Anne is a journalist disputing rumors. Devon is an FBI agent charged with ensuring the war effort continues unimpeded. When Anne’s latest story intersects with Devon’s investigation into the death of a factory worker, the two must sort through espionage, organized crime, and domestic fascism to find the truth…

I was drawn into the historical WWII backdrop in Boston, but wished for the two MCs’ paths to cross sooner. Their separate investigations revealed small details and took a few steps forward, but it took a while to gain momentum, which made the first third of the book feel slow. Once Anne and Devon met, with some flirty banter, I was reenergized.

The last 40% of the book was gripping, but unfortunately the ending was only partially satisfactory. Since it’s historical mystery, I understand that it would be difficult and unrealistic to have a tidier resolution. The two MCs had realistic flaws that caused conflict but the decisions they made and their future paths made for a bittersweet ending.

Thanks to NetGalley and Minotaur Books for the ARC.

The Rumor Game by Thomas Mullen is a well written historical mystery novel that tackles issues that are (unfortunately) still with us today: fascism, domestic terrorism, anti-Semitism, etc. It features well defined characters and great historical atmosphere.

A gung-ho lady reporter who doesn't know when to quit and a playboy FBI agent who is sleepwalking through life find themselves unknowingly working different angles of the same case in this thriller set in Boston during the height of World War II. Each of the two is something of an outsider within their work group and determined, in their own way, to prove themselves. Before it's all over they will both have to make tough decisions that could have far reaching consequences.

The characters in The Rumor Game are easily familiar yet rise above mere caricature or stereotype. The intrepid girl reporter who is determined to get to the truth no matter what gets a healthy dose of reality with more nuanced, "realistic" consequences than one might expect. Meanwhile, the FBI agent is not your typical straight-laced G-man, he has more in common with wisecracking P.I.s like Philip Marlowe than flag waving Elliott Ness-types.

I have no quibble with the characters and the writing is first rate... But, for my taste, the pace of the narrative is way too slow (bear in mind this is coming from a hardcore crime fiction and hard-boiled pulp fan). At times I found myself struggling to keep going but in the end I was glad I stayed with it and finished.

BOTTOM LINE: If you enjoy slow building thrillers that focus more on character than story pace then there is a very good chance you will enjoy The Rumor Game. If you're a fan of lean, fast narratives then you might want to pass on this one.

In THE RUMOR GAME an FBI agent and a rumor killing reporter try to solve a local mystery involving the mafia, unions, and lots of anti-Semites. All of which is taking place in the city of Boston in 1943.

Being from Massachusetts, I am almost always interested in stories taking place in my state. Thomas Mullen reeled me in as a reader some years ago with his stories about the black police force in Atlanta. I was interested to see how Boston was portrayed.

The answer is-not good. Boston has a very long history and a lot of it is not great as far as racism is concerned. Boston had problems with just about every immigrant group. Even though I'm from the western part of the state, I am sometimes ashamed thinking about the things that went on in that city. Plus, and maybe I'm just ignorant, but I never knew about the anti-Semitism until now. People were blaming the Jews back then for roping us into the war. Attacks on Jewish people rose like crazy during that time? Sound familiar? It should. If we don't learn our history we are doomed to repeat it. There are a lot of parallels to today in this story and that makes me afraid.

The writing here is excellent, because...hey, it's Thomas Mullen. The plot meandered a bit, but that introduced us to more compelling characters, and exposed us to more of what was going on in the city. The pacing was fair and the mystery a good one, but somehow this narrative did not connect all the way with me. I didn't care all that much for any of the characters-there was no defined good guy-versus bad guy showdown, and it seems to me that there really were no good guys at all. Maybe that's the case in real life too?

Overall, I enjoyed this book, just not as much as I expected. It's full of twists and turns, has several memorable characters and it takes a look at an ugly history, which in turn, give us a look at what is going on today, and what might sprout from it. In this way, it's also a disturbing tale.

Recommended, especially to fans of historical fiction!

*Thank you to the publisher, the author and NetGalley for the e-ARC in exchange for my honest feedback. This is it!*
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Many thanks to NetGalley and the Publisher for allowing me to read The Rumor Game. This is a well written story set in Boston during WWII. The charecters are very human and flawed. The story is well developed and builds to an explosive ending. The threads of anti-semitism are disturbing to read given our times, however it is another reminder that we cannot allow the seeds of hate and division to be sowed again.

