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The Whiskey Rebels

by David Liss (Goodreads Author)

3.84 of 5 stars 3.84 · rating details · 2,895 ratings · 553 reviews

David Liss’s bestselling historical thrillers, including A Conspiracy of Paper and The Coffee Trader, have been called remarkable and rousing: the perfect combination of scrupulous research and breathless excitement. Now Liss delivers his best novel yet in an entirely new setting–America in the years after the Revolution, an unstable nation where desperate schemers vie for...more David Liss’s bestselling historical thrillers, including A Conspiracy of Paper and The Coffee Trader, have been called remarkable and rousing: the perfect combination of scrupulous research and breathless excitement. Now Liss delivers his best novel yet in an entirely new setting–America in the years after the Revolution, an unstable nation where desperate schemers vie for wealth, power, and a chance to shape a country’s destiny.

Ethan Saunders, once among General Washington’s most valued spies, now lives in disgrace, haunting the taverns of Philadelphia. An accusation of treason has long since cost him his reputation and his beloved fiancée, Cynthia Pearson, but at his most desperate moment he is recruited for an unlikely task–finding Cynthia’s missing husband. To help her, Saunders must serve his old enemy, Treasury Secretary Alexander Hamilton, who is engaged in a bitter power struggle with political rival Thomas Jefferson over the fragile young nation’s first real financial institution: the Bank of the United States.

Meanwhile, Joan Maycott is a young woman married to another Revolutionary War veteran. With the new states unable to support their ex-soldiers, the Maycotts make a desperate gamble: trade the chance of future payment for the hope of a better life on the western Pennsylvania frontier. There, amid hardship and deprivation, they find unlikely friendship and a chance for prosperity with a new method of distilling whiskey. But on an isolated frontier, whiskey is more than a drink; it is currency and power, and the Maycotts’ success attracts the brutal attention of men in Hamilton’s orbit, men who threaten to destroy all Joan holds dear.

As their causes intertwine, Joan and Saunders–both patriots in their own way–find themselves on opposing sides of a daring scheme that will forever change their lives and their new country. The Whiskey Rebels is a superb rendering of a perilous age and a nation nearly torn apart–and David Liss’s most powerful novel yet.(less)

Hardcover, 519 pages

Published September 30th 2008 by Random House

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Sep 20, 2008 Spuddie rated it 4 of 5 stars

Historical fiction set in the immediate post-Revolutionary War period in Philadelphia and New York. The story is told from the point of view of two people: Ethan Saunders, a disgraced spy, and Joan Maycott, a young woman with literary aspirations. Ethan’s story begins in the present time while Joan’s starts in the past with her early life. Her and Ethan’s paths begin their fateful crossing when she and her husband Andrew trade in his war debt for a parcel of land in western Pennsylvania, which w...more Historical fiction set in the immediate post-Revolutionary War period in Philadelphia and New York. The story is told from the point of view of two people: Ethan Saunders, a disgraced spy, and Joan Maycott, a young woman with literary aspirations. Ethan’s story begins in the present time while Joan’s starts in the past with her early life. Her and Ethan’s paths begin their fateful crossing when she and her husband Andrew trade in his war debt for a parcel of land in western Pennsylvania, which was in essence the great frontier at that time. They find to their horror that they have been horribly cheated and Joan begins plotting revenge against all who have wronged her.

Ethan, meanwhile, in Philadelphia in 1791, is content to be a sloshing drunk and occasional thief, drowning his sorrows at being disgraced and (wrongfully) branded a traitor and his loss of the love of his life, Cynthia Fleet, to another man, and her father who was his co-conspirator as a government spy, who died in disgrace with him. I can’t say too much without giving important things away, so I won’t, but eventually Joan and Ethan’s paths cross, and the stability of the whole of the new United States of America rests on what happens.

Let me say right up front that this time period in American history is NOT one of my special interests. I generally just don’t care for it, haven’t read much about it, so I have no idea how much of what the author imparts here is pure speculation, pure fiction and which parts are based on solid fact. There are many “real” historical figures in this book, but I have no knowledge of whether their portrayals were accurate. The book also dealt in large part with banking, finance and the early days of what became eventually the stock market, which, on the master lists of things I’m interested in, falls right down there near the bottom with politics, knitting sweaters for yappy little dogs and designer handbags. LOL

That said, once I discovered what the book was about, it rather amazed me that I DID keep reading—and I did so because the author made the characters and the story itself irresistible. I surmised rather early on that the lives of these two characters would intersect, I just wasn’t sure when and how, and I wanted to find out! The book is a little slow and plodding in some parts and the plot was twisty and quite complicated—which, I suppose was ultimately what kept me reading. That, and wanting to find out what ultimately happened to the main characters. But I have found this slowness to be true of Liss’s other books as well—and yet, when done reading and reflecting back, I have to say that I don’t remember those slow points much and tend to think on the story as a whole as a very interesting, engaging one. Liss does not sugarcoat life in post-Revolutionary war America, and portrays it as the difficult, sometimes brutal, often fatal life that it was. Recommended especially for those who enjoy historical fiction in this time period, anyone interested in the early days of the U.S. banking system, and for those who’ve read and enjoyed the author’s previous works. A- or four-and-a-half stars.(less)

