The Recruit is a timely book about today's problems but set in California almost 40 years ago. The plot of this book is a good one and the characters are interesting and somewhat realistic of those one would find in a cult that feeds on prejudice and racial superiority. It is also the story of those men and women who fight to contain those types of evil from spreading. It is hard to read. The book is long and it flips back and forth between scenarios without warning. Ben and Natasha are the main characters and the ones that ultimately solve the crimes committed but at a personal and professional price. We are introduced to many other characters that are important and that are interesting but none of them are delved into with a depth that the reader needs to understand the motivation of some of the good guys. I enjoyed the book and think it is one worth reading but it seemed drawn out in places and superficial in others. Thanks to #netGalley#TheRecruit for the opportunity to read and review this book.

Thank you to @RandomHouse and #NetGalley for the digital ARC of #TheRecruit in exchange for a fair and honest review. The opinions expressed here are entirely my own.

Even though this story is set in 1980s southern California, the issues of race, immigration and the hate and biases that result feels very relevant today. Detective Wade lives and works in Rancho Santa Elena, a sleepy SoCal town that is becoming more diverse (Vietnamese and Mexican immigrants). When these immigrant residents are targeted, Det. Wade has a good idea who's behind the attacks, but he's up against some powerful people who will do anything to protect their way of life.

Drew does a good job of showing how a young, impressionable person can quickly become radicalized and it's frightening. Overall, great characters and good propulsive story that kept me engaged until the last page. I didn't realize this was the second book in a series. I'll definitely go back and read the first book.

Alan Drew creates a thoughtful mystery with multiple viewpoints in The Recruit. It’s set in 1987 and happens around a small city in Orange County, California. Drew uses a smart approach to his suspenseful story. He’s unafraid to confront the big issues of the day, like refugee realities, white supremacy, Christian nationalism, and how the police interact with the disparate communities they serve. As you can see, the topics are equally relevant today.

The primary character is Detective Benjamin Wade, who returned to Rancho Santa Elena hoping to get away from the tensions in Los Angeles. But as the story develops, he and his girlfriend, medical examiner Natasha Betancourt, work on various cases. At first, everything seems separate, but they begin to see a common thread tying the cases to extremist views. They soon realize that even the idyllic parts of our world have dark, ugly underbellies. Next, they have to find a way to stop them.

Drew also tells part of the story from other viewpoints, even though Ben and Natasha are central. We hear from a new, teenage member of a skinhead gang. And alternately from both father and daughter in a Vietnamese-American family. Although sometimes the variety of voices was overwhelming, ultimately Drew ties everything together into a cohesive whole.

My conclusions
The Recruit is intense and never shies away from the nastiness of racism. At times the story feels ponderously heavy, but that’s more because of the topic than the writing. Drew employs considerable detail in explaining both the crimes and the criminal mindset behind this story. That gets tough to read, especially when real-life news parallels the fictional plot. Still, I give Drew credit for approaching this story with eyes wide open instead of whitewashing the grimiest behaviors.

Ben and Natasha are likable and realistically flawed characters. Natasha’s got a good heart and an even sharper mind. And Ben is working hard to wake up to his own faults. If Drew wrote another book about these two, it would be on my reading list.

At just over 400 pages, I still felt like Drew rushed the book’s ending. The balance between set-up, main story action, and the resolution was heavy up front compared to the final section. However, it’s ultimately satisfying if a bit forced.

I recommend The Recruit if you appreciate police procedurals set before the age of cell phones. Just plan to steel yourself for darkness, knowing that the main characters are worth cheering on towards the conclusion.

Acknowledgments
Many thanks to NetGalley, Random House Publishing Group, and the author for a digital advanced reader’s copy in exchange for this honest review. The Recruit debuts June 14, 2022.

Shew. The Recruit really had me upset sometimes. The story is so well crafted and discusses many important issues that we are dealing with today.

I said I needed a palate cleanser after Nightcrawling. The Recruit ain't it but it sure was good. White supremacy, 80s nostalgia, and the internets! This novel is as dark as Nightcrawling, in a different way but far fewer of the bits to bring the reader out of the abyss. I recently listened to a podcast (Behind the Bastards, episode "Reading: Unintended Consequences") that referenced The Turner Diaries extensively. Imagine my surprise when this ARC also referenced this "book". If no one else, I can suggest The Recruit to Robert Evans and Karl Kasarda. This reader hopes there will be more by Alan Drew featuring Ben and Natasha.