Very much noir feel - language, time period and Boston during WWII. I loved Anne and Devon - characters, humor and interaction. This and the plot did a great job holding my interest.
Anne uncovers antisemitism literature being distributed. As does Devon. With the common ground of uncovering and stopping the distribution, they team up to find answers.
I loved the glimpse into the American racism - not just against the innocent Asian Americans, but also Jews and Germans. History classes rarely touch on this topic - I loved learning more about our country's struggle and long history with racism, classism, etc. Well written and great plot.

Back in 2006, I read Mullen’s debut novel, The Last Town On Earth, in which a logging town decides to quarantine itself during the 1918 flu epidemic, but is challenged by outside aggressors and by internal questions of morality. In a way, The Rumor Game has a similar theme, though in a different time (shortly after the 1941 attack on Pearl Harbor) and place (Boston). Boston is obviously not a remote northwest town quarantining against the rest of the world, but the characters are based in Dorchester, where ethnicity defines their world—and, to a great extent, worldview.

Dorchester’s dominant group, Irish Catholics, tend to oppose helping out their historical nemesis, Britain. Isolationism is still a strong force, even after the attack on Pearl Harbor spurred the US to declare war. Reporter Anne Lemire, who grew up Catholic in Dorchester, found out as a teen, after her father’s death, that her mother was Jewish and had converted to Catholicism upon her marriage. Now a widow, Anne’s mother returns to her religion and moves the family to a part of Dorchester that houses predominantly Jewish immigrants. Anne’s younger brothers are being raised as Jews, but Anne, having spent her formative years as a Catholic, doesn’t quite know where she stands. One thing she’s passionate about, though, is her newspaper job combating disinformation that is hurting the war effort. But she seems to be the only one who cares about antisemitic leafleting in stores and businesses, or the fact that Irish gangs are targeting and beating Jews in Dorchester.

FBI agent Devon Mulvey is also from Dorchester, a large Irish Catholic family. His job is to combat any crimes that harm war productivity. When a Jewish man is murdered not far from his workplace in a munitions plant, Devon stubbornly continues investigating, even though the Boston Police Department and his own partner keep telling him that it’s just a little local murder, nothing bigger to see here.

Anne and Devon, separately and then together as their investigations overlap, uncover unsettling evidence that an isolationist antisemitic group called the Christian Legion is involved in a plot to stir up anti-Jewish hatred and antiwar sentiment, and may be planning to go much further than leafleting. But Anne and Devon’s attraction to each other, and their ability to work together, is threatened by tribal loyalties.

There are so many historical novels out there about noble people who bravely swim against the tide and do the right thing without hesitation, even if it puts their lives at risk, that it was refreshing for me to finally read one that is more realistic about how hard it is to turn your back on your family and tribal group, no matter how righteous the cause. Mullen vividly brings to life the streets and people of Boston in the 1940s, and his author’s note details the historical events and other background that informed his writing.

On the minus side, the plot had way too many coincidences driving it, and I question Mullen’s depiction of Anne’s priest suggesting she might be more comfortable worshipping elsewhere when it comes out in the neighborhood that Anne’s mother is Jewish. I was well acquainted with Catholics not many years later, including Boston Irish Catholics, and they were happy to accept Jewish converts to Roman Catholicism. And they would hardly have spurned a convert’s daughter who had been confirmed in the Catholic faith, even if the convert later returned to Judaism. I also thought there was a weak plot point late in the book. <spoiler>Devon receives an anonymous packet of photographs of him having dinner with Anne and later kissing her outside her apartment building. He is threatened that if he doesn’t drop his investigation against the Christian League, the photos will be given to the FBI and he’ll lose his job, apparently because Anne is a Communist. But Anne isn’t a Communist, and though false charges of Communism weren’t uncommon at that time, Anne apparently already had an FBI file that didn’t identify her as such. If the FBI had found she was a Communist, they’d have made sure she lost her newspaper job.</spoiler>

Despite the negatives, I enjoyed this novel, which particularly resonated for me, as antisemitism and Christian nationalism are on the rise in this country.

DNF at 15%

After reading the first couple of chapters, I realized this book was not for me. It is a slower book than I expected and I struggled to connect with the characters and the plot. I usually like historical mysteries, but this one didn’t click with me.

