The Edge of America

by Jon Sealy

1984. Miami. Enter the high-stakes world of South Florida’s drug culture, where a businessman with CIA ties is about to risk it all.

Bobby West is on the edge. As chief financial officer for a Miami holding company and a CIA front, he has overleveraged his business in the go-go 1980s financial culture. He turns to a deal-with-the-devil money laundering operation with a local gangster, Alexander French—a deal which quickly goes south when $3 million goes missing. Now Mr. French, a group of Cuban exiles, and an Israeli smuggler named Adriana Chekhov are all after Bobby West to pay up. With echoes of Iran-Contra and the Orwellian surveillance state, The Edge of America is a stunning thriller about greed, power, and the limits of the American dream.

Genres: Fiction

326 pages, Paperback

Published September 10, 2019

About the author

Jon Sealy is the author of four novels, most recently The King Street Affair, as well as the craft book So You Want to Be a Novelist. He lives with his family in Richmond, Virginia.

Reviews

[Lauren · Rating 2 out of 5]

I wanted to love this but didn't. The characters, especially the guys (and especially the main character), were cringe-inducing; the main character is not nearly cool/interesting enough for me to care at all what sort of trouble he's in or what happens to him. That feeling started with the opening scene, a stereotypical depiction of a powerful man and his younger, more vigorous lover....and it didn't improve. I ultimately had to put this down about a third of the way through, but would check out another book by this author.

[Terry Plumb]

In his second novel, Jon Sealy has written a crackerjack suspense tale set mostly in Miami, Fla., with forays to Key West, New York City, Washington, D.C. and several Southern locales, including Upstate South Carolina.
Although the author is an adept scene-setter, as demonstrated in his first novel, “The Whiskey Baron,” he also excels in exploring the landscape of the soul. The edges of America explored are both geographical and metaphorical.
His new novel takes place during the Reagan era, when Americans were still trying to figure out what went wrong in South Vietnam and, before that, with the Bay of Pigs fiasco.
The central character, Bobby West, runs a Miami investment firm, a CIA front whose principal mission is to keep the lid on more ill-fated attempts to topple FIdel-Castro. West has entered the twilight of his career without accomplishing lofty patriotic goals of his youth. His mid-life melancholy is upended with the arrival of Alexander French, a mysterious figure with ties to various nefarious enterprises, from drug running to political espionage. French recruits West to launder cash from a heroin-smuggling ring, an arrangement that sours after West’s teen-age daughter runs off with a new boyfriend and $3 million pilfered from her dad’s safe.
Sealy skillfully juggles several subplots involving CIA operatives, private detectives, cops, assorted thugs and terrorists, a vindictive ex-wife and a beautiful assassin, among others. Conspiracies abound. Backs are stabbed. Plotters are dispatched.
While this novel is every bit the page-turner as works by Lee Child or David Baldacci, the author causes us to reflect on why and how a nation’s best intentions became subverted into greed and power grabs. In short, a timely yarn.

[Seán B · Rating 4 out of 5]

Thanks to NetGalley for this ARC of 'The Edge of America' by Jon Sealy - I was intrigued with the plot set in 1984 Miami. Reminiscent of Miami Vice and other great movies set in such a time. We are introduced to Bobby West, of Atrium Group - a CIA holding company. Bobby has dealings in several industries and seems to be a whizz accountant at maneuvering the books to make everything seem legit from the outside. But all is not so cosy. Bobby is introduced to Alexander French, a guy who's reputation precedes him from the outset and entrusts Bobby with $3million cash deposit to hold for his business.

Holly, Bobby's teenage daughter is mischievous and resentful towards her father. She takes it upon herself to runaway and make her father pay for his misgivings. She encounters Keith Sorrell - a Southern man at the age of 20 - on the road and begins a odd adventure with him.

We are introduced to a lot of characters throughout the story and it makes for a compelling read - reminds of a good crime movie. Would recommend.

[Danielle Green · Rating 5 out of 5]

I received a complimentary copy of this book through Voracious Readers in exchange for an honest review.
Suspense, family drama, politics, organized crime, Wall Street - this novel has it all. Bobby West, CFO for Atrium Group in Miami, Florida is nothing more than a front for the CIA. West utilizes his accountant brilliancy to hopefully bring down Castro in Cuba, but his mission is soon derailed when Alexander French enters his life. Signing over his soul to the devil in the hopes that Cuba will be brought to its knees, West's daughter Holly betrays him that leaves his entire life in disarray. But who will catch him first - the CIA, drug overlords, or a foreign assassin?
A multitude of characters gives this book depth, while keeping the reader ever on their toes wondering what will happen next and with who.
I really, really liked this book. It has a Mario Puzo, Jonathan Grisham flare to me. I would recommend this book to anyone interested in mysteries (with myriad of organizations/people involved).

[Denton · Rating 5 out of 5]

Sealy depicts Miami in this time period as a microcosm for America as a whole, both city and a country in the midst of an identity crisis. At the center of both crises is the drug trade. Cocaine and heroin are everywhere, leading quickly to money laundering and guns. But as easily as those ingredients add up to high stakes for every character, Sealy’s exploration dives far deeper. Below the surface, Sealy’s novel an exploration of greed and power. Throughout the narrative, Sealy tests the limits of the American dream, searching for the cracks in the façade of the American promise.

[Annmbray · Rating 3 out of 5]

Miami in the eighties—drugs, sex, money laundering, an ex, The Keys—what more do you want in a fast-paced action thriller. Oh yes, how about a familial double cross. Somehow you’ll just keep rooting for this accounting anti-hero

[DLV · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was Intriguing!!
It is a well written book!!
There are a few plots in the book yet it is not confusing.
It is a page turner book!!

[G Scott · Rating 4 out of 5]

once this thing got going, it was hard to put it down.

[Drew · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good thriller about the drug trade in 1980s Miami

[Jimmacc · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed the story. Ice pace and intersecting twists.

[Patrick · Rating 5 out of 5]

I couldn't put this book down. Sealy handles plot and insight with equal skill. After taking me on this journey to Miami in 1984, I'd follow Sealy anywhere.