Let me first say that this is the second book in Alan Drew´s series. I did not read the first one, so I went into The Recruit cold.
Set in Rancho Santa Elena, a fictional town, in pre-advanced technology filled world. Our main character, Ben, is almost ready to retire from law enforcement but not quite yet. There is a white power movement happening and acceptance of other cultures is just taking off. The parallels to this fictional story and the world as we know it today are uncanny and also disturbing.
I definitely recommend reading the first book, Shadow Man, as I think it would have helped me understand the characters better.
The Recruit was definitely a page turner with a lot of suspense. The writing was rich and realistic. I thoroughly enjoyed this read, especially as it is not a typical thriller that I would have picked up.

Thank you to NetGalley and Random House for the eARC in exchange for an honest review.

The Recruit is a disturbing novel that focuses on white supremacy during the years following the Vietnam conflict when certain people in California and throughout the US were wrongly concerned about being displaced in society by immigrants. While I know there are person with such offensive ideology in the USA, the degree of hate and vitriol was hard to realistically accept.
The story involves bigots who hated the thought of Asian immigrants buying property, opening businesses, dating while people and integrating into society. At times I felt the author was preaching. At other times it felt like truth. Having been on planes that transported Vietnamese refugees to the US many years ago, I could visualize some of the experiences of the refugees. My parents volunteered as grandparents at school for a Vietnamese immigrant, who we today consider family.
Overall, this book was intriguing. It is a reminder of the oppression experienced by many legal immigrants to our country as well as the resistance of people who cannot accept change, diversity, acceptance, appreciation for fellow human beings because of preconceived notion or family bigotry.
While the book disturbed me, I couldn’t put it down.
The overall lesson for me involved the way families pass down their prejudices to next generations. We want to believe it doesn’t happen, but it does. I would encourage all Americans who want to be compassionate, empathetic, engaged citizens to read this book as ask if they recognize themselves or a family member in the narrative.

I received this book through NetGalley's Readnow program and I am voluntarily leaving an honest review.

This book begins with Ben being called to a scene for the discovery of a killed dog and at the same time, NNatasha was called to the scene of a murder victim. As it turns out, both events have a relationship. Detective Vanek was the lead oon the killing that Natasha was at and he would lter work with Ben on resolution of these killings. The next killing that happened pertained to a girl that Natasha had met seveal years earlier. This killing also was related.

As the party of three started their search, they began to narrow it down to a group of young men that were given a mission where they intimidated groups. Follow the search and at the end learn what all of these events had in common.

This book is definitely worth reading.

Thanks to Netgalley and Random House for sharing the 2nd book in Alan Drew’s series. I thought this was much more engaging than the first book. It was interesting how the author kept the vibe in the 1980s, yet it still felt very of the moment with its focus on white nationalism and immigration. Recommend this fir those that like a little more depth in a police procedural.

This was a hard book to read, It is both a detective story and a story about racism, the more extreme forms of it and the less extreme but also very damaging, institutional racism, the ignorance of not seeing/exclusion, political racism. It was a good book, it was also about love and the damage people do to each other

*Thank you to Random House, NetGalley and Alan Drew for an ARC in exchange for an honest review*

Previously published at https://www.mysteryandsuspense.com/the-recruit/

“No one is born hating another person because of the color of his skin, or his background, or his religion. People must learn to hate, and if they can learn to hate, they can be taught to love, for love comes more naturally to the human heart than its opposite.”

– Nelson Mandela (1994)

One of the wonderful things about being a reviewer is that sometimes you get to pick up books that are out of your wheelhouse and discover an amazing author you can’t wait to read again. Alan Drew is that author. The Recruit is told from the point of view of Detective Benjamin Wade, who has moved to a smaller town, Santa Elena, after tiring of Los Angeles gang violence. The novel’s focus is racism towards Vietnamese families who have moved to California to start over after the Vietnam war, but also discusses hate towards Hispanic immigrants, particularly from white supremacy groups. Drew uses multiple points of view, including Ben, the Vietnamese grocer who is targeted by a white supremacy group, the young teenager, Jacob, recruited into the supremacy group, and Ben’s girlfriend, Natasha, an asst. coroner.

The Recruit takes place about 12 years after the fall of Saigon, in 1987. Wade has been called to a house where a little boy has been poisoned. The investigation finds Ben in the back of Bao Phan’s Vietnamese grocery, where the dog belonging to the little boy has also been poisoned and his throat has been slit. They left the dog behind Bao’s grocery store with a warning. There is also the murder of a local real estate agent that connects to the story later on.

Ben and Natasha piece together the murder of the dog and the murder of the agent with a local white supremacy group, led by a young man who is the son of the town councilman, Ian Rowan. The recruit refers to Jacob Clay, the disturbed young teenager building bombs in his garage whom Ian recruits into white supremacy. Before long, Ben has discovered a large cult living above Big Bear, led by a reverend determined to cleanse the world and create an Aryan race.

