A fascinating case which the author has really presented well. This case was new to me so I came with no preconceptions but am now intrigued enough to want to find out more!

I've always been a huge history buff! I really love reading about real people and how they navigated the world around them, making it better or worse. I also love finding myself catapulted into a fictional version of history, like in False Flag, for example. It was a slow burn HF, for me, and I found myself wishing for more. Not that the author left things unsaid, but that I didn't want it to end when I reached those final pages. The suspense built throughout was immaculate. As I read my brain kept itching for answers, with so many twists and turns throughout! I am definitely adding Jay Barrett to my "author watch" list!
Thank you to BooksGoSocial for a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

In Havana Harbor on a night in 1989 the USS Maine blew up. Dr Gregory Anderson was on the ship docked next to it. He was going to Ecuador to get medicine from trees to help fight Malaria. Now 76 years later his granddaughter working with Admiral Hyman Rickover is trying to recover her grandfather's remains from Ecuador. There seem to be a number of people who are interested in the diary believed to be buried with him. She hires Tony April to take her there because he had been in the area when he was in the service. Some are after Inca gold believed to be in the same area they are going to but Miss Anderson has made it clear she is not after the gold. An interesting story which moves along fairly quick and is sure to keep your interest.

Thanks to NetGalley and Books Go Social for this free copy in return for an honest review.
This book, by its description really peaked my interest. A False Flag war/determination about the sinking of the USS Maine in Havana Harbor which led to the Spanish-American war.
It is a great subject for a fiction book and one that I had to applaud first time author Jay Barrett for attempting. Unfortunately the book did not really match the description and instead of focusing on trying to get information about the Maine tragedy, the author got wrapped up into lost Inca Treasure, an extremely rushed romance and a lot of pages that deal with times of the day and clothing descriptions.
I admire any retired individual who wants to write a book, but to leave so much good stuff on the table was a real shame. I imagine this plot in the hands of a more experienced writer and it would have been super. Instead we have too many holes in the plot and action. I did think parts of the book were good, and I hope the author continues to write and grow in his efforts. Obviously he has a great deal of knowledge but to write a story about trying to find out what really happened that night to the USS Maine and then really gloss over that entire plot with subplots left me cold. Plus there were too many cutesy references to the characters in the Maltese Falcon.
For a first effort it was a good try, but missed the mark for me.

This novel had all the maknigs of a great adventure but ultimately let itself down. Too much build up and not enough payoff, poor editing and errors all the place. I do firmly believe that if it had been properly scrutinised and the ideas played with more and fleshed out then it could have been a great read. Saying all that, it is a first novel and there's every chance that future tales will get the pre-release attention that they need to really shine.

Conspiracies have always surround the sinking of the battleship Maine. In False Flag, history and fiction are mixed expertly to entertain and educate.