Bruce Geddes writes a riveting tale of...

Just kidding.

By all rights, this should have been a riveting tale. Hubert Julian, the Black Eagle of Harlem, certainly lived an exciting, improbable life and was definitely a polarizing figure. How many other people paradropped into NYC while playing a sax? He was an Island (Trinidad) born, Canadian raised, American who at one time was a leading candidate for becoming the first man to cross the Atlantic, later was head of the Ethiopian air force, and later still was heading off to Finland as a volunteer to fight the Germans. How can this life not be exciting? Somehow, Geddes manages to pull this off.

The book primarily consists of only two characters: Arthur Tormes (fictional) who is tasked with spying on Julian for the FBI, and Julian himself. You would think with so much play time given to only two people, at least one of them wouldn't seem like an uninteresting, two-dimensional, cardboard caricature of a real person. No such luck. The FBI spoiler twist could easily be seen a mile away and detracted rather than added to the story. The love interest was... unlovely. Geddes pulled off an incredible feat. He took a great piece of history that was destined to be 5 stars all on its own, and managed to turn it into a barely tolerable 3 star book.

Chasing the Black Eagle is based on some exciting and overlooked history. But...

None of the characters, as portrayed in this novel, were very sympathetic. I struggled to maintain interest in what happened to them. The plot was similarly only modestly engaging. The pacing was constant throughout. The overall content has numerous interesting substories, but as a whole, I felt like I needed a more substantial story arc to draw me in. In short, it often felt like work to read this book.

Some disclosures near the novel's close needed more explanation and felt too abrupt.

Thanks to NetGalley for providing me with an electronic ARC of the ebook in exchange for a review.

Not for me, I'm afraid. I just couldn't get past the opening chapters. I normally like espionage thrillers and pre War USA is a different setting. DNF.

Thanks to Net Galley and Dumdum Press for the chance to read and review.

Chasing the Black Eagle is a historical fiction of a real-life character as told through the lens of a fictional character who spies on him. Arthur Tormes, against his will, is forced to follow the adventures of the celebrity Hubert Julian for over a decade. Chasing the black eagle is the fourth book written by Bruce Geddes.

Arthur needs money and is coerced into smuggling of certain items. He and his team are caught and sent to jail. While in prison and he is visited by mysterious person who says he has a job for him. This person turns out to be an FBI agent who wants to someone to follow Hubert Julian because he feels that he a communist spying in the US. It seems to be Hubert’s notoriety that irritates that the FBI agent most of all, and Arthur struggles with the job because he becomes a friend of Julian‘s. Throughout the story, Julian does all sorts of the strange things where Arthur becomes entangled because he’s trying to follow him and spy on him for the FBI.

The character of Arthur Tormes is quite interesting because he is trapped into spying on Julian even though he is his friend. Arthur also has a girlfriend who he must keep in the dark about the whole issue secret. This of course wreaks havoc with their relationship. As part of his duties, Arthur follows Julian all over the world and this leads to many unexpected adventures.

My biggest issue was I found the story very slow moving. There are a number of things that happen, but the narrative is so slow that I struggle with trying to hold my interest in the adventures. The pacing is just a little too slow.

I’d recommend this book to people that are like historical fiction and want to know a little bit more about Hubert Julian, the first black aviator. I give the book at 2 on 5 primarily because it is more of a documentary and a very slow-moving story. I’d like to think NetGalley and Dundurn Press
for providing me a digital copy of this novel. I provide this review voluntarily

Arthur Tormes, 17, is in no position to decline Riley Triggs’ offer to dismiss all charges and let him go free in exchange for helping the Bureau solve a problem because he is facing an attempted murder accusation. Hubert Julian, also known as the Black Eagle of Harlem, was one of the most remarkable and well-known personalities of the Harlem Renaissance and was also an inventor, pilot, parachutist, daredevil, and charlatan. According to Triggs, Julian is a real threat to the safety of America because of his popularity. To gain his release, Arthur embarks on a clandestine mission that would take the next thirteen years of his life and take him from Ethiopia on the brink of war to 1920s New York City, frequently at a tremendous personal sacrifice. In the end, Arthur Tormes’ destiny is less assured, but America is still protected.