Anne is a newspaper reporter out to expose the prejudice and threats against Boston's Jewish population during WWII. FBI agent Devon is keeping an eye on wartime factories to uncover any type of corruption. Their paths cross as they investigations lead them in a similar direction, as each lead overlaps into an interconnected story that is bigger than either one imagined. This was one of the best books I have read recently. The story constantly adds twists and turns you don't expect, making you not want to put down the story. Definitely a must read.

Thanks to NetGalley for the eARC of this novel. This was engaging, well-researched historical fiction about WWII era Boston and all its political crosscurrents and ethnic hatreds. It is intricately plotted and the author does a good job of weaving in Christian nationalism, Irish corruption and isolationism, the mafia and a federal government that seems bizarrely focused on communism, pre-saging McCarthyism. At the center of this are two outsiders, a Jewish female reporter and an Irish FBI agent. Both must carefully work between worlds and constantly risk alienating one or the other. The story did take a little while to pick up but it was very fast-paced in the last third. Highly recommend.

slow paced for the type of novel it is.
the research and the setting were wonderful, but I wish it pulled me in more

This was a highly enjoyable book. This murder mystery, historical fiction crime thriller is set during WWII in Boston. A reporter and FBI agent are investigating different aspects of anti-Semitic acts, and a murder that could be tied to the hate group performing them. It had quite a bit of action, lots of tension and kept me on the edge of my seat. While this well written entertaining book is fiction, it’s based on actual events and facts, and the world building for this novel was nicely done, making you feel as if you were part of all that was going on at that time.

This was my first novel written by Thomas Mullen, but I enjoyed it so much, it definitely will not be my last.

Thank you to the publisher, St. Martin’s Press, and NetGalley for sending me a copy in exchange for an honest review.

The Rumor Game by Thomas Mullen
Narrated by Megan Tusing

The summer of 1942, Boston This time and place, a melting pot (not melting very well) of the wealthy down to those barely surviving, people from other countries, neighborhoods made up of Italians, Irish, and more. Some Jewish but hiding that fact due to the mounting anger by some that it is Jewish people that are getting the United States into the war. Boston is seething with anger, resentment, and corruption. With a cocky single, but into married women FBI agent and a sharp witted, beautiful journalist, once these two get together you know sparks of all kinds will fly. This story reminds me so much of old black and white movies thanks to the audiobook's narration but also the descriptions of the clothes, the expectations upon women to stay in the background doing the everyday grunt work, and the dialogue.

Reporter Anne Lemire writes the Rumor Clinic, the only job other than covering menial society news, that her newspaper will give her. Still, her boss keeps a tight rein on Anne, who wants to dive deep into important subjects that deal with corruption, organized crime, and racism. So Anne writes what he wants, reluctantly, while doing her own sleuthing and research on her own. She's already considered a radical for her outspoken views against fascist.

Irish Catholic Special Agent Devon Mulvey is assigned to the job of preventing industrial sabotage, although he also spies on clerics with suspect loyalties. Slowly it becomes clear that the things that concern Anne are connected to the things that concern Devon. Once they meet neither trusts the other despite their mutual attraction. Secrets and suppression of information abounds on both sides. This is not a match made in heaven.

The city and the people seem alive. Once again, black and white oldies come to mind, with the handsome agent and the smart and pretty reporter coming together, sparking in more ways than one. Old movies, books, and songs are mentioned and always there is the tension of wars brewing at home along with the war overseas. I appreciate the ending of the story, where we get more information about characters in this story, because I'm nosy like that and want to always know more.

Thank you to St. Martin's Press, Minotaur Books, Macmillan Audio and NetGalley for this ARC.

Thomas Mullen dives deeply into the gray area between good and evil in The Rumor Game with two protagonists caught by conflicting loyalties in Boston, 1943: to truth and justice, to safety and pragmatism, to family ties and patriotism. Anne Lemire is a journalist struggling to make a name in the very sexist media world while FBI agent Devon Mulvey is fighting to uphold the law when so many others around him are more than happy to sweep things under the rug. Mullen drops our heroes into the thick things and it’s anyone’s guess what will happen next. More than once I thought about red strings and corkboards to keep track of the criminal schemes and shenanigans.

