Genre: Historical Fiction
Publisher: St. Martin’s Press
Pub. Date: April 10, 2018

So why did I like this book so much? Maybe I am just a sucker for a bygone era. I still love the old black and white 1930s and 1940s gangster movies, filled with nostalgia for the Prohibition Era, with handsome celebrities playing the main roles. Think “Key Largo” with Humphrey Bogart, Edward G. Robinson and the great beauty Lauren Bacall. Or, “The Glass Key” with the handsome actor, Alan Ladd, and his gorgeous costar, known for her peek-a-boo hairstyle, Veronica Lake.

Don’t be fooled by the title, this is not about bootlegging. But, I’m impressed with the author’s choice of title, very clever. I won’t spoil it for you with an explanation. Here is what is hard to buy about this novel. It is two stories in one. The female protagonist is an outlaw in a gang during the depression with her boyfriend the gang leader. Ten years later, she is a Naval Canadian code breaker during World War II who intercepts Japanese messages. Both subject matters are enjoyable to me. But, together, it becomes a hard sell. Still, the author’s talent manages to pull it off.

There are two voices in this story that alternates between paragraphs, tricky to follow, but worth the effort. Our gal’s voice is in the past, as the gang moll, and in the present when she is in the navy. We also follow a male voice from the past, another gang member though not her man. The male narrator is sort of a sweet milk-toast kind of guy who stumbles into the gang. These two characters have something in common. He is a law-abiding citizen until the head bandit comes and shakes up his dull and friendless life. She is a beautiful law-abiding bank teller, who happens to be bored out of her young mind. When the bank is robbed, it turns out that the burglar’s leader is Clark Gable handsome, with the sort of killer smile women melt over. During the robbery, she asks him to take her with him and runs off with the gang. I thought way too much women’s fiction for my taste. I was wrong. The author, Alisa Smith, holds my interest because of her writing skills. As a matter of fact, I would say that she writes more literary than contemporary. In many ways, Smith reminds me of Joyce Carol Oates. In Oates’ novel, “The Gravedigger’s Daughter,” she writes an historical fiction about a woman who falls for an abusive, hard-drinking man sounding similar to our bank robbing code breaker.

There are certainly flaws in the story. Our heroine is a bright woman. Bright enough to be a well respected language code breaker. Yet, she has no way of assessing the character of the people in her life. At age twenty, she has to get beat up by her boyfriend to realize her honey is a creep. In typical noir style, he slaps some sense into her (as a woman that is a painful line to write), prompting her to run away from him and the rest of the gang. At age thirty, she fears that her past is catching up with her but has no clue on who in her unit is attempting to discover her so far undetected criminal past. And, even though she is now a grown woman, she once again falls for a guy who does not have her best interest at heart. I suspect some will be disappointed in this book for other reasons. Between the book’s title and blurb, it is fair to expect an easy and juicy women’s fiction tale. However, that is simply not this book. If you want to try an intellectual version of Mickey Spillane, this is the book for you.

The time period that Speakeasy is set in is one that I always enjoy reading! Based on the title, I had preconceived notions about what this book was about, and it certainly ended up taking me by surprise. There is a lot going on here, with a past and present storyline, revealed a little at a time. Lena is in a unique situation as a woman in both of her time periods...she's involved in multiple things that women aren't often a part of. She also has a "secret past" that she desperately hopes doesn't catch up with her. It's a very readable book, and I was interested in what was happening and going to happen. It does end on a bit of a cliffhanger, but word on the street is that the author is working on a sequel. I definitely look forward to reading it.

**Many thanks to NetGalley & St. Martins Press-Thomas Dunne Books for a copy to read and honestly review!**

This is an unusual book with an unusual main character. Lena is a strong woman with a past she would like to stay hidden. The plot is interesting but the writing tended to be confusing, In the beginning especially, it was hard to tell who the narrator was as it switched between people with no warning.

Readers of historical fiction will doubtless enjoy the unique viewpoint of this book but for me it was just ok.

Lena is a code breaker. She broke the code which helped win the battle of Midway. But….she has a past. She was once involved with a famous bank robber, Bill Bagley.

Lena is a unique woman for this time period. She is a code breaker, she lives alone, plus she drove a getaway car. She is also hoping her world does not fall down around her ears. She is the type of woman character I love. However, I felt a little distance from her. I wanted to “feel more” for her and her situation. See, Bill is her past with a bite. He is on death row but he is still taunting her from behind bars. I should have felt a better connection with her, it just wasn’t there.

This was just a so-so read for me. I had trouble in the beginning figuring out who the narrator was. Then I realized it was changing narrators in the middle of the chapters. Now, keep in mind, I was reading an ARC and this may not be corrected yet, or it may be exactly how it’s supposed to be. This was just confusing to me until I was used to it.