We hear about the numerous efforts Hubert Julian made to solidify his reputation as the Black Eagle of Harlem during the narrative, some of which were more effective than others. A contemporary mystery with elements that make it seem as if it might have been set in the 1920s, but with various characters that let the narrative stand out on its own. The setting and history of this book are novel for an espionage thriller. It begins with a compelling tale. It describes the bureau of investigation’s criminal actions. The novel relates the account of a gifted but conceited black man who was never given the credit he deserved. I’m not sure what would sound more alluring if that.

The patient character development made up for the somewhat plodding tempo, and I occasionally found myself wondering when the next major event was going to happen. Geddes plunges gracefully, authoritatively, and passionately into history, presenting a broad vision of the 20th century in all its disarray while keeping firmly grounded in personal human experience. Geddes effectively takes the reader to a different time and place that is brought vividly to life through his mastery of metaphor and his sharp eye for descriptive detail. Chasing the Black Eagle is a wide-ranging, addictive tale full of fantastic characters about bootlegging, blackmail, and the hardships of love.

For an espionage thriller this book has a fresh setting and background. It opens up with a very intense narrative. But what starts quickly turns into a story that we read and seen a lot of times.

"I’m only trying to gather together what a city-bred man knew of eagles altogether, and it’s curious: the eagle of money, the high flying eagles of Bombay, the NRA eagle, with its gear and lightnings, the bird of Jupiter and of nations, of republics as well as of Caesar, of legions and soothsayers, Colonel Julian, the Black Eagle of Harlem." The book opens during 1920s, the time when Marcus Garvey was seized for a mail fraud, where the concerns were rising about Garvey’s growing militancy, the surging power of the UNIA, and the columns of restless Negro partisans all over the world with screwy ideas from Europe. In one of many nervy scenes in Bruce Geddes's novel, Hubert Julian jumps from sky playing saxophone. Hubert is on yet another adventurous drop before a crowd, the event that is soon to be covered by all major newspapers. Arthur Tormes, the undercover detective, stands amongst the cheerful crowd, trying to grasp all possible information regarding Julian.

His first encounter with Julian goes better than expected; both of them get along effortlessly. Sharing details about their common hometown Trinidad, they find homage in their common school. The memories, however sweet on the surface, soon turn out to be the bridge.

Composed in captive fifteen years by Bruce Geddes, Chasing the Black Eagle expresses the narrator's experiences as an undercover detective deployed by the Bureau of Investigation [or rather by an agent who was supposed to belong to the Bureau] to shadow all the activities of Hubert Julian. Black Eagle of Harlem aka Hubert Julian aimed to shave across the sky via his drops, forewarning the Bureau of Investigation with his extravagant excursions. Hubert, pumped up with his ambitions and driven by his ‘extraordinary’ good-luck, attempts a major drop trying to fly across the Atlantic. These excursions didn't deliver promising results but somehow caught the attention of the Ethiopian Prince who recruited him as Commander of Ethiopian Air Force. Following turbulent years in Ethiopia, Hubert returned to New York. Why did he return? I am not going to tell you. But Bruce Geddes will, in a rather bewildering style.

Arthur Tormes from the very beginning was trying to abort his head being slaughtered. The private detective was dragged in all of this mess due to charges of attempted murder of a police officer. But in the end things don’t seem very optimistic for him. “This all-consuming mission eventually saps all of Arthur’s hopes: for an education, for a real job, and most importantly, for love.” His association with Bureau is neither an ambition nor a desire, rather a blackmail deal. Only gradually, does Arthur conclude Julian to be devoid of threats, contrary to what his “senior” anticipated.

Chasing the Black Eagle is unique in presenting an extended discussion of race in this work. As when Geddes writes about the "mercurial relationship" Julian had with a Black press eager for positive race stories. After initial curiosity and then admiration for his jumps and trans-Atlantic attempt, the press gradually began to view Hubert Julian more skeptically. "The white papers were amused, the Black papers often contemptuous." Arthur and Hubert both being islanders, provides Geddes an opportunity to explore many subjects, but Chasing the Black Eagle is not a diatribe about race or class.

Sometimes it was hard to glean Hubert Julian’s intent. On a number of occasions, he tried to raise funds to attempt one record flight or another. "None of those flights ever happened."

The text is broken into three parts, seventy-four short sections, and the pages are filled in with briefings between Arthur and the Bureau agent. Briefings with the agent, both distressing and impudent, are a key component of Chasing the Black Eagle. Reading feels like dipping in and out of a discreetly curated diary.