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Sep 16, 2008 Richard rated it 4 of 5 stars

The Whiskey Rebels

I’ll tell you right off, I hate novels that are written in alternating chapters. My complaint is that one story is never allowed to develop without the interruption of another story, and though David Liss is a skillful writer, and the stories eventually intersect quite artfully, I still think it’s a lazy way to put a novel together. I know, I know, “try it yourself and see how easy it is…” Well, no, I won’t, but that doesn’t make it any less an irritation. The double-edged savi ...more

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Sep 05, 2008 Carrie rated it 4 of 5 stars

This was another Early Reviewer book and the second I've read by Liss. He writes historical fiction and this particular book is set in America, shortly after the end of the Revolutionary War and deals with actual historical events and figures from the time. I thought it was really well written, and I found it much more engaging than The Coffee Trader, his other novel that I have read. (The Coffee Trader wasn't bad, I just found it dull at times). In any event, this book was quite good and has ma...more

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Dec 14, 2008 Christa rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: library

The Whiskey Rebels takes place after the American Revolution. The primary characters are fictional, and many of the minor characters are prominent historical figures. The storyline was very interesting, and is written in the first person from the perspective of two different characters. One main character, Ethan Saunders, appears at the beginning of the book to be about as unlikely a hero as could be found. Ethan's story is told in alternating chapters with that of the other major character, Joa...more The Whiskey Rebels takes place after the American Revolution. The primary characters are fictional, and many of the minor characters are prominent historical figures. The storyline was very interesting, and is written in the first person from the perspective of two different characters. One main character, Ethan Saunders, appears at the beginning of the book to be about as unlikely a hero as could be found. Ethan's story is told in alternating chapters with that of the other major character, Joan Maycott, a young woman whose adult life has been filled with tragedy. Joan's story begins a few years earlier than that of Ethan, and it is well into the book before their stories intersect.

Ethan Saunders, former American spy, has been living in disgrace for ten years, after being wrongly accused of being a traitor. He wallows in his shame, and becomes almost as dishonorable as most people have believed him. He is stunned to suddenly be immersed in intrigue involving prominent political figures after his long ago fiance unexpectedly contacts him when her husband goes missing. Ethan is soon absorbed in sorting out the puzzle before him, and his long dormant acuity begins to surface. He soon realizes that the future of the nation rests with his ability to thwart an underhanded plot.

Joan Maycott led an uneventful life until she and her affectionate husband, Andrew, are led by an unscrupulous speculator to trade the promissory notes due him as a Revolutionary Soldier for land on the Pennsylvania frontier. When the land turns out to be nothing as promised, and they find they have not even traded for the land but only the right to live there, Joan and Andrew rise to the occasion and forge a new life for themselves. Andrew uses his knowledge as a carpenter to form a partnership with a couple of whiskey makers, and they are soon distilling the best whiskey in the land. Joan's life is shattered when Andrew is murdered shortly after Alexander Hamilton imposes a whiskey tax on distillers. Joan decides that the government is corrupt and responsible for the loss of everything important to her. She convinces a couple of friends to help her gain revenge.

This was a very good book. I enjoyed the story and the characters, but found it rather strange that the character I didn't care for in the beginning, Ethan, was the one that I was most sympathetic to in the end. Joan, who I liked much better at the beginning of the book, was not as appealing to me at the end. Although I liked the only other book I have read by this author, The Coffee Trader, I found this one much more enjoyable. I will definitely be reading more by David Liss.(less)

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Jun 10, 2009 Scot rated it 4 of 5 stars

For historical fiction fans who enjoy a plotline rather complicated with intrigue, usually offering opportunity for some reflection on how the forces of capitalism affected political and social change in another time and place, David Liss is an author you need to check out. I thoroughly enjoyed one of his earlier books, A Spectacle of Corruption, and looked forward to this volume with some eagerness, as western Pennsylvania has long been dear to me, and I anticipated a tale offering a view of po...more For historical fiction fans who enjoy a plotline rather complicated with intrigue, usually offering opportunity for some reflection on how the forces of capitalism affected political and social change in another time and place, David Liss is an author you need to check out. I thoroughly enjoyed one of his earlier books, A Spectacle of Corruption, and looked forward to this volume with some eagerness, as western Pennsylvania has long been dear to me, and I anticipated a tale offering a view of politics, daily life, and social customs in late eighteenth century Pittsburgh.

There is some of that, however, the focus of the novel is not on the Whiskey Rebellion itself, which actually occurred in 1794, but rather on the development of banking and commercial trade under Alexander Hamilton’s influence in the period 1789-1792. Much of the story transpires in Philadelphia, which was the nation’s temporary capital while the city of Washington was being built. Some chapters do present life in transit to Pittsburgh and New York, and the very dissimilar lives people led in those two places in this period.