The story did keep me reading and the ending was the best part of the book. It ended with a cliff hanger and I can’t wait to see what happens next. And yes, the author is working on a sequel.

Outlaws, depression era gangs and World War II code breaking? Sounds amazing right? That’s what I thought too but unfortunately the book was a letdown. The author does a good job of drawing the reader into the time period but once your immersed in the world of World War II you’re suddenly pulled out and thrust into the prohibition Era without any warning. The author also uses a different narrator for the flashbacks which really threw me out of the story. I enjoyed Lena’s part for more than those told by the male narrator. Those chapters serve to tell us a large part of Lena’s story but I wish they had been told from Lena’s point of view instead. The storyline also got a bit lost among the action scenes. Although I didn’t enjoy this story it was a well researched historical book and fans of bank heists, the 1930’s and World War II may really enjoy it!

Lena is a code breaker during WWII, she's now tasked with finding a spy among the spys and can she figure it out before someone kills her?

3.5 code-breaker stars to Speakeasy! ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️.5

I thought Speakeasy was a creative title for the book, and I’ve read there’s a possible sequel with an equally creative name!

Lena Stillman has moved on with her life, working for the Navy as a code-breaker, intercepting Japanese messages, during World War II. When a newspaper headline brings up her lurid past as a bank robber in the Clockwork Gang, she’s sent into a tailspin.

She begins receiving threatening notes and worries about her own safety. Does another code-breaker know the truth?

Told in two narratives, Lena’s and Byron’s, an accountant the gang leader hired to doctor the books, there is a slower-building tension between the war chapters and the gang chapters, especially in wondering what would happen to Lena.

Speakeasy has many strengths, including the original premise, WWII backdrop (my favorite time period!), the Victoria setting, dual narratives, Lena as a character (loved her!), and the code-breaking work is fascinating; however, I wish there was more character development for some of the characters to add more depth.

Overall, Speakeasy was a thoroughly enjoyable debut, and I am definitely interested in reading the sequel to see what happens next!

Thank you to Alisa Smith, St. Martin’s Press, and Netgalley for the ARC. Speakeasy is available now!

The book had a good storyline but just couldn’t get into the flow.

Mom always said “what’s done in the dark will come to the light.” Although Lena is a code breaker in the war. Her past crimes still haunt.

Lena is an elite code breaker for the Allies during World War II. She is good under pressure and learned early how to keep secrets. During the Great Depression Lena was a member of notorious bank robber Bill Bagley. She believed she left that world behind until she discovers that Bill is sentenced to death for his crimes and she receives a note in the mail from him demanding her help. Lena must decide whether to forget the past or help someone she was once close to.
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I have read a lot of World War II fiction and I think this one didn’t quite hit the mark. It is told in dual perspectives, lena’s during World War II and another character, Byron’s, during the depression. I didn’t think the stories quite worked together but I did appreciate how well researched the book was. It was exciting to read about the robberies and gang related scenes but it wasn’t quite enough for me. It was an enjoyable read but not my favorite World War II era historical fiction novel.
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Thank you to St. Martin’s Press and Alisa Smith for providing me a copy of this book on NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Speakeasy will be released on April 10th.

Speakeasy is a story about Lena, a World War II codebreaker with a past that it's quite riveting of the era. The story is told from two narratives that may be challenging to keep up with: Lena and diary excerpts of a journal kept by another gang. The author does a great job at transporting the reader back to an era of Bonnie & Clyde, which I found quite enjoyable. The various scenes, while great on their own, didn't have the connected story flow that I would expect. For this reason, the climax of the story left me wanting more and a need for closure. It's clear the author did extensive research in writing this story and has all the components of a great writer. If you're able to overcome some of its challenges, I think you'll find this an enjoyable read.

Thank you St. Martin's Press and NetGalley for providing an ARC of Speakeasy. Thank you, Alisa, for sharing this captivating story with the world.

I am a bit of a World War II nut. Any book that takes place during that time period is probably going to end up on my TBR list (unless it's about the Holocaust which I am taking a break from because I don't need to cry every time I read a book). So when I saw this book and that the main character, Lena, is a code breaker and that she is a gangster past, I immediately requested it. Let's get to the review!

Synopsis (from Goodreads):
Thirty-year-old Lena Stillman is living a perfectly respectable life when a shocking newspaper headline calls up her past: it concerns her former lover, charismatic bank robber Bill Bagley. A romantic and charming figure, Lena had tried to forget him by resuming her linguistic studies, which led to her recruitment as a Navy code-breaker intercepting Japanese messages during World War II.

But can Lena keep her own secrets? Threatening notes and the appearance of an old diary that recalls her gangster days are poised to upset her new life.

Whom can she really trust? Is there a spy among the code-breakers? And who is it that wants her dead?

