Pure Double Cross

By John Knoerle

Cleveland, 1945 -- OSS spy Hal Schroeder returns from two harrowing years behind German lines. The horrors of war have left him bitter and cynical. The FBI recruits him to infiltrate the Cleveland mob... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0974319910
• ISBN13: 9780974319919
• Release Date: August 2008
• Publisher: Blue Steel Press
• Length: 258 Pages
• Weight: 0.80 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.7" x 5.4" x 8.3"

Customer Reviews

A riveting thriller and original tale, highly recommended

Loyalty isn't permanent. It can wither away. "A Pure Double Cross" follows spy Hal Schroeder and his failing loyalty to the US Government serving as a spy. After World War II, he's enlisted to take down the mob, but wants out of the game and chooses betrayal as a way to do it and make a killing while doing it. Hal soon finds that someone might be making a killing, but it won't be him. "A Pure Double Cross" is a riveting thriller and original tale, highly recommended.

Knoerle does it again

John Knoerle is a master at creating mood, anxiety, a sense of place, all in a twisting, curving, up and down plot. He does all this and more in Pure Double Cross. John Knoerle creates characters you care about, and you can never be sure what will happen to them next. They make mistakes which, well, seemed like a good idea at the time. Characters are complex, revealing themselves in small progressive ways throughout the story. But like real people, there is still more to know about them even at the end of the story. John creates places you can feel in your mind. In Pure Double Cross I could feel the cold and wet snow through my shoes, the wind icing the tip of my nose. I could imagine the grey winter skies of the Mid West with the occasional teasing sunlight that breaks through the clouds. I realize these are descriptions that Knoerle did not use in his book, but came to me in the associations he creates. The plot challenged me to keep up, and I was just able to. Sentences would leap out to me, I would re-read them 4-5 times, just to enjoy their fascinating structure, phrasing, imagery, and sound. I wish, as in many other books that describe locations and travel in detail, there was a map of 1940's Cleveland, so I could follow the ramblings of the lead character throughout downtown and the nascent suburbs the author includes. If you are a reader, get in on the beginnings of a talented writer. We can say we knew him when... I look forward to John Knoerle doing film - it would be like Hitchcock meets Ridley Scott meets LeCarre.

A Crackling Good Thriller

As a Chandler fan I looked forward to reading something that would keep his tradition alive - and in the roller-coaster escapades and snappy period patter of Hal Schroeder, I found it. This tart, bracing little mystery smacks you in the face like the wind off the lakes in its well-used Cleveland setting. The book begged me to pick it back up every time I tried to put it down and the ending twists and turns more than a Tarantino movie. Can't wait for the next two in the trilogy. Hurry!

A Pure Great Read

A hero you want to root for, good bad guys and bad good guys, plus a very creative & exciting get-away makes this a great read. The authors' descriptions of post war Cleveland and authentic use of mob lingo sets and carries the hard-boiled tone of the story.

The cover sold me, but now I'm hooked on the mystery.

The cover made me want to see what's inside - dark, cold and clammy, retro-postwar 1940s. Sure to be a good read on a cold and clammy autumn night. Now I'm not quite halfway through it, and I don't know whether the FBI is setting up our hero to be sacrificed, whether our hero is really a no-conscience guy just out for the money or not, whether the FBI has another informant in the mob, whether the Schooler is really Mr. Big or not, whether the mob intends to snuff our hero when they're finished with him, whether the money from the poorbox heist is really counterfeit or not, and altogether just how many double crosses are going on here. This is a very good book, I'm looking forward to reading The Violin Player as soon as I'm finished with this one, and suppose I'll even have to order the book with meth in the title even though it has meth in the title. Mr. Knoerle is quite a mystery writer. When's he going to finish the other two?