The tale is told by two very different narrators, in alternating chapters, and though their concerns and experiences seem worlds apart at first, as the book goes on Liss adroitly weaves their plotlines more closely together, so when we get to the ultimate climax (after about 500 pages) we have very layered understandings of the range of perspectives and concerns in a significant confrontation, and everything comes to a head. One of the narrators is Ethan Saunders, a dashing rapscallion and former spy for the patriot forces during the American Revolution, while the other is Joan Maycott, a deep thinking and formidable woman not afraid to take on a challenge. Part of the charm of any historical fiction is when and how we encounter real historical characters worked into the story, and the ability of the author to present these persons in a complex yet fair way, so we see them as well rounded characters and not just flat ones, given the story’s structure, but also as accurate (as much as possible) given what knowledge the readers might have of the historical moment. As expected, Liss does a fine job here, and among the recognizable figures we meet for those conversant with the Federalist period are Hugh Henry Brackenridge, Aaron Burr, Anne Bingham, Philip Freneau, and of course General Washington himself. In addition, I was quite pleased to see some positive sidekick characters (representing people of African descent in one case, Jews in another, and those involved in same sex relationships in a third) who would have truly been present in some of the historical situations described. Let me also mention, Saunders’ witty dialogue as he encounters a wide array of scoundrels, dangers, and ordeals is often delightful. There is one truly vile villain, so worthy of a theatre full of hisses at a melodrama, that I now realize I enjoyed his continuing and growing evils, confident that the more I came to hate him, the sweeter would be his demise.
(less)

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Dec 23, 2008 Mark rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: fiction, historical-fiction

Part potboiler, part history lesson, part financial treatise, part love story, part adventure tale, this highly entertaining novel by Goodreads author David Liss takes us back to the early days of America in the 1790s, when Alexander Hamilton was setting up the Bank of the United States, America was developing its first stock markets, and the frontier border was in the rugged woods of Western Pennsylvania.

"The Whiskey Rebels" is based on real historical events -- not only a financial crisis that...more
Part potboiler, part history lesson, part financial treatise, part love story, part adventure tale, this highly entertaining novel by Goodreads author David Liss takes us back to the early days of America in the 1790s, when Alexander Hamilton was setting up the Bank of the United States, America was developing its first stock markets, and the frontier border was in the rugged woods of Western Pennsylvania.

"The Whiskey Rebels" is based on real historical events -- not only a financial crisis that struck American speculators in 1792, but Hamilton's highly contentious tax on whiskey manufactured by the frontier people of Western Pennsylvania, which eventually led to a brief rebellion that was put down by federal troops.

Despite some occasionally melodramatic foreshadowing, Liss knows how to weave an intricate tale, keep the story moving, and hold both the readers who like a plot-driven adventure and those who are drawn by a story of love lost and regained. And he does it with a very clever construction: two interwoven subplots following the two main characters, Ethan Saunders, a Revolutionary War veteran who has become a drunkard since being drummed out of the Army on false charges relating to his work as a colonial spy, and Joan Maycott, a woman who wants to write the first American novel but who has gone west with her carpenter husband, where they make fast friends but also encounter disaster. What's clever is not the interweaving device so much as the fact that Joan's story predates Ethan's and doesn't catch up with his plot until well into the book.

Along the way, you will learn about whiskey making, pioneer life, the upper crust and seedier levels of Philadelphia society, the trade in bank stocks and government securities (never told didactically) and the details of early American life, from transportation to clothing to weaponry to food to drink (and plenty of it).

This is a wonderful read and is by far the most ambitious of Liss's novels. A page turner with benefits.(less)

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Aug 15, 2008 Kirk rated it 4 of 5 stars Recommends it for: fiction lovers/Historical Fiction

Recommended to Kirk by: Me - previously read Liss and loved it

So I wrote this about a month ago:

Looking forward to reading what I'm guessing is going to be another great historical fiction - this time set in the early founding days of the Good ol' USA.

And I was correct - it was both another great historical fiction from David Liss AND set in the early days of the US! A page-turning great historical fiction novel.

Without giving much away the story focuses on early America where going "west" meant Pittsburg. Hamilton is in charge of our countries finances a...more

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Dec 07, 2008 Jill rated it 5 of 5 stars Recommends it for: mystery readers, history buffs

I love Liss's historical novels. This one is about the political atmosphere in the United States preceding the establishing of the first Bank of the United States and the Whiskey Rebellion. The characters are good and the mystery is complex.

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Mar 18, 2009 Hugh rated it 4 of 5 stars

I've never quite understood the pigeonhole of "historical fiction". Is Denis Johnson's "Tree of Smoke" now historical fiction because it's set during the Vietnam War?