Speakeasy is split up between Lena and Byron's point of view. In Lena's point of view, she is working as a code breaker in Canada. Near the start of the story, she reads in the newspaper that Bill Bagley, her former lover and partner in crime, has not only been caught but is also going to be executed soon. She didn't exactly leave Bill on good terms and when she gets a message that he wants to see her, she is less than thrilled. As Lena's point of view of the story goes on, we see how she interacts with her fellow code breakers, even entering a sort-of relationship with one of them, and how she deals with her past that she never wanted to see again. We also get to see her spy on her co-workers in order to save her own neck. She is definitely an interesting character.

Byron's point of view is in the past when Lena first met Bill Bagley and joined his gang of criminals. Byron is one of the gang but much gentler than the others. He falls in love with Lena but never has a chance to act on his feelings because of his fear of Bill and because once they finally figure out just how terrible Bill is, Lena leaves immediately. Through Byron's point of view, we get to see who Lena was before she was a code breaker. She was much more free-spirited and wild compared to how closed off she is now. We also eventually get to see Lena's response to Byron's point of view because someone leaves Byron's journal (where he wrote about all their criminal escapades) on her doorstep. It is intriguing to see how Lena reacts to someone writing about her. It is also interesting to see Byron's reaction to all the gang's criminal activity because he is so not what you would expect a criminal to be or at least doesn't have the mindset of the other people around him.

Okay, all that being said, I did not really enjoy this story. There was a lot of information that felt unnecessary and much more telling rather than showing. And nothing really happened. Sure, we see the gang commit a bunch of robberies and even a few murders but it never led us anywhere. It was constantly building up to a climax that didn't happen. Yes, the Japanese bomb one of the bunkers Lena worked in but with the way it was written, I didn't care. I wasn't invested in the characters enough to feel the heartache Lena felts when she found out the one person she was close to was dead. The same goes for Byron's storyline. It felt like it was building up to the gang being caught, but we, the reader, never get to see that part. We just hear about it after the fact. What could have been the ultimate suspenseful scene is not included and it felt like a real let down. The ending is sadly underwhelming as well.  :(

As you can probably tell, I did not give this story a high rating. I am giving Speakeasy by Alisa Smith 2 out of 5 stars. This book had so much potential but it just didn't follow through.

Speakeasy comes out April 10th, 2018.

Thank you, NetGalley and Thomas Dunne Books/St.Martin's Press for this ARC in exchange for my honest review.

Lena Stillman is a codebreaker during World War II. But she hasn't always been a hero.

During the depression, she robbed banks with Bill Bagley and the Clockwork Gang.

What is she going to do now that the past seems to have caught up with her?

Speakeasy had some interesting elements, but the story suffered from a back and forth narrative and flat characters.

An interesting historical novel set in the Depression and World War II on the west coast of Canada, I was engaged by the characters and the setting. I was disappointed that the parallel stories never really seemed to reconverge, and was looking for more resolution from the main characters.

This story is told in the alternating voices of Lena and Byron. Lena, once a member of the Clockwork Gang and in love with the leader Bill Bagley, is now a codebreaker for the Navy during World War II. Byron was an accountant that Bill had asked to doctor his books before an audit and then compelled him to join the Clockwork Gang.
I really enjoyed this book. The back and forth between the tensions of the war and the escapades of the notorious gang made the book all the more enjoyable. This is definitely a must-read if you are a fan of historical fiction!

Slipping between the 1930s and the 1940s, Speakeasy is an ambitious book that....is just okay. Secret bars, bank heists, War - all the elements of a good historical novel are there, but this....lacks some umph.

Thanks to NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review this book.

Speakeasy by Alisa Smith offers an interesting take on code breaking leading up to WWII. Lovely Lena Stillman is a code breaker with a past; in her former life she was part of a gang of notorious bank robbers. Now 30, Lena spends her days, in fact most of her nights as well, breaking Japanese codes to protect Navy ships. But Lena's past may be catching up to her; Bill Bagley, the gang's leader, is scheduled to be hanged. And Lena is getting threatening notices that may mean that someone is about to spill the beans about her dark past. What can she do to protect herself, and who can she trust?

Speakeasy shines a light into the world of codebreakers, particularly women. At the same time we are working hand in hand with Lena to defend the seas, we are hearing from another gang member, Byron, telling use how Lena came to flee the gang and instead break codes. both as a bank robber and a code breaker. Little by little, alternating chapter by alternating chapter, Smith builds sympathetic and engaging characters, drawing us into their lives and their dilemma's, letting us experience with them the fear and excitement as their worlds change around them.

A well told story about how secrets have a habit of coming home to roost and how desperately we strive to keep them hidden. Youthful indiscretions and outright law breaking threaten to destroy the life Lena has built for herself.

Speakeasy is an intriguing story of a female bankrobber turned codebreaker. The story was interesting but the alternating viewpoints was a bit confusing.

I like histprical fiction but this story wasnt something that intrigue me.
Parts of it was interesting but the others weren't.