I did not expect to love this book as much as I did. It speaks to the anti-racist movement happening in our current time and feels timely to read right now. Some felt the book moralized too intently, but I didn’t feel that at all. The story is entertaining; the characters are well-developed and layered and the suspense really keeps the reader engaged. I hope Drew has another book with Ben Wade. I enjoyed his character and sometimes morally gray actions. Wait for the ending. Spectacular!

I wish to thank NetGalley and Random House for allowing me to read an advanced copy of this book. I have voluntarily read and reviewed it. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

This is a story that grabs you from the very beginning and holds your interest to the very end. It is not a “read-in-one-sitting” type of book but is masterfully written. It is a mystery and thriller that you will enjoy.

The setting is mostly in a small California town in 1987. It could have been in today’s society. A group of violent young men recruit teenage gang members and train them to murder non whites with special emphasis on the Vietnam community. Detective Ben Wade and Medical Examiner Natasha Betencourt are on the case which begins with brutal slaughter of a dog and then a murder of a young girl. His case is full of twists and turns and the author involves the reader in all of them. The reader gets total background on all of the different characters explaining why they do what they do. I found this a refreshing way to tell the story. Since today’s news is so full of violence this is a story that continues through the years into our world. The story involves PTSD after the war in Vietnam, it’s aftermath within a family unit, unhealthy family dynamics and nonwhite people trying to survive in a small town filled with hatred and corruption

I recommend this book and look forward to his future books.

This is a book about what happens when hate enters society specifically hate against different races. Crimes start happening in stores and homes. Local authorities discover it is being done by a gang of teenage boys. The boys recruit others into their gang and robberies and murders begin to happen. Upon further investigation, they discover it goes much deeper than just the teens and spreads further than their town. It is a chilling account of what is no doubt happening in the world today. This is a good book that will make you think and make you wonder what the solution is to stop hate crimes from occurring.

The Recruit – Alan Drew

The year is 1985 and computers are just beginning to come into vogue. Richard Potter Wales is on his way via jet to an undisclosed location to meet the ‘Reverend’ – the head of America’s Divine Promise Ministries and also a cover for a national white supremacy movement. Wales is hoping to gain the Reverends favor with his plan for computerized bulletin boards to begin networking with other groups. With levels of password protection, these boards would enable conversation with like-minded groups across the country in hopes of preserving what they see as a dying culture.

Fast forward to 1987, where Detective Benjamin Wade answers a call for a sick child in the So. Cal town of Rancho Santa Elena. As he arrives the toddler is in cardiac arrest, and the family dog has gone missing. Ben successfully resuscitates him, but afterward, noticing a strange taste in his mouth, he returns to the scene, where he finds a strange patch of green coloring in the snow. He bags it up and sends it for analysis, wondering if this may be the source of the child’s malady.

Meanwhile, Natasha Betencourt, a county medical examiner and Ben’s girlfriend, is on a scene of her own, where a wealthy real estate developer has just been found dead in his pool. At first glance, a drowning is questioned, but as Detective Joseph Vanek and Natasha work the scene, there appears to be evidence of head trauma.

Bao Phan, his wife Ai and daughter Linh Phan are Vietnemese refugees who have settled in Rancho Santa Elena, operating a small grocery store. Having fled their country in 1975 during the Vietnam war, they have found peace and acceptance in the community. So it comes as a surprise to them when they find a dead dog in the alley behind their store. Pinned to the dogs ear is a note that states, “Kill them all”.

Jacob Clay is a young man who finds himself slowly immersed in a violent teen-aged white supremacist group. Impressionable, and already experimenting with violence on his own, Jacob allows himself to be groomed by the group’s leader, Ian Rowan. He must shed blood to gain full acceptance into the group and be rewarded with the coveted, red-laced boots. The victim he chooses will shatter a family but will ultimately pull these storylines together with devastating results as Ben, Natasha & Vanek work to find those responsible once and for all.

Wow! This was a suspenseful & terrifying read!! Set in the post-Vietnam war era, where acceptance of other cultures was just gaining momentum, this is a fictional glimpse (but is it, really?) into the mind and hearts of white supremacists - and the lengths many will go to protect a legacy that they feel is rightfully theirs. The characters are colorful (although it took me a minute to keep them straight), the events are horrifying, and the clandestine meetings and mediums used to disseminate hate will linger long after the last page is turned. One can’t help but contemplate recent world events and how they came to fruition after reading this novel….

I sure hope to see Ben and Natasha again in future writings! What a dynamic duo!!

I received this book as an Advance Reader Copy from Netgalley & Random House in exchange for an objective review. Do you love to read?? Visit netgalley.com and start reviewing books today!!

(Will publish to blog on 6/12/22)

This is a book about white supremacy in a small town in California and the overall effect it has on people and their lives. Its violence, its drama and the shocking way it infiltrates a town are center of the story. The writing is fast paced and well crafted. I found the story upsetting and frightening Many times I had to turn pages to skip what i feel is unnecessary violence.