Liss is deeply steeped in the historical details of the post-revolutionary government, but you never find yourself climbing over over-stuffed boxes of information; the story rolls along from the opening pages and really doesn't let up. And given the current state of banks and economic markets it is (if a historical novel can be!) re...more

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Nov 24, 2008 Tony rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: fiction-mainstream

Liss, David. THE WHISKEY REBELS. (2008). ****. Liss is an excellent writer of historical thrillers/mysteries. His book, “A Conspiracy of Paper,” was excellent, and tough to beat with his subsequent efforts – though his second book, “The Coffee Trader,” came close. He has an inventive mind and is capable of interjecting fictional characters into the midst of well-researched historical events. This novel is set in the Federal Period, in the years between 1781 and 1792. The two principal players ar...more Liss, David. THE WHISKEY REBELS. (2008). ****. Liss is an excellent writer of historical thrillers/mysteries. His book, “A Conspiracy of Paper,” was excellent, and tough to beat with his subsequent efforts – though his second book, “The Coffee Trader,” came close. He has an inventive mind and is capable of interjecting fictional characters into the midst of well-researched historical events. This novel is set in the Federal Period, in the years between 1781 and 1792. The two principal players are Ethan Saunders, a disgraced drunk, who was convicted of being a double agent during the War of the Rebellion, and Joan Maycott, the wife of an early settler in Western Pennsylvania – a territory that was on the fringe of the civilized country at the time. The two become adverseries over the fate of Alexander Hamilton’s Bank of the United States – which was in its formative stages. Sounds like a boring premise, but Liss manages to insert enough truth into the drama that we can suddenly see that the events he describes may – although fictionally – have really happened. Hamilton and his bank were very controversial at the time, and were viewed by many as a regression to the ways of the English. One of his first moves was to have the bank assume all of the war debts of the states. These debts were then to be paid off through the sale of securities. In addition, several different excise taxes were imposed, including the hated whiskey tax. For people in Western Pennsylvania, whiskey was a form of money. They had no real currency and no real way of getting any, but used the whiskey they produced to trade among themselves for their needs. There was no way that they could get their goods to the Eastern markets because transport across the Allegheny Mountains was too difficult. Their other complaint was that the government imposed these excise taxes without providing the settlers protection against the indians of the region. The novel is peopled with real characters of the period, including, Hamilton, Aaron Burr, and George Washington. In addition to these, the author also uses such lesser known people as William Duer, Hugh Henry Brackenridge, Philip Freneau, Anne Bingham, and James and Maria Reynolds. He also manages to realistically recreate the settings in colonial Philadelphia and New York. Recommended.(less)

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May 13, 2013 Margaret rated it 3 of 5 stars

Well, I had a review of my thoughts on this book and the computer lost them :( This is really 3 1/2 stars. An excellent book set in the fledgling America of the 1790s when Hamilton started his Bank Of The United States and the ensuing bartering of scrips and bank issues led to the Panic of 1792. Liss brilliantly weaves fact and fiction; however, I think the story loses steam in the middle of the book. This book has a complicated and convoluted plot and at times my interest waned, although all th...more

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Mar 14, 2013 John rated it 2 of 5 stars

Like E. L. Doctorow in "The March," Liss sets his story during a forceful historical setting, the embryonic U.S. of the 1790s. But he lacks Doctorow’s gifts for fusing factual circumstances with gripping characters. The two principals are a young widow who has been swindled by greedy land speculators and a disgraced spy from the Revolution who is now a down and out drunk. The spy is kept busy unraveling a mystery surrounding Alexander Hamilton’s ambitions to form a national bank, but his efforts...more

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Sep 13, 2012 Elizabeth rated it 5 of 5 stars

We all believe that we know what America is, don't we? After living here our whole lives and being so saturated with the ideas, values, concepts, and freedoms of this grand experiment of a country, we think we know what constitutes our society and freedoms. But that's just the trouble-- when we think we know what is right, what happens when a dilemma comes from within? If we must adapt our values, how do we adjust afterwards?

These are the questions that David Liss addresses in his finest novel y...more We all believe that we know what America is, don't we? After living here our whole lives and being so saturated with the ideas, values, concepts, and freedoms of this grand experiment of a country, we think we know what constitutes our society and freedoms. But that's just the trouble-- when we think we know what is right, what happens when a dilemma comes from within? If we must adapt our values, how do we adjust afterwards?

These are the questions that David Liss addresses in his finest novel yet, The Whiskey Rebels. Deeply American in conception and execution, we see in its pages a wrenching question of patriotism versus justice: if the country that nurtured you is unjust, is it our duty to rebel and right the wrongs? Or does that simply fall under the category of revenge? In a gritty story woven with masterfully tangled threads, Liss explores the conflict and is brave enough not to offer an absolute answer.

Split into two intertwining narratives, the book follows the tale of the disgraced Captain Ethan Saunders, an alcohol-sodden ex-spy destitute in Philadelphia, and that of Joan Maycott, a grievously wronged pioneer on the western border of Pennsylvania. We pick up the story in early 1792, an era of tangled politics and tenuous economics, ruled by veterans and strongly opposed idealists like Alexander Hamilton and Thomas Jefferson. Saunders, by all appearances a disreputable, philandering ruin of a man, soon becomes caught up in a complicated web of events involving the disappearance of a former love's husband, mysterious strangers, and the fragile Bank of the United States. Someone threatens the Bank, and despite warnings from Hamilton and several agents, he gets deeper and deeper into the threats against it-- and him.