Anne is my favorite of the two protagonists; I found it easier to identify with her crusading spirit rather than Devon’s waffling and womanizing. We meet Anne just as she wraps up another story for her newspaper column, the Rumor Clinic, which debunks misinformation and myths, and is hunting around for her next idea. She’d like to investigate a series of violent attacks on Jewish residents of the Dorchester neighborhood. Her boss, however, aware of the antisemitic and isolationist attitudes of the newspaper’s readership, vetoes the idea. Anne doesn’t take no for an answer and decides to start asking questions on her own. Before long, cops and rabbis are telling her to back off of the story. Meanwhile, a chance meeting with Devon Mulvey on the street leads to romantic and investigative entanglements.

Devon’s primary job with the FBI is running background checks on people applying for war work across Boston. Even though there’s more work than potential employees, the Bureau doesn’t want any communists or subversives anywhere near vital industries. They presumably don’t want any Nazi sympathizers, either, but it’s pretty clear who most people consider the bigger threat—to Devon’s annoyance and chagrin. Devon and Anne might seem like natural allies—and, for a while, they make a great team—but cracks appear when Devon follows clues that lead back to his own family, his allegiance wavers.

The Rumor Game runs all over the mean streets of Boston from abandoned warehouses to suspect diners to elegant offices to various triple-deckers around Dorchester. Anne and Devon are threatened by antisemitic mobs, mafia members, and a parade of crooked cops. They have few allies. Even their own organizations turn on them. To be honest, it’s a wonder that neither of them end up in a hospital or dead. With all this going on, however, it’s hard to know what’s a red herring and what’s a genuine clue. The confusion adds a lot to verisimilitude as real-world investigations are rarely as neat as the ones we see in fiction. I also appreciated the way Anne and Devon’s inquiries lead them in multiple directions as they try to figure out, first, what’s going on and second, what to do about it. I love good ethical dilemmas. On the other hand, the plots and subplots of The Rumor Game are muddied and the narrative feels overstuffed.

I would recommend The Rumor Game to readers who like original historical mysteries but with reservations.

I really enjoyed this mystery set during World War 2. I am a little tired of books set in that time frame, but this one had a unique narrative and the mystery aspect helped make it stand out. I liked our two main characters, and the historical element was something I was unaware of. I liked the FBI and Journalist duo job exploration during this time as well. I would definitely recommend this one, especially if you love reading books set during this time period.

My thanks to NetGalley for an ARc ebook of <i>The Rumor Game</i> in exchange for an unbiased review.

Set in Boston in the early years of WWII, this novel explores the deep biases and downright hatred American Jews experienced. Powerful individuals, some wealthy, used their platforms to advocate for America to stay out of the war. They used all of the well-known racist tropes to blame Jews for America's involvement in the ever-growing war.

Anne Lemire, a reporter, and Devon Mulvey, an FBI agent, were childhood acquaintances. Now they work together as their current investigations lead to the same hate group, Christian Nationals, and what violent action the group may be planning. Their growing attraction to each other complicates the investigation.

Although this is fiction, the ridiculous generalizations that characters from the 40s so easily spouted are still so prevalent today. Mullen's anti-Jew characters included law enforcement, priests, bankers, and ordinary hard-working men and women.

This plot of this book slowed down in the middle; there was some repetitive action that did not forward the plot.

My thanks to Net Galley, the person invitation I received to review this arc, St Martin s Press, and Minotaur Books for allowing me to review.

I did like this book ,but am on the fence about it. Anne Lemire was a very strong willed character writing a column during ww2 exposing criminal activities. Devon Mulvey was an FBI agent solving a murder. Up.until about a third of the way through, I felt like I was reading 2 separate stand alone stories which was a bit confusing. Once the 2 protagonists came together, it got a little bit better but took to long.

I enjoyed the realism and historical references but I did find the book dragging a bit. Lots of descriptive content that could have been shorter. Not a bad book but so so for me.

I’m old school and appreciated the chapter titles, it gives a hint of what’s in store next in the story. I enjoyed the historical tidbits dropped throughout the story. It seemed realistic to the wartime era and Boston has long been a favorite setting for me. It’s rife with history and atmosphere, religion and diverse cultures.
Anne is a very young, slightly naïve and very determined reporter. The topic of her columns is disproving rumors which are rampant amongst citizens enduring rationing and fear. Discrimination and prejudice between multiple ethnic groups is commonplace. There are beatings that the police ignore. Solving a murder case is FBI Agent Devon’s priority. He soon finds it to be much more complicated than anything he could have anticipated. The many different agencies involved due to the security of the nation and extreme wartime circumstances is frustrating. The involvement of mobsters and dirty cops just adds to the difficulty of finding the truth. As the plot developed, I had little faith or trust in anybody. There were many emotional elements, some romance, betrayal and unpredictable outcomes.
This is an author I haven’t read before but will surely consider in the future. An advance reader copy of “The Rumor Game” by Thomas Mullen, Minotaur Books, anticipated publication date 02/27/2024, was provided by NetGalley. These are all my own honest personal thoughts and opinions given voluntarily without compensation.