The plot is almost traditional: A smuggling act goes wrong, an innocent young lad is seized, agrees on a tit-for-tat kind of deal, gets stuck in this trap, makes friends with a girl, an urgent need to separate, intends to finish the job, a happy family reunion and a thrilling end. Chasing the Black Eagle shows the heat and speed of its composition. Even so, I happen to think about the open ending to the plot. This to me is a futile exercise as the window of a sequel from such a genre is very slim. While its ending is a bit abrupt, leaving readers literally at the side of the road, it was undisputedly the only possible end.

An interesting read. A picture of the institutionalised and systemic racism in all parts of pre war usa, as was common in all western nations. It details the nefarious activities of the bureau of investigation. The book tells the story of a talented yet arrogant black person who never got the recognition he deserved. Typical

"'But there's something about that picture I've never figured out. Is she leaning on him for support? Or is she holding him down?'

'Can't it be both?'

'I try not to think that way,' she said..."

(My warmest thanks to Dundurn Press for the early preview!)

Let me just start by saying I did not expect to like this title as much as I did. I definitely took a step outside of my comfort zone to read historical fiction, and I wasn't sure about the story originally. I think that Geddes was a fascinating writer to get to read a work from, with simple but powerful language. I greatly enjoyed his prose; understandable, contextual, and didn't require extensive knowledge. I was able to follow along on the story about a man I had never heard of prior to this novel. I think that was one of my favorite things about getting to read the book.

The relationships depicted are something that I was unsure of for a while, but I do believe they grew on me, especially the one between the main narrator and Julian. I always enjoy reading novels from a first person perspective-- it really helps to get inside the head of the person who is telling the story, rather than hearing it detached. Geddes was able to tie together important character development and understanding all while remaining in the first person, which is difficult to pull off sometimes. Props to him, really.

While the storyline and word choices were things that I absolutely enjoyed, I did have a slight critique on the way the story is structured. I feel like the jump from setting to setting, especially from Part 1 to Part 2, was unexpected and sort of threw things off. I was also kind of disappointed for what the setting jump meant for the relationship present in Part 1 (won't detail things for spoiler purposes). However, these setting skips are easy to look past when you combine it with the rest of the detail of the novel. I'm glad I was able to read something from this genre, and I'm especially glad it got to be this book. Definitely a favorite of mine, and I will be adding it to my list to recommend to people! But, all together, I applaud Geddes for being able to have an interwoven style of writing that was easy to follow along with but also raised interesting questions throughout. And, he got someone who doesn't always enjoy historical-based novels to finish the book cover-to-cover!

While I enjoy contemporary novels I find myself always coming back to historical fiction, and within historical fiction I’m always looking for something that I may not know much about. This was one of those books for me.

I had never heard of Hubert Julian before I read this book, but the setting of 1920s Harlem, and 1930s Ethiopia was a big draw. I dove in. The narrator, Arthur Tormes, is tasked with following Julian around and does so for over a decade. This task often has him at odds with the love of his life, Jean, because he can’t divulge why he is so dedicated to Julian.

Throughout the story we learn of the various things Hubert Julian did in order to cement his image as the Black Eagle of Harlem, some being more successful than others. Julian’s life is one of amplification. It’s hard to know what is the truth and what he has embellished.

There is a small twist at the very end that I didn’t necessarily see coming but had at least some suspicion of once or twice during my read. The novel is a bit slow paced, but it is a character driven novel and that is to be expected. If you’re a fan of fast paced, plot driven stories, this may not be for you.

I struggle with the story of a Black man being told by someone who is not black, but at the same time, I wouldn’t have known Hubert Julian existed without this book. In fairness, I believe the author did justice to the story of Hubert Julian without commandeering the Black experience in 1920s Harlem.

Many historical events are mentioned throughout this book, but one seemed to have a slight error. At one point Jean, who is a journalist, says she had just received notification that Pancho Villa had died, but at that point in the novel it was 1926, and Pancho Villa actually died in 1923.

I found this to be a worthy read. The pacing was a little slow at times and I sometimes found myself wondering when the next big thing was going to happen, but I also enjoyed the slow character development.

I received a copy of this book from NetGalley and the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

A modern mystery that feels like it has come out of the golden era of the 1920s, but with diverse characters that make the story stand uniquely on its own. In just this one book, the readers is dropped into the Harlem Renaissance, through the Great Depression, and winds up on the verge of Italy's invasion of Ethiopia. If that doesn't sound enticing, then I don't know what does.