Stalking Ghosts
Stalking Ghosts by Alexander C. Juden
John Griffin Post Great War Mysteries Book 3
“I just need a trusted messenger,” Winston Churchill said to me. “President Wilson and Senator Lodge know me and have some small respect for me. They will listen. They must. The ties between the recent terrorist attacks and the current massive labor strikes are undeniable evidence of the workings of Bolshevism in the United States. These are not the arbitrary, isolated events directed by a few uneducated immigrant anarchists. These are coordinated efforts promoted and guided by Moscow.”
September 1919. All combatants of the Great War, save Russia, have signed the Treaty of Versailles formally ending more than four years of slaughter. In Russia, civil war continues to rage, and the government in Great Britain sees a Red revolution as a very real threat to the world order. In the United States, the past four months have brought riots, strikes, and bombings. Against this uncertain backdrop, the world must hold its collective breath while it waits for President Wilson to overcome the opposition of isolationist American senators in order to win ratification for the treaty he promises will end all wars.
While traveling to Washington at the request of the British, John Griffin, Great War veteran and agent for Wilson and Colonel House, encounters a German plot to undermine Wilson’s efforts. He also learns, to his horror, that he is the key for the success of their plan. Pursued by enemies, real and imagined, and battling the demons inside his head, Griffin strives to escape his role in the scheme while protecting his friends and family. Betrayal hounds his efforts and, ultimately, upends much that he had come to believe.
Crossing Darkness
Crossing Darkenss by Alexander C. Juden
John Griffin Post Great War Mysteries Book 2
“…the continuation of peace is no sure thing. It sits on a knife’s edge, and a nudge could send the world tumbling back to war. Help the French. Convince them we are with them because we need this peace to last. Hell, the whole world needs it.””
June 1919. The Treaty of Versailles is nearly complete, and the Bolshevik plot to prevent it was successfully thwarted, but the cost to Griffin was high. Physically wounded and emotionally shattered, he finds that he is trapped by the lies he told the French authorities when saving the very peace that may now cost him everything. Paired with an enigmatic French spy masquerading as his wife, Griffin travels into the heart of a defeated but dangerous Germany. He realizes he is a pawn in a murderous and complicated game that leaves him fighting for his life. He must find a way to escape Germany and the plots that threaten to kill him, while embarking on a quest that his own confused nature has created. As he scrambles to survive, he learns that, sometimes, survival isn’t worth the price demanded.
Red Tiger Hunting
REd Tiger Hunting by Alexander C. Juden
John Griffin Post Great War Mysteries Book 1
“Griffin, I beg you. Go to Europe and find my daughter. I’ll give you any damn thing you want. I’ve got a bad feeling about waiting…”
April 1919. Scarred and disillusioned, John Griffin has returned home from the Great War with no job and no real prospects. He is contacted by Harry Armistan, a very worried father and a rich New York City financier. While on her honeymoon, Harry’s daughter disappeared from her London hotel. Armistan enlists Griffin to find her after receiving a recommendation from Griffin’s former marine commander. With nothing better to do and against his better judgment, Griffin agrees. He returns to England and his haunted past. There, his only lead is the missing girl’s widowed sister-in-law. Intrigued by the young widow, violence and mystery follow.
The clues lead him to Paris, a city just beginning to recover from four long years of war. He encounters a host of diverse characters reveling in the war’s end, while still mourning their losses. With the help of this unlikely group, Griffin narrows his search. But as he closes on his quarry, he stumbles upon a terrible plot, which threatens to shatter the world’s chance for peace.
Reviews
Juden’s historical thriller transports the reader back in time and gives a convincing account of the postwar experience at home and abroad.…the century-old settings are both familiar and sleek, and the characters (including real historical figures, such as war hero and jazz musician Eugene Bullard) are mysterious enough to keep the action scenes interesting.
A rousing adventure in jazzy post–WWI Europe.
~Kirkus
IndieReader Review - 4.5 Stars!
… a hard-boiled noir reminiscent of Raymond Chandler, James M. Cain, and Jim Thompson.…the book is also a fast-paced action thriller that still finds moments to contemplate deeper topics, like the political machines and businesses that profit from war and the terrible price of taking another human’s life. In RED TIGER HUNTING, author Alexander C. Juden has crafted a slick, action-packed page-turner that still finds time to ruminate on deeper questions of justice, nationalism, and the nature of war.
~Rob Errera for IndieReader
In Red Tiger Hunting, the protagonist John Griffin is a war-weary man who never stops fighting. The apocalyptic nightmare that was the first world war is near its official end but is still too close for John, his friends, and his associates. The shell shock felt by the veterans is palpable in many of their interactions with others. Juden adeptly conveys the emotional wounds of the veterans as well as the bonds formed between enlisted men in this engaging narrative.…an excellent historical fiction novel and layered it with intense drama and mystery. Red Tiger Hunting is an absorbing read that will appeal to history lovers as well as those desiring a page-turning yarn. It is deft and balanced.”
~Philip Zozzaro, The Book Commentary
Alex Juden is the author of two previous Griffin Post Great War mysteries, Red Tiger Hunting and Crossing Darkness. He lives with his wife in Houston, Texas. Two of his three children remain in Texas while the third has moved to California (for college anyway). Prior to writing, he enjoyed a variety of jobs, including naval aviator, trial lawyer, and public company general counsel. Alex now has a small farm in Texas where the vineyard is dangerously close to thriving and the trees might actually bear fruit in the near future.
He studied history and political science at Rice University.