The parallel story is one of tragedy, deception, and failed dreams-- and vaguely reminiscent of the tales of unemployment, foreclosure, and woe from today. Told in the format of a memoir, we meet Joan Maycott when she is just a child and follow her from her family's farm in rural New York through her marriage to Andrew Maycott, their removal to New York City (which Liss evokes in all its glorious 18th century squalor and improvement upheaval), and to the barren, hopeless land west of Pittsburgh. There, she and her husband are beset by difficulty, oppression, and before long it is all that they can take before being inspired to rebellion.

Liss has clearly improved as a writer since his bestsellers A Conspiracy of Paper and The Coffee Trader. Here his characters are deeper, more complex, and passionate, both in writing and in action, without losing that lighthearted charm that the author is so well known for. Ethan Saunders is a marvelous conundrum of a character, a murky mixture of honorable patriotism with nefarious lechery with a sprinkle of alcohol addiction thrown in. He is universally despised for being a scoundrel by his peers, but is simultaneously respected for his skill as a spy and honor for participation in the Revolutionary War.

One of the things that makes The Whiskey Rebels so fascinating is its particular focus on the post-Revolutionary America. Where the end of the 18th century was a period of enlightenment, bettering education, and expanding scientific horizons in Europe, it was a dismal, confusing tangle in the brand-new United States, and no one knew if this enormous experiment was going to succeed or collapse into shards of anarchy. Oftentimes, the two decades following the Revolution are skipped in the study of history, which is surprising-- during those twenty years, our Constitution was written, the economics of our country shook but stood firm, and the Whiskey Rebellion rose and was put down. Many important events that shaped us happened quickly after the Revolution, and Liss has finally opened up those years in this brilliant novel.

Another interesting relationship is that of Saunders with his slave, Leonidas. Most often, the master-slave relationship is exploitative, cruel, and abusive, but there were exceptions-- those more akin to a friendship. Sure enough, they were rare, but there are exceptions to every rule, and Liss has portrayed a fascinating co-dependency between Leonidas, a well-educated Americanized African, and Saunders, a gruff, lonely military fellow who won Leonidas in a game of cards. We spend the whole book guessing at whether he hates Saunders, disrespects him, or grudgingly likes him, and there are plenty of laughs along the way.

But perhaps the most important feature of The Whiskey Rebels is the questions that it raises about patriotism. Most of us regard ourselves as patriots if we support our troops, sing the national anthem, and raise a toast on Independence Day-- but what does it really mean to be a patriot? Is it just loyalty to one's country, or is it also an innate sense of responsibility, of holding one's government in check? And if the people are wronged, is it the patriot's duty to change the government to right those wrongs?

In this day and age of questions and the changing American social landscape, it's important to understand our past and our duty as a people to our country. Novels may be fiction, but there are important truths buried even in the most fanciful of stories, and there are momentously important ones here.

On that note, happy election season! (less)

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Sep 10, 2012 John Nevola rated it 4 of 5 stars

Almost every review of this novel contains a synopsis of the Whiskey Rebels so I won’t repeat much of what has already been said. Suffice to say, one has to be interested in, if not enamored with, American history in this period to get into this book. I suspect a healthy curiosity for a certain period is necessary to enjoy any historical novel.

David Liss makes it easy to become comfortable and familiar in this time period with his extensive use of period words and phrases. The jargon and accents...more

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Jul 30, 2012 Kristen rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: best-historical-fiction

If you like historical fiction, this is an excellent read! The book is set just after the Revolution which created the United States, and explores the creation of the first national bank, the politics that surrounded it, and the man behind it - Alexander Hamilton.

The author, David Liss, does an exceptional job of seamlessly combining real historical figures and events with delightful and interesting fictional ones, to create a subtle, multi-faceted plot filled with spies, double-crosses, villain...more

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Jun 06, 2012 Mighty_k24 rated it 4 of 5 stars

In't kort: Ethan Saunders was een bejubeld spion in het Amerikaanse leger van George Washington tijdens de Onafhankelijkheidsoorlog, tot hij in ongenade viel. Hij raakt aan lager wal in Philadelphia, maar Cynthia Pearson, de liefde van zijn leven, roept zijn hulp in om haar verdwenen echtgenoot terug te vinden. Uiteraard grijpt Ethan deze kans met beide handen aan, waardoor hij in contact komt met Alexander Hamilton, de toenmalige Minister van Financiën, met kans op eerherstel.
Joan Maycott is de...more

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Apr 18, 2012 Angie rated it 4 of 5 stars

Four stars for Whiskey Rebels. There are things about this novel that I simply adored, namely being immersed in history. The book is set in post-Revolutionary America at a time when the young republic was stretching and straining against the Constitution, some pulling for a strong federal government and others dug in for states' and individual rights. Sounds familiar, doesn't it? The descriptions of life in the far west - at that time western Pennsylvania - and 18th century New York and Philadel...more

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Apr 07, 2012 Kate rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I loved this book. Compelling story, great characters. Highly recommended colonial noir.

