The Whiskey Rebels is the latest book penned by David Liss. I think I fall in the minority when I say that I didn't really enjoy "A Conspiracy of Paper". So I wasn't sure what I'd get here... and I had no need to worry.

Whiskey Rebels is a book that I've already recommended to friends and will do so for some time. I had more fun following the tale as it weaved in and around the birth of the United States and the founding of the financial institutions.

The story follows a hopeless aging vet who was a spy during the Revolutionary War, as he goes up against the most powerful financial traders and banks the just blooming nation had. Along the way, he teams up (and sometimes against) a powerful assassin/soldier working for Alexander Hamilton.

Based on the Whiskey Rebellion, the story blurs the lines between right and wrong as patriots and protectors clash over the very ideals that made the founding of the United States such an extraordinary event.

Though some of the page-length explanations into how stock trades and early American finances were conducted, do get a little dry, they do well to serve the story in the end. So tough it out. It's worth it.

And I have to note that I did read this book in September 2008, when much of the US economy and banking systems are buckling. The parallels between Liss' world and ours were not lost on me. I only wish we had Ethan Saunders and crew to try and knock some sense into our own leaders.