Stop, wait, this book could have been so important, but to throw out a quote “There were many kinds of mistruths…” and the protagonist, reporter Anne Lemire doesn’t hesitate to use them when it suits her purpose. Mullen depicts the primary characters with many stereotypical flaws - Irish need not apply - Jews leaning toward communist ideology - neither being well done and did not strengthen the story. There was a length diatribe about ‘the duration” which started out strong and interesting but quickly became a tired mantra that went from nowhere to who knows where.

While the story may be historically correct it felt flat with too many factors intersecting with little successful resolution. Swatikas, anti-Jewish propaganda, Irish teenagers and men victimizing neighborhoods with antisemitic attacks, cops and powerful men inciting what we recognize today as white supremacy and the ugliest side of Boston leading up to World War II.

Organized efforts to attack one group because of the war. It isn’t just the Jew, the Irish Catholics, Italians, the mob, the immigrants all take literary hits throughout this book. It was really a struggle to get through it.

My thanks to Minotaur Books and NetGalley for a copy. ( )

I don’t read a lot of historical fiction that deals with war and politics and more, but every once in a while one slips in, such as The Rumor Game by Thomas Mullen. There were elements about the story that struck me personally and it helped me to see the possibilities.

I loved Anne Lemire, because she does not back down. She puts herself front and center, digging and investigating, making herself a target. She writes for The Rumor Clinic, disproving harmful rumors. I thought for sure she was going to get her or someone close to her killed.

FBI Special Agent Devon Mulvey,….caught between a rock and a hard place. His job is to find those working against the government and sabotaging the war effort. I tried not to be judgmental, but….and I didn’t see the choice he would make, but I saw the reason why he made it.

I had to keep telling myself that this is 1943. Things were different then, yet current events prove that history repeats itself, over and over again. I find it puzzling, how those who were treated so badly when they immigrated to the United States could turn around and do the same thing to others. Why are they not more empathetic, seeing they can relate?

Everything felt so real. Whether it’s the Irish chasing and beating Jews or underground organizations printing hat sheet pamphlets inflaming the populace against those different from them and against the war in general, ration stamps, chauvinism, sexism, the union meetings, discrimination and threats in the factories, the USO dances, even religious leaders contributed to the discontent, police corruption, custodial detention, fascism, communism, murder…

….entrenched economic system forced people into roles….Negroes are lazy. Irish are drunks. Italians are criminals. Jews are bloodsuckers.

I found The Rumor Game by Thomas Mullen very disturbing…because it felt so real and made me think….too much…making my brain hurt, or at least giving me a headache. AND…that is why I don’t read a lot of historical fictional war and politics stories.

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Dangerous rumors!

Fascinating story built around the Nazi groups, fascist groups, and other anti Jewish groups in Boston during World War II, including the Christian Front organization.
Told through the eyes of Jewish journalist Anne Lemire and FBI agent Devon Mulvey.
“ Anne wrote for the Rumor Clinic, the weekly Star column she’d managed to create for herself after weeks of persistent calls and a few connections. The idea behind the Rumor Clinic was to identify and disprove the many harmful rumors floating around town, some of them spread by deliberate Axis propaganda to weaken resolve and others just random bits of hearsay mixed with fear, ignorance, and bigotry.”
Incidents are building, fuelled by rumour, and subsequent resentment from blue collar workers about Jews and African Americans supposedly taking their jobs in a munitions factory (untrue.) This, together with the anti semitism of certain Catholic priests, the same sentiments amongst many of Boston police force, and the increased mugging of young Jewish people walking home, weaves a dark tale.
Anne wants to expose fascists and corrupt organizations. Dangerous! Devon is investigating a sudden death. Their paths connect.
Feelings of helplessness, the entanglement of family relationships, of trying to bring untruths to the public awareness—a public that mostly didn’t want to know, pervade.
Challenging and enlightening. Disproving falsehoods and exposing rumors is not easy.

A St. Martin’s Press ARC via NetGalley.
Many thanks to the author and publisher.
Please note: Quotes taken from an advanced reading copy maybe subject to change ( )

I had a hard time deciding on a rating for The Rumor Game. As far as the story goes, I would give it 3-3.5 stars, but because it seems to be very well researched, based on some true facts and tackles head-on a sentiment in the United States during World War II that is not easy to face, I decided to give it 4 stars.

Anne is a reporter writing a newspaper column call The Rumor Game, chasing down rumors floating around in Boston. She has her sights set on bigger goals, however, and her personal history fits right into it. She was raised as a Catholic and only found out after her father’s death that her mother’s family is Jewish. She is still coming to terms with this and how the treatment of her and her family by those considered friends – and the church - changed when this became known. This in part drives her to investigate the persecution and physical violence being done to Jewish families in Boston. Devon is a G-Man, an FBI agent whose job is to try and prevent sabotage in the area and to root out spies and sympathizers. His father pushed for him to become an agent and stay out of wartime action overseas. Unfortunately, this means that Devon is viewed by many as a slacker who cunningly avoided any real action.

Anne and Devon are not very likable characters. Anne hasn’t embraced being Jewish except when it suits her. She is reckless and endangers those she enlists to help her, has a constant chip on her shoulder over not receiving the recognition she believes she deserves, and definitely is looking for more exposure and rewards. When we meet Devon he has just finished seducing yet another woman whose husband is away fighting; he’s not a very honorable man. He is clever and a bit slippery and seems to do just enough to get by. He and Anne are brought together to try to get to the bottom of the murder of an immigrant. They come together, break apart, come together . . . not sure if there will be more to this relationship or not.

As noted, this book is obviously well researched and spotlights the rampant antisemitism in play in Boston and throughout the US at the time. It also addresses espionage, organized crime and domestic fascism, but it’s slow moving and while you feel the author is trying to build suspense to – something – the story often meanders along without a clear point as its goal.

Thanks to St. Martin’s Publishing Group for providing an advance copy of The Rumor Game via NetGalley. It is thought-provoking and I enjoyed it, but the attention to detail becomes too much detail and often overwhelms the story; I think perhaps this would have been a better book if it had been non-fiction anecdotes focusing on how Jews were treated at that time. I voluntarily leave this review; all opinions are my own. ( )

The setting is Boston during World War Two. The main character (Anne) writes a column exposing false rumors about what is going on in the city some of which are antisemitic (She is Jewish) .She meets and there is some electricity with an FBI agent (Devon). They will eventually help each other on their investigations about things like the attacks and deaths on some Jewish men in the city. There is also gun smuggling from a local arms factory along with a counterfeit stamp ring. This is an engaging novel. ( )