I had a copy of the The Whiskey Rebels in my audio library for a year or maybe two before I listened to it. It is spooky how so many of these themes are still so current. Once I started listening to it, I realized I had been overlooking a gem. This novel opened up for me a window into American history I never thought much about. I vaguely remember lectures on how shaky America was after the Revolutionary War...more

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Feb 07, 2012 Lissa Notreallywolf rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: historical-fiction

I vaguely remembered the Whiskey Rebellion against excise taxes leveled in the post revolutionary war period. The gist of what I recalled was that whiskey was much less bulky to ship, so the US governemnt started levying a tax on still production. What was left out of this instruction was the fact that the farmers had no currency to pay taxes, and that many of them were revolutionary war soldiers who had traded back pay vouchers for land on the frontier. David Liss always writes novels about eco...more I vaguely remembered the Whiskey Rebellion against excise taxes leveled in the post revolutionary war period. The gist of what I recalled was that whiskey was much less bulky to ship, so the US governemnt started levying a tax on still production. What was left out of this instruction was the fact that the farmers had no currency to pay taxes, and that many of them were revolutionary war soldiers who had traded back pay vouchers for land on the frontier. David Liss always writes novels about economic meltdowns, and I appreciate that within the spy thriller, period detective elements there is information about how stock markets developed, and the effect on the larger society when they soured.
I actually read this very long novel twice because I was interested in how the story, or rather stories were constructed. Joan Maycott's story begins much in advance of Ethan Saunders and it takes hundreds of pages for her time line to catch up with the drunken veteran spy, Ethan Saunder's timeline. One of the lovely aspects of Liss's writing is that his characters, no mtter how smart ( or not) always come into a variety of ephipanies-usually recognizing moral failings, mental inconsistencies or misinformation, and my favorite, misinterpretation. In contrat with the idealistic young Mrs Maycott, a romantic and an idealist, Ethan is a soaked man who enjoys chasing married women. His reform comes through meaningful work and the memory of who he once was and might have been, had he not been forced to leave the US Army. The conditions on the frontier change Mrs Maycott, who becomes as hardened as Ethan believes himself to be. At first the structure appears to be a straight alternation between her recollections and his present tense experience. And then several chapters are back to back Ethan. It makes you wonder how much ended on the cutting room floor, so to speak. Liss acknowledges that he cut Jefferson out of the novel entirely in his afterword. Unfortuantely, I would have liked to have seen how The Great American Sphinx was portrayed. Novels of this scope are the reason trilogies were invented, but I doubt the alternating structure wouldn't have worked in a multiple volume work, if the volumes were to stand alone. What it lacks in Jefferson, it makes up in ALexander Hamilton, but Hamilton isn't very colorful. I'll be curious to see what other people think of this slice of gritty post revolutionary life.(less)

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Jan 15, 2012 Keith rated it 4 of 5 stars

This is a well written and extremely well researched novel of the post-colonial period in American history. Ethan Saunders is a former spy with Washington’s army who finds himself wrongly disgraced at the end of the Revolutionary War and has fallen into a pit of despair for failing at every attempt to clear his name. Concurrently, Joan Maycott, the wife of a handsome, wounded veteran of the same conflict attempts, along with her husband, to establish a new life on the western frontier, which is...more

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Dec 20, 2011 Richard rated it 4 of 5 stars

Rating: 4.5* of five

Liss in true Liss form! I adored A Conspiracy of Paper and A Spectacle of Corruption and enjoyed greatly The Coffee Trader. Mr. Liss is a writer with several gifts, and seemingly displays them to their best advantage in works of historical fiction. (I was no fan of The Ethical Assassin since it felt undeveloped and unfinished to me.)

Most unusually, Mr. Liss can take any business conflict and make it into a story. He tells us the story of the business panic that in part led to...more Rating: 4.5* of five

Liss in true Liss form! I adored A Conspiracy of Paper and A Spectacle of Corruption and enjoyed greatly The Coffee Trader. Mr. Liss is a writer with several gifts, and seemingly displays them to their best advantage in works of historical fiction. (I was no fan of The Ethical Assassin since it felt undeveloped and unfinished to me.)

Most unusually, Mr. Liss can take any business conflict and make it into a story. He tells us the story of the business panic that in part led to the Whiskey Rebellion in this novel (I grossly oversimplify the twists and turns, but that’s the penalty of wanting to keep this under 5000 words!) from the points of view held by two victims of honor. Ethan Saunders and Joan Maycott have wildly diverging aims in this novel; their conflict is completely believable; they are characters representing very real conflicts in American society at that time, and they do so without feeling like invented mouthpieces for a particular cause or view. This is Mr. Liss’s extraordinary gift to historical fiction, that his characters breathe enough life to seem as though their actions are inevitable outgrowths of their described and/or demonstrated interests. This talent above all others should win Mr. Liss a place on the bestseller lists, since he competes against authors of creative facility and character-building imbecility (eg, James Patterson, John Grisham) for male readership.

Another of the gifts Mr. Liss brings to the table is his deftness of plotting. It takes a writer of skill to make a complex issue like a bank failure (and how timely is that choice of plot point!) into something exciting to the reader and highly personal to the characters. I was riveted to the descriptions of one character’s machinations to achieve a particular result to the failure of the Million Bank and the reasons for that character’s venomous hatreds and callously indifferent behaviors was both cause and effect in the spiraling, stomach-churning race that forms the last thrilling 40 pages of this novel.

