Mystery Rolls Onto Ellis Island
Ranked #7,619 in Books, Poetry & Writing, #272,299 overall | Donates to Donors Choose
Waves of Suspense Flood Ellis Island Murder Mystery
History wrapped in a mystery novel makes Bitter Tide a real two-for. What I love about this book is its roiling mix of a good murder mystery and genuine history as it was made by the thousands of immigrants early in the 20th Century.
Immigration is a hot-button issue in the 21st Century. Modern concern or fear, depending on the bias, pale in comparison to those surrounding Ellis Island in 1901. The impact it had on New York, and the rest of the country reverberates today.
Romancing their own dreams, richly complex men and women from Ireland, Italy, England and elsewhere clash sometimes tragically with the mass of diverse laws and customs in their new home. The lives of Maggie Flynn and Cormac Doyle symbolize this explosive potential as soon as they walk onto Ellis Island. If not for the likes of Superintendent Joseph Hannegan, determined to run the immigration station with integrity, the subtleties of hidden purposes might roll on uninterrupted. Hannegan himself is an immigrant who has worked hard to escape tenement living for himself and his family.
Author Ann Stamos combines a multi-layered murder tale with the small-town intrigue of a self-contained Ellis Island, which has its employee scoundrels, crooks-in-suits and a beautiful, rich, highly capable social worker. Tammany Hall politicians, a term fairly or unfairly synonymous with corruption, play seamlessly into the international reach of New York's newest citizens.
Photo by LoKackl
Bitter Tide
Bitter Tide (Ellis Island Mysteries)
Amazon Price: $48.27 (as of 05/30/2012)
Immigrants Tell the Tale
Secret societies ~ cult or nostalgia?
The characters and imaginings of aging immigrants who remain tied to their countries of origin through secret societies are skillfully portrayed. These first-generation immigrants are often the most idealistic. When that idealism is prevented, for reasons only sometimes obvious, from becoming rooted in America, idealism may become destructive. No where is the warning of a bitter tide acted out more poignantly than through its elder immigrants. Where beyond the doorstep of the immediate family, Stamos effectively weaves together a powerful picture of blood loyalties doing battle with patriotism.
The author is true to authentic details told in historical accounts of Ellis Island. Not without keeping me glued to the waves of suspense as experienced by characters, and the intriguing events brought to life. (Bibliography is provided in prose in the Acknowledgments.)
This period of history is known as the Guilded Age. The story's impact, is accomplished in part from rich and poor New Yorkers improbably sandwiched together to solve the crime.
I would have liked it if Stamos had provided more density to some of those portrayed in this story. Indeed, a 300 page book could be done on several of Stamos's characters. Emotion and devotion is boldly presented for the primary characters. However, I think the book would have easily held readers' attention if an additional 200 pages had been given to more of the underpinnings of their passions and peculiarities.
The author is "the pen name for Takis and Judy Iakovou, authors of the Nick and Julia Lambros mystery series." The book's dust-jacket further tells us "Bitter Tide is the debut novel in their new Ellis Island mystery series."
I, for one, will be looking for the second.
“A bitter tide of conflicting passions and purposes in which a pearl-bearing relationship grows.”
If you have already read BITTER TIDE - Rate it, if you dare...
The best line ever:
Maggie rolled over, the squeak of the cot's springs carrying her back to Ellis Island, New York, America, so close she could almost reach out and touch the gray buildings she'd seen from the ferry.
With One Book to Her Credit - You might be tempted to think the author a novice.
You would be very mistaken. Ann Stamos is a psuedonym
What's the buzz about Bitter Tide?
- Tough, tenacious Tide
- Four of the singles matches were in the balance until the bitter end. None of that could derail Concord....
- Business Highlights
- ___ P&G to add latches to make detergent packs safer DALLAS (AP) ? The maker of Tide Pods will...
- A Bitter Rivalry!
- It`s no secret that Liverpool and Chelsea supporters have utter disdain for each other, a disdain grown...
- Reporting the General
- As Gene Hackman's character Captain Frank Ramsey so memoraby says in the 1995 film Crimson Tide,...
Do you enjoy mystery tales?
What do you think of learning a bit of history while I look for whodunit?
-
-
poddys
Apr 11, 2011 @ 1:24 pm | delete
- It's the perfect combination, I love history too. I wonder if they will make a movie of this. There is a better chance I will get to see the movie than to read the book. I am too busy writing these days to be able to read a lot.
-
-
-
LoKackl
Apr 11, 2011 @ 3:30 pm | delete
- Thanks for the visit and the "atta girl!"
-
Postscript of utmost importance
If you buy any of the books recommended above, this page automatically makes a donation to the incredible nonprofit, Donors Choose, which helps provide classrooms and students in need with resources that our public schools often lack. by LoKackl
Sometimes I read a mystery novel like I eat a bag of chocolate chip cookies: with no expectation to benefit beyond the short term. Some of them, howe... more »
- 118 featured lenses
- Winner of 19 trophies!
- Top lens » 10 Things You Should Know About Blood Pressure Readings
Explore related pages
- Best Books About Chicago Best Books About Chicago
- Burn: An Anna Pigeon Murder Mystery by Nevada Barr Burn: An Anna Pigeon Murder Mystery by Nevada Barr
- Scott O'Dell Books Scott O'Dell Books
- Historical Fiction Books Historical Fiction Books
- American Folk Heroes American Folk Heroes
- Slovenians in America - An Early Settler's Point of View about the Land of Opportunity Slovenians in America - An Early Settler's Point of View about the Land of Opportunity
I Take My Kindle Everywhere!
You Will, Too!
Kindle Keyboard 3G, Free 3G + Wi-Fi, 6" E Ink Display
Amazon Price: $189.00 (as of 05/30/2012)
For Kindle
From Ellis Island to JFK: New York`s Two Great Waves of Immigration
Amazon Price: (as of 05/30/2012)
More Mystery Novel Reviews by LoKackl
