Turncoat

by Aaron Elkins

Paperback, 2003

Status

Available

Call number

Fic Mystery Elkins

Publication

HarperTorch (2003), Mass Market Paperback, 384 pages

Description

"A headlong plunge into dark places and dark minds" from the Edgar Award-winning author of the Gideon Oliver Mysteries (Statesman Journal).   Pete Simon's all-American life was everything he ever wanted: a good home, a satisfying career, and a marriage still strong and loving after nearly twenty years. But in the days following the assassination of John F. Kennedy, everything is about to change.   It starts with the appearance of an old man at his door, ranting madly about money, death, and forgiveness. The man is a stranger to Pete--but not to his wife, Lily. Only later does the truth come out. The unwelcome visitor was Lily's father, who she had claimed died during World War II in their native France, executed by the Nazis. The next day, he truly is dead, his savagely beaten body washed up in a nearby marsh--and Lily disappears, leaving behind only a brief, enigmatic note asking Pete not to look for her. Now, with a business card from an antiques dealer in Barcelona as his only lead, Pete sets out on a twisted and perilous journey that will carry him to places where the hideous crimes of the Nazis remain fresh in the minds of those who cannot forget . . . or forgive. But each door Pete opens leads him deeper into a painful and shocking past that threatens everything he holds most dear. And suddenly he has become more than a confused and distraught husband; the bitter truths that he uncovers one by one in the search for Lily now make him--and her--the targets of desperate, dangerous men and their terrifying vengeance.… (more)

User reviews

LibraryThing member annbury
Very different from Elkins' "Gideon Oliver" books. This is one is a much darker historical thriller, starting off in the early 1960's, and working back to wartime occupied France. The characters are compelling and the atmosphere powerfully re-created. What's most interesting, however, is the way in
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which it brings to the surface the ambiguity of so many people's actions during the occupation.
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Language

Physical description

384 p.; 6.8 inches

ISBN

0061030910 / 9780061030918

DDC/MDS

Fic Mystery Elkins

Rating

(23 ratings; 3.3)
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