In this alternative history novel, it's 1958 and Joseph McCarthy is President of the United States. McCarthy and his Republican Party believe that communists, Russian spies, and Soviet sympathizers have infested America, and McCarthy is determined to ferret them out of the government, universities, movie industry, and other walks of life.

McCarthy is also rabidly anti-Semitic and enthusiastically persecutes people of Judaic origin. To get rid of 'unwanted elements', McCarthy's acolytes on the House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC) - called Hueys - arrest, beat up, torture, imprison, and deport commies and Jews.

One of McCarthy's most visible targets is the film industry, which now consists largely of a single studio called the 'United American Pictures Studio', that puts out anti-communist movies and other propaganda.

One of the few big film stars still working is Humphrey Bogart, who's now a drunk that makes films such as ' It Came From Planet Communist' and 'The Communist Kind.' Most of these films have a similar plot - a Communist, be it a spy or space alien, tries to ruin the American way of life and the brave democracy-loving hero (Humphrey Bogart) stops them cold in their tracks.

In this atmosphere, disgraced film director John Huston and journalist Walter Cronkite are found shot to death in Huston's house. LAPD Detective Morris Baker - a Jewish Holocaust survivor from Czechoslovakia who lives in a dingy apartment, is always drunk on peach schnapps, and has nightmares about being tortured in concentration camp - is assigned the case. However two HUAC Inspectors show up and take over the inquiries. Before Baker leaves Huston's house, however, he finds a note in Cronkite's clenched fist that contains the words "Beat the Devils" and "Baker."

The Hueys characterize Huston and Cronkite as a pair of Commie-loving lavender lads (gay men) and essentially bury the investigation. Detective Morris Baker won't let it drop, however, and - as he unearths clues about a liberty-loving group working against McCarthy - Morris is continually harassed and tormented by HUAC minions.

As the story unfolds we learn that various groups - including one led by former Nazi scientist Wernher von Braun, who is now working for the United States aerospace industry - have hatched a plot to frame Detective Baker for a horrific crime. The ultimate goal is to turn the American people against Jews in the United States.

The novel takes the form of a mid-1900s noir, with a beleaguered hero that interacts with a beautiful mysterious woman. Thus the book contains the requisite sex scenes and a protagonist that's clunked on the head, kicked, beaten with a baseball bat, has his teeth knocked out, shot at, etc. The book has an over-the-top comic book vibe, but it's an interesting plot and a wake-up call about extremists gaining power in America.

Thanks to Netgalley, Josh Weiss, and Grand Central Publishing for a copy of the book.

This is a brilliant, clever book. I was automatically sucked in when I first read the blurb and couldn’t wait to get my hands on it. And once I had it in my hands and I dove into the story, the book absolutely didn’t let me down.

Josh Weiss is a smart, bright author whom I hope will write many more books with as much sociopolitical savvy, sense of irony, and as deft at blending reality with terrifying alternative notions of “what could have been” in the future. Heck, I’d settle simply for Weiss’ ability to write sentences that in any other situation might read as mundane, but in the context of this novel they sound downright chilling.

I see a lot of reviews for this book rated lower than mine is, and I wonder if that might not be the age and/or gender demographic that’s been reading and reviewing it, because I simply don’t see the things other readers seem to be seeing.

There are just so many clever little easter eggs (our protagonist’s kind-of girlfriend’s name is Elizabeth Short, which (in this reality) is the real name of the murder victim most famously known as The Black Dahlia) and head trips that show just how much would have changed and how many people who gained infamy in this reality would be shoved down into ignomy if Joseph McCarthy had won if he had run for President (oh, and had Nixon for a VP, if you can shudder at that thought). Edward R. Murrow defamed and meets an untimely end before the book even begins. Walter Cronkite never being the legend of a news anchor that he became. John Huston being blackballed from Hollywood and wasting away in a moderately-sized house in Los Angeles.

Weiss also does an outstanding job of making it clear how many parallels there are between the reality inside this book to the actual reality we live in every day: homophobia, police violence, racism, linguistic fascism, housing segregation, and socioeconomic disparity. Public libraries have been replaced by offices for the House Un-American Activities Committee in almost every city, complete with their own agents (called Hueys) that operate outside of the purview of the DOJ. Any television, radio, or news you might get is regulated by the government (unless you manage to come across guerilla communications).

If you want to read a book in which the bad guys won before the book even started and it’s up to the plethora of characters in a book to try and right the wrong, then try this book. If you want a chilling look at what America could’ve looked like if McCarthyism had gained more ground than it did, then read this book. Heck–read this book just because it’s good!

Thanks to NetGalley and Grand Central Publishing for early access to this title in exchange for a fair and honest review, and to Grand Central Publishing for also supplying me with a finished copy of the book with no expectation of services rendered in exchange.

What do you feel like reading? A Los Angeles-set noir? Historical fiction? A murder mystery? An alternate history that feels scarily relevant to today’s world? With Beat the Devils, you can get all of this and more in one book.

Mo Baker is a holocaust survivor and an LAPD detective in 1958. The US president is the xenophobic Joseph McCarthy. Yes, that Joseph McCarthy. Mo finds two murder victims, John Huston and Walter Cronkite. One holds a crumpled note in his hand: Beat the Devils Baker. Mo must find the killer while fighting both racism and city corruption.

While there is a lot going on here, the book is definitely worth your time. I enjoyed the unique perspective of Mo and the alternate history presented. 4 stars!

Thanks to Grand Central Publishing and NetGalley for a copy in exchange for my honest review.

ARC: Beat the Devils by Josh Weiss

Thank you @joshweiss , @grandcentralpub , and @netgalley for the advance copy!

🗓 Release Date: March 22nd

💭 The concept for this novel is interesting - a reworking of history, almost a “what if?” I went into the novel wanting to find it outlandish and simply entertainment. Unfortunately, as I read along, I found that some of the events that should have felt outlandish seemed entirely plausible given the experiences I’ve had or witnessed in the last decade.

Unfortunately, this is where my interest ended. The pacing of the novel paired with the writing style made it difficult for me to stay engaged. It felt like this book was trying to be another 1984 but the writing and development did not reach its potential.

I’m sorry to say that this was a DNF for me.

This book is a fascinating thought experiment. Suppose McCarthyism was so successful that Joseph McCarthy was elected president. Suppose his conspiracy mongering, anti-Semitism, and witch-hunting paranoia infused everyday life. Suppose further that this political persecution became deadly. Weiss paints an evocatively vivid and detailed portrait of life in such a society, which we see from the perspective of Morris Baker, an LAPD detective and Holocaust survivor. We follow Baker as he attempts to get to the bottom of the murder of director John Huston and journalist Walter Cronkite, and in doing so, gets himself wrapped up in a web of deceit, lies, espionage, and murder. I had a tremendously good time getting to know a world in which I am very thankful not to live (though one has to admit that, in some details, this dystopia is not quite as unfamiliar to us as we might like it to be). Check it out!