Really highly recommended for anyone looking to find a fine writer with a gift for storytelling coupled to a sense of timing that cannot be beat.(less)

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Oct 28, 2011 Julia rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: favorites

It may be a coincidence, however I picked this book up a few weeks ago, just as the Occupy Wall Street movement began. Set in the 1790s, just after Hamilton had established the national bank, the main characters are an ex-Revolutionary War spy and a woman who moves with her young veteran husband to the frontier after exchanging their war bonds for land. The story is thrilling and suspenseful, as well as thought-provoking as it covers events remarkably similar to today's issues: speculators attem...more

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Jun 11, 2011 Barbara rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I'd love to give this 4 & 1/2 stars - it's a rollicking tale from start to finish! The story, set in post-Revolutionary War Pennsylvania and New York, alternates between two engaging narrators: Joan Maycott, is a self-possessed young woman with who reads 'Wealth of Nations' and other economic treatises, and Captain Ethan Saunders, a spy for the American side during the war, falsely accused of treason and now fallen on hard times. Captain Saunders is a loveable rogue in the best tradition, an...more

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Feb 06, 2011 Kelsey Demers rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: adult-fiction

I now officially wish that I could give books half stars. When going back and forth between "I really liked it" and "It was amazing." I find myself somewhere in the middle.

I, myself am surprised that I liked this book so much as I did. For one, historical fiction is really quite hit or miss with me. (That isn't to say that I don't like it, rather that my tolerance can be low.) Also, I rarely ever like alternating chapters as a method to tell a story unless it is because there simply is no other...more I now officially wish that I could give books half stars. When going back and forth between "I really liked it" and "It was amazing." I find myself somewhere in the middle.

I, myself am surprised that I liked this book so much as I did. For one, historical fiction is really quite hit or miss with me. (That isn't to say that I don't like it, rather that my tolerance can be low.) Also, I rarely ever like alternating chapters as a method to tell a story unless it is because there simply is no other way that the story can be told, as it is with Picoult's Handle with Care, and My Sister's Keeper, or Dan Brown's Da Vinci Code.

With David Liss' story of the Whiskey Rebels however, I find myself completely taken in with the historical setting. He is truly a man in his element as he beautifully crafts the scene and time for his readers. He has created unforgettable characters in Captain Ethan Saunders and Joan Maycott, both of which lead the alternating stories within this novel. While I do enjoy Joan Maycott as a character in this novel, I must say that out of all of the characters in all the books that I have read, Ethan Saunders will probably rank among the highest for the most enjoyable to get to know. He clearly steals the show and is absolutely hilarious in his dry wit.

The difficulty of alternating chapters in novels is the fact that sometimes you get so attached to one story that you wish that it would rather just forget the other and stay with your hero. I find that Whiskey Rebels falls into this trap. While Joan Maycott and her troubles in the west are definitely interesting and after they get going later on in the book definitely a page turner, I was always hoping for the next chapter with Saunders and his adventures. I felt as though I was reading two completely different novels though I knew in the end that these characters must of course meet.

And meet of course they do, but unfortunately it is brought upon the reader so quickly that it feels almost as a slap to the face. You do not see it coming nor have any idea of how it came to be. I know that on a second read through I would be more prepared for this but I did find it rather frustrating because while you are following two characters, you are not following them at the same moment in time, in fact, you are following them years apart from each other. It would have been helpful for his readers if the date and year appeared over each chapter, rather than just a few, for I had taken the year to mean that it was for both of my characters, rather than just one. Perhaps it was just my folly and no one else found it troublesome, but it is definitely something to be on the lookout for for future readers.

Also, at least a background of understanding the the workings of the stock market, especially during this time in the nation would help any reader work their way through this book. It definitely didn't stop me from enjoying it, but I rather felt that I read through portions of this book like I do when men talk about sports, simply smiling and nodding, going, "Oh yes, I was quite pleased with that..." or "My Gosh! is that so..?" without really understanding the entirety of what was placed before me. But no matter, it makes this book no less fun to read.

Yet other than the above stated, the book is really quite fantastic. While it is quite long, you don't really notice it but for maybe a few chapters near 3/4 in. It is fun, smart and a really good read. Where a lot of authors can write a good book yet fizzle out for their ending, Liss' ending is by far the strongest part of his book and he does not disappoint his readers. This will definitely be a book that I would like to pick up again in the future, though I think I shall brush up on the workings of the stock market before I traverse it's pages again.