Thank you to the publisher and to Net Galley for the opportunity. My review opinion is my own.

The Recruit by Alan Drew opens with a foreshadowing that gives us texture and backstory that helps readers understand the book's theme and what is to come. Drew wrote the novel primarily from the point of view of Detective Benjamin Wade. Wade, a former LAPD detective, has moved to a smaller suburban department are tiring of the L.A. gang violence. But the author uses multiple points of view from other key characters at times to add additional layers to the story. Thematically, the novel's focus is racism, particularly that directed towards Vietnamese and Hispanic immigrants and white supremacy.

Though the author doesn't state the specific time of the story, he offers ample clues that help us understand it takes place in 1987 (and it's mentioned in summary), about twelve years after the fall of Saigon and the formal end of the Vietnam War. It begins with Wade investigating a racial harassment crime where someone left a mutilated dog and printed racial slurs in an alley behind a store owned by a Vietnamese refugee, Bao Phan. As Drew develops that story line, he breaks into the B story of a murder investigation that eventually intersects with the main story.

Candidly, after reading the foreshadowing intro, I didn't expect to like this book much. I read fiction for entertainment and a brief respite from the generally unhappy state of the world today, not for a fiction writer to expound their moralistic worldviews. The book seemed headed toward becoming a little too Steinbeckish for my liking, a modern-day Grapes of Wrath. And to be fair, there was a good bit of purposeful moralizing. And the author's candid acknowledgment at the end removed any doubts about it.

"...I was trying to dramatize in The Recruit: that the aftermath of the Vietnam War sparked a new white supremacy movement, one that coalesced in the 1980s around the fledgling Internet and ultimately found legitimacy as a mainstream political movement in the presidency of Donald Trump."

But thankfully, the quality of the writing, the compelling story, and the richly-drawn, realistic characters helped the novel overcome what I felt was its only serious flaw. Of course, serious literary works of fiction should have a theme, but in fairness to fiction readers, advocating of personal worldviews is best left to non-fiction books.

Overall, I enjoyed the book, which offers a tight and suspense-filled plot that keeps the pages turning. I'd characterize it as a suburban police procedural as the story revolves around detectives solving crimes after it's already clear who the perpetrators are. I received an advance review copy of the book from the publisher via NetGalley used for this review, representing my honest opinions.

Alan Drew is a master storyteller. The main characters Detective Ben Wade and Forensic Specialist Natasha Betencourt piece together the evidence and eventually find those responsible for some brutal crimes in their small town. The reader is swept along with them in the process. What I found extraordinary was how the author allowed us to enter the minds of those responsible and learn their twisted motivations. The book leads us to a page turning conclusion. It is definitely worth reading.

I was issued this book by NetGalley for my unbiased review. Thank you.

This was my first book by Alan Drew that I have read. It is a good book, and an enjoyable read. The book flowed nicely from beginning to end.

While the story was set in the 80"s, it could just as well be recent. The one difference would be in the advent of the computer, and its importance in the story.

I enjoyed the book and will look forward to reading another Drew book.

A group of White Supremists develops a network to allow those with similar views to work together. Southern California is in a Santa Anna with a mix of Vietnamese, Mexicans and white. The town government seems to keep the non-whites within areas and occupations. A group of teens have organized to attack the non-whites. The gang believes they have the right to keep down and hurt the people they called the "mud people." The action is exciting and realistic as the programs made by the white supremists incites violence by the teens. Family and romance create problems as near neighbors are against each other. A young boy is the recruit who has acts up because his father will divorce and join with a Vietnam woman. The story is exciting and engrossing. They characters are realistic and have depth. The main policeman with a relationship with to coroner binds to actions of the story. The story has realism in the actions that causes people and killed. The book has ideas to think about even after the story ends.

The Recruit confronts the anti-asian movement of the current day by some who think they are better than others. Detective Ben Wade responds to a child in distress call as the nearest officer to the scene and finds a little boy has been poisoned. His investigation leads to a poisoned dog with a threatening note buried in its throat. Before long, other human bodies start showing up with similar notes in their throats as well,. Wade and his girlfriend, Natasha (Asst. Coroner) begin to connect the dots and find there is a disturbing trend, an undercurrent that has white supremacists groups at its core. From there, Ben, Natasha and others begin to put the pieces together and find the racial divides are about to reach the explosive stage. Bodies fall, the Feds get involved and before it's over you have a Waco moment happing in the hills of California.

Alan Drew does a great job of pulling you along through the story without letting you know the ending. He keeps dropping in new characters and building back stories to give you information that builds toward the climax. I am looking forward to reading more stories of Ben and Natasha in the future.