub joint - a hall with taxi dancers

rug joint - a fancy nightclub

What’s the rumble?- what’s going on?

sawbuck - ten dollars

scatter - a room or hideout, also a speakeasy or club

second-story man - burglar

to send over - betray

to shag – tail, chase

on the shake, to shake - blackmail

shamus - private eye, also a police informer

sheever – a traitor, police informer

slapman - an undercover cop

slewfoot - a cop

to smoke - to kill with a gun

table grade - said of an attractive woman

tag - an arrest warrant

taped - under control, cinched

throw a bop into - have sex with

tip your mitt - show your cards

torpedo - an armed thug, a hit man

under glass - in jail

woo bait - attractive female

wrong gee, wrong number - an untrustworthy person

in a yank - in a rush

yard - $100, sometimes $1000

yegg - thief, safecracker

zazoo - a man, a sharp dresser

Phrases

all aces, or all silk so far - everything’s okay

all wool and a yard wide - first rate

beat down to the ankles - worn out

cut me a huzz - tell me what’s happening

dogshit and razorblades - junk, worthless information

from hell to breakfast - thoroughly, all the way

grab a cloud - raise your hands

the squeeze ain’t worth the juice - not worth the effort

What’s the wire on this guy? - What’s the background, the story?

John Knoerle’s first novel, Crystal Meth Cowboys, published in 2003, was optioned by Fox TV. His second novel, The Violin Player, won the Mayhaven Award for Fiction. Knoerle is currently at work on “The American Spy Trilogy.” Book One, A Pure Double Cross, came out in 2008. Book Two, A Despicable Profession, was published in August of 2010.


John Knoerle currently lives in Chicago with his wife, Judie.


Find out more about the books of John Knoerle at www.bluesteelpress.com.