The Rumor Game

Thomas Mullen has written a compelling historical novel concerning the inherent tension between freedom of speech and sedition. Even though this book takes place in the 1940s, it is relevant to the present day. Despite, or maybe because of, the amount of information that is available, people are still eager to accept fringe theories while giving unquestioning allegiance to crackpots. Personality cults are definitely not a thing of the past.

Certainly, being against US intervention into Europe during this time period was a legitimate position to take, especially for those who could remember the horrors of World War I, or who had lost loved ones in that conflict. However, urging isolationism quickly turned from free expression of ideas into criminality when people encouraged hatred of ethnic minorities and actively fomented mob violence as a way to drum up support for that position. If you squint really hard, you can see some of the same or similar tactics being used today.

The story did drag a bit with some of the side plots. It would have been a better read if it had been tightened up a little. That being said, overall this book was entertaining and did a good job of shining a light on the mood prevalent in certain groups in the early days of America’s involvement in World War II.

Thanks to NetGalley for the opportunity to read this book in exchange for an honest review.

The Rumor Game is a World War II historical fiction novel. It differentiates itself from the typical canon in the genre by being a mystery to some extent, but primarily by focusing on a part of the period that isn't normally explored. The story takes place in Boston, after the events of Pearl Harbor, but prior to any major American offensives in Europe. The protagonists, Anne, a reporter, and Devon, an FBI agent, live in an uneasy world where anti-Semitism is rife, cops are dirty, and the mafia is union-breaking. Anne and Devon grew up in the same neighborhood but lost touch after Anne’s father died and her mother returned to her Jewish roots. The two have immediate chemistry, but they struggle to trust each other. This comes to a head when Anne discovers that Devon’s father is involved in anti-Semitic activities, and Devon subsequently learns that a member of Anne’s family has vital information about a murder he's investigating. The premise is interesting, but it takes a long time for it to get interesting. Anne and Devon don't cross paths until about a third of the way through the story, and the many moving pieces mean it takes a long time to unravel how they’re all interconnected. This makes the book feel dragged out, and while parts had a sense of urgency, there were parts where I just got bored. It felt long, and because of when the book takes place, it feels unfinished because the war is still going on when the story ends. A complimentary copy of this book was provided by the publisher. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

The Rumor Game combined a well done historical fiction with a murder mystery. Taking place during 1942 in Boston, it covers the existence of pro-fascist sentiments in the city during that time as well as the Mob starting to take control of the unions.
Devon Mulvey is an FBI agent, tasked with investigating sabotage in the local war industrial companies, any crime that might involve an anti-USA aspect and even Catholic clerics against the war effort. He’s also got a bit of a “zipper problem” as we used to say. Meanwhile, Anne Lemire is a young reporter whose newspaper column is the Rumor Clinic, which disproves harmful rumors - everything from WAACs getting abortions to Nazis poisoning the lobsters off the coastline to sailors developing green skin after Pearl Harbor. Both main characters were well defined. Each has something to prove- Mulrey the odd Irishman in the WASPish FBI; Ann being both a woman and Jewish in a male, Christian dominated field.
I was impressed by Mullen’s ability to firmly place the reader in the time and place - the Boston neighborhood boundaries and the complete clannish aspects of the city, the anti-Jewish sentiment, the day to day restrictions because of the war. For a murder mystery, I felt I got a good grip on the political issues of the day. He’s done his research and most of the political issues addressed here are based on historical facts. Even Anne is loosely based on a real life reporter.
The story moves at a brisk pace. Neither main character knows who to trust, including each other. There are lots of moving parts and I was engrossed from beginning to end.
I was a fan of Mullen’s Darktown series and this book just proves that he has the ability to consistently create a well done mystery in a variety of historical times and places.
My thanks to Netgalley and St. Martin’s Press for an advance copy of this book.