Beat the Devils

Reviews

"Beat The Devils by Josh Weiss blew me away. A brilliant alternate history, a riveting fifties-era noir crime caper, and an edge of your seat thriller—all wrapped into one! This is a stunning novel that takes readers for a mind-bending ride with elements that seem shockingly relevant in our current day and age."—Mark Greaney #1 NYT Bestselling Author of The Gray Man "A thought-provoking dive into an alternative USA even weirder and wilder than our own. Weiss and his world-weary protagonist LAPD detective Morris Baker put the reader eerily at home in a twisted world of prejudice, privilege and murder, but amid the dark deeds there's hope and humour and heart. A fun, intelligent and satisfying read."—Ian R MacLeod, author of Wake Up and Dream “Josh Weiss has announced himself as a bold new voice in the world of pulp noir fiction. One part Raymond Chandler, one part Philip Roth, a dash of Ben Hecht — and you’re about halfway there.”—J.D. Lifshitz, co-founder of BoulderLight Pictures and producer of The Vigil “Thrillers involving the 1950s and an L.A. police detective are close to being a dime-a-dozen, but not so with Josh Weiss’s superb Beat the Devils. It takes place in 1958 Los Angeles, but very different from our own history, beginning with the shocking twist that the President of the United States is former Wisconsin Senator Joe McCarthy. Instead of the relative peace and prosperity of the Eisenhower years, we’re in the nightmare that is the McCarthy years, filled with Communist hunts among government agencies, businesses, and the media, as well as a secret police arresting and sometimes executing those suspected of disloyalty. Into this richly plotted and detailed novel is Detective Morris Baker, a Holocaust survivor who must navigate the dangerous times of this place, where Jews are second-class citizens, subject to pogroms and violence. A murder involving a prominent journalist and a famed film director sets him on a course of suspicion, betrayal, and double-crosses against a background of deep paranoia and permanent war. A remarkable achievement.”—Brendan DuBois, award-winning and New York Times bestselling author of Resurrection Day and Amerikan Eagle "Alternate histories are difficult to craft, but the world of Beat the Devils is built with hair-raising perfection. Weiss holds a warped mirror to the American Dream — revealing dark undercurrents thread through with troubling, yet true, history. I couldn't turn the pages fast enough!"—Ryan Graudin, award-winning author of Wolf by Wolf “Weiss creates palpable emotional depth, particularly for Baker, whose yearslong tactic of burying trauma has stopped working.”—The New York Times “Tight, well-paced, inventive, and inspirational, Weiss’ splendid debut is classic noir tinged with the slightest pinch of science fiction; readers can thrill to the bits of dissonant history they recognize, even as they revel in the mayhem and suspense that permeate the text.”—Mystery Scene Magazine “America’s close call with the political paranoia of McCarthyism makes for one whopper of an alt-history backdrop for Beat the Devils... the novel is a tasty slice of noir fiction.”—SyFy Wire “Clever and innovative: a page-turner.”—Mystery Tribune “This audiobook is much more than a thriller… The production would be a challenge for any narrator, but Fred Berman handles it beautifully. He performs a range of accents without missing a beat… Not one minor character is given short shrift. Berman also illuminates the theme of Baker’s Jewish identity. Overall, Berman’s narration perfectly renders the tone of this riveting — and scary — story.”—AudioFile “A debut novel from Josh Weiss, Beat the Devils delights in detective story tropes…The saloon shoot-outs, cryptic radio messages, grungy sunrises and ravishingly beautiful secret agents create a noir atmosphere redolent of Dashiell Hammett.”—The Forward Expand reviews