(less)

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Jan 15, 2011 Joan rated it 4 of 5 stars

I thought this was an excellent read. Set just after the Revolutionary War, Liss takes us to Philadelphia, Pittsburg and New York during the time that the new experiment in government was tring to figure it out. He mixes fictional characters with acual historic ones. The story is told through two voices, Ethan Saunders, a former Armey officer who was discharged with rumors of being a spy. The other voice is Joan Maycott. We meet her as a precocious young woman who snags the man of her dreams, An...more

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Nov 27, 2010 Sandy rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: historical-fiction, new-york

Two intersecting stories look at the early 1790s, where America begins its great experiment as a young republic with schemes and intrigue from the factions supporting/opposing Alexander Hamilton’s vision for a federal bank. There are many historical details to savor and enjoy here, and the plot takes some intriguing twists and turns. Moreover, reading such a tale in the midst of a modern-day economic crisis adds a certain morbid fascination and perspective to the descriptions of 18th century mar...more

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Sep 21, 2010 Clay Nichols rated it 5 of 5 stars

This week I finished "The Whiskey Rebels" by David Liss and I wonder if I'm overhyping it to say that I'm not sure I've enjoyed a book more in the last five years.

"The Whiskey Rebels" is a historical novel, set in the 1790s, that has authenticity and the ring of long hours of research, but it's a rip roaring yarn as well. When I tell you that it concerns intrigue swirling around Alexander Hamilton's fiscal policies and the establishment of the Bank of the United States, you may be tempted to rem...more

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Sep 08, 2010 David Abrams rated it 3 of 5 stars

David Liss’ new novel, set in an America where financial collapse is imminent, teems with double crosses, political intrigue, concealed identities, blackmail, spies and sex scandals. The stock market is on a rollercoaster ride and brokers on the trading floor reek of panic and floppy sweat.

Welcome to 1792.

In his fourth novel, The Whiskey Rebels, Liss takes readers back to frontier America where determined patriots plot to bring about the collapse of the new Bank of the United States, the brainch...more

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Nov 08, 2009 Emily rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: 2009

The Whiskey Rebels, by David Liss, was another free sample ebook, but I'd been meaning to read another one of Liss's books anyway, so I decided to start with the free one.

This novel is not about the Whiskey Rebels that you've heard of, but rather about a group of "Westerners" (residing near Pittsburgh) who'd been cheated out of their back pay from serving in the Revolutionary War, in exchange for nonusable land. They resort to selling whiskey, the most portable commodity they can create, but the...more The Whiskey Rebels, by David Liss, was another free sample ebook, but I'd been meaning to read another one of Liss's books anyway, so I decided to start with the free one.

This novel is not about the Whiskey Rebels that you've heard of, but rather about a group of "Westerners" (residing near Pittsburgh) who'd been cheated out of their back pay from serving in the Revolutionary War, in exchange for nonusable land. They resort to selling whiskey, the most portable commodity they can create, but their business is ruined by the whiskey tax. They therefore set out to revenge themselves on the bankers and Federalists whom they consider responsible for cheating and disrespecting them. Another major character is a former spy who has spent the postwar years as a drunkard after being accused of aiding the British. He, too, gets drawn into the plot against the Bank of the United States. Most of the book takes place in Philadelphia, with appearances by known figures like Hamilton and Burr.

Historical fiction seems to exist along an axis between moronic and pretentious, and this book definitely errs on the side of pretentious. One particularly high-concept plot strand has to do with a character who is writing a novel. When will novelists figure out that reading about novelists is not that interesting? Furthermore, this book features a free, educated black man; an independent frontier woman; a Jewish spy; a gay sharpshooter; etc. It's interesting to see these figures take their places in history, but the sheer number of them begins to feel affected.

Still, this book has a lot of resonance for our time, because it deals with a real estate scam, threatened financial collapse, and feelings of resentment from citizens who feel that bankers are in bed with the federal government. The details of the rebels' plot to ruin the financier who cheated them out of their land are complex and surprising. Some of Liss's characters, especially the disreputable ex-spy, are nuanced, sometimes amusing. Their motivations conflict in ways that make most of them morally ambiguous. Finally, I admired Liss's rich portrayal of postcolonial Philadelphia and New York, and appreciated his attention to a slightly out-of-the-way time period.(less)

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Oct 06, 2009 Tim rated it 4 of 5 stars

What's this, a fiscal historical thriller? How can that work?

Oh, but it does. David Liss gives us a sharply written narrative with as much literary merit as action, and a complex plot teeming with interesting characters, from historical figures to likable scoundrels. It works even if your knowledge of early America and the Whiskey Rebellion are sketchy.

Two story arcs eventually come together here. Disgraced spy Ethan Saunders is drawn into the rivalry between Alexander Hamilton and Thomas Jeffer...more

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About David Liss

I am a novelist living in San Antonio, Texas, though, for the record, I am not from Texas. I just live here. I have four novels published: A Conspiracy of Paper (which won the Edgar Award for Best First Novel) and A Spectacle of Corruption were both national bestsellers. They are set in 18th century London and feature Benjamin Weaver, a Jewish former pugilist, thief-taker for hire. Weaver will be...more

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Books by David Liss

A Conspiracy of Paper (Benjamin Weaver, #1)

The Devil's Company (Benjamin Weaver, #3)

A Spectacle of Corruption (Benjamin Weaver, #2)

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“I enjoy my pettiness with a dose of wit.” — 8 people liked it

“I did not tremble to lose what men called beauty, but I feared the loss of my spirit and humor and love of living, the things I believed made my soul human and vibrant.” — 5 people liked it

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