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369 ratings,
3.88
average rating, 162 reviews
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published
September 30th 2008
by Random House
binding
Hardcover, 519 pages
isbn
1400064201
(isbn13: 9781400064205)
description
David Liss’s bestselling historical thrillers, including A Conspiracy of Paper and The Coffee Trader, have been called remarkable and rousing: the per...more
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other reviews (showing 1-20 of 884)
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5 stars (79)
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4 stars (189)
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3 stars (81)
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2 stars (16)
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1 star (4)
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avg 3.88
editions: all | this edition
editions: all | this edition
Read in September, 2008
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, w...more
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Read in September, 2008
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 irri...more
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 irri...more
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Read in September, 2008
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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Read in December, 2008
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, ...more
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Read in June, 2009
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 p...more
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Read in December, 2008
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 ...more
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Read in August, 2008
recommended to Kirk by:
Me - previously read Liss and loved itrecommends it for: fiction lovers/Historical Fiction
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. ...more
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. ...more
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Read in November, 2008
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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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 (i...more
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 (i...more
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Read in November, 2008
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 pr...more
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Read in January, 2009
So, you're into historical fiction. And, on occasion, you truly enjoy a political thriller. Yet you also tend to savor a good mystery. Should that be the case--along with the added bonus of engaging, clever writing--may I recommend THE WHISKEY REBELS?
Set in America's infancy--a 1792 that saw the fragile American Experiment in danger of being torn asunder by the Hamiltonian Federalists and the Jeffersonian Republicans--author David Liss presents two protagonists, both with compelling...more
Set in America's infancy--a 1792 that saw the fragile American Experiment in danger of being torn asunder by the Hamiltonian Federalists and the Jeffersonian Republicans--author David Liss presents two protagonists, both with compelling...more
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Read in April, 2009
Set post American Revolution it features 2 main characters, Ethan Saunders, a spy during the war but near the end of the war accused of being a traitor and Joan Maycott, a daughter of a farmer who marries a soldier and when he is convinced to give up his promissory note for pay for his service in return for a section of land on the western Pennsylvania frontier moves out with him.
Ethan has become a drunk and womanizer but when his old finance contacts him he becomes involved in trying to ...more
Ethan has become a drunk and womanizer but when his old finance contacts him he becomes involved in trying to ...more
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Read in November, 2008
recommended to Sherie_segler by:
Brooke
It isn't often that an author can hold my interest when he has made one of the main characters so unlikeable. But Liss's plot twists and turns with such electric energy that I could not stop.
Saunders has become a throughly self-pitying, self-loathing drunk due to events during the Revolutionary War, when he served as a patriot spy. At the beginning he is drunk and being pursued by someone who means to do him harm. Since he is a main character, he cannot die,so the author saves him with th...more
Saunders has become a throughly self-pitying, self-loathing drunk due to events during the Revolutionary War, when he served as a patriot spy. At the beginning he is drunk and being pursued by someone who means to do him harm. Since he is a main character, he cannot die,so the author saves him with th...more
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Read in January, 2009
Very entertaining historical fiction. I became a fan of David Liss' from the Coffee Trader, but this ranks up there. Similarly, you have to occasionally suspend disbelief when the lead character interacts with Alexander Hamilton and George Washington, but in general, the way fiction and historical fact are weaved together is really clever and does what historical fiction should do: bring a past time to life. A lot fun.
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Read in February, 2009
recommends it for:
readers of Neal Stephenson's Baroque trilogy
I stole this book from my spouse's to-read pile before he could get to it. I'm glad I did. Liss is skilled at building first-person narrators who possess strong characters, not just loud voices. Liss' strong story-tellers, Ethan Saunders and Joan Maycott, together are central to this book's success. Better yet, Ethan Saunders shows himself to be one of those slippery narrators whose perception, especially self-perception, can't quite trusted. I love that. It proved strange and appropriate to re...more
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Read in February, 2009
An historical fiction, a political thriller, a good mystery, this book has it all! Set in post-Revolution War America, the author fabricates a tale to explain the reckless trading habits that brought about the first American financial panic in early 1792 by tying in the events that led up to the Whiskey Rebellion of 1974. Given my ignorance of history and economics, I had to pay close attention, but enjoyed doing so as I was engrossed with the development of so many great characters. The story ...more
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Read in December, 2008
I gave this book four stars because I really did enjoy reading it throughout, although the NUMEROUS plot twists did make me a little dizzy at times. The book is set between 1781 and 1792 in the newly formed United States, and is narrated by two people. One is Ethan, a disgraced Revolutionary spy who is getting by (barely) on his wits and considerable charm. The other is Joan, an intelligent and purposeful woman, and I can't think of much else to say about her that wouldn't spoil the plot. I ...more
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Read in June, 2009
recommended to Julie by:
Charisserecommends it for: Bob
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David Liss has found his niche as a historical novelist, and The Whiskey Rebels is an entertaining, if slightly uneven, slice of Americana. Lisss strength here lies in the details, particularly in the historical figures who play minor rolesGeorge Washington, Aaron Burr, Phillip Freneau, and Hugh Henry Brackenridge among them. Those characters add color to the plot and evoke the late 18th-century history that many of us (for shame) have forgotten. Despite some sharp dialogue, though, the story ...more
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Read in June, 2009
I really dislike historical fiction when done poorly. Which is why this is such a treat. Ethan Saunders is a very human character--flawed, cunning, witty and resourceful, and often funny. His voice carries the novel. Joan Maycott's character is also compelling, although a bit less so than Ethan's. Perhaps it's her eventual turn to bringing down Hamilton at all costs, including ruining the country. The late 18th-century financial world gets a bit confusing at times, but it is also quite tim...more
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