The Crook Factory

Based on the real-life story of Ernest Hemingway's amateur spy ring in Cuba during the Second World War, *The Crook Factory* is Dan Simmons' fictionalized version of the events that took place in 1942-43 in and around Hemingway's Cuban villa.

]It is meticulously researched and a good story, but it fell flat for me in a couple of ways. First, there are a few too many winks at the reader, statements made by characters of the mid-20th century that any reader in the 21st century would know to be wrong. One particularly clunky example:

"'Rather more [J Edgar Hoover's] style to haul you up in front of a Senate committee investigating Communist infiltration and discredit you or send you to jail'
'There's no such thing as a witch-hunt committee show more like that,' said Hemingway."

Second, it felt at times that nothing of what Simmons found in the archives was left out of the book. The story is fascinating, but the way it is presented, it is overburdened by detail and research. As he has Hemingway state at one point, "Only you have to avoid showing off... parading all the things you know like marching captured soldiers through the capitol."

In his other historical fictions, *Drood* and *The Terror*, Simmons does an excellent job of not letting his research get in the way. *The Crook Factory* was originally published in 1999 (this is a re-release by Mulholland Books), and maybe, by the time he wrote the later novels, Simmons learned how to incorporate his research more naturally into the narrative.

Perhaps the best review is done by the narrator himself. At the end of the book, he is reflecting on his time with Hemingway, and the best way to write about it. "In later years, Hemingway was quoted as saying that a novel was like an iceberg--seven-eighths of it should be invisible.... I knew that I would never be good enough as a writer to tell the story that way." show less

Another Simmons history novel. And a very good one at that. Simmons has a unique method of placing a fictional character into something that may or not have happened. Usually the story is told by that fictional character in their final years. The Crook Factory is a solid page turner. A true love letter to Hemingway who is probably one of the most misunderstood writers of the 20th century. Simmons is a true magician with plot and subtext. The more of his material I read the higher I put him on the literary food chain. It seems he is able to get more out of a story than his contemporaries. The conversation our protagonist with has with EH about not wanting to end a story is a beyond brilliant way of Simmons telling his audience....."You show more want a story...well, I am going to give you the whole thing and then some. show less

OMG. Okay, let's face it. Dan Simmons is a consummate author. Consummate because he does a TON of fantastic research, thorough follow-through, and fantastic characters. Not only that, but he happens to have been one of my favorite authors ever since I read Hyperion back in the day. Since then, he's equally well-known as a hard-SF writer and an epic horror novelist, equally good in either branch....

But then something weird happened. He's been writing historical novels. I didn't quite realize this until now, which makes me kinda an idiot. I read Drood which was all about Dickens and Wilkie Collins, and then there's the Terror and THIS novel. And there's more, obviously.

I'm ... frankly blown away. Drood was everything in Victorian England. show more This was utterly WWII Cuba. :) HEMINGWAY, FOLKS! As the author names it, 95% of everything in this novel is true, and whatever narrative liberties he makes, it's all for the good.

Ernest Hemingway ran his own spy ring fighting the Nazis in Cuba. Notable persons involved in the tale are Hoover, Ian Flemming, Ingrid Bergman, Gary Cooper, a wide cast of real people I have no idea about, and it all makes for a rollickingly awesome spy tale. :)

For anyone who knows anything about Hemingway, he's a man's man with a lot of animal charisma that shines through not just his fantastic prose, but in his real-life actions. It would be super easy to go on and on about the man, but that's just it. He had a really fascinating life.

Many wives, a lost briefcase of all his early short stories, getting shot up in wars, serving as war correspondents and an ambulance driver, being a huge part of the Lost Generation, being an expatriate, and generally being a superstar literary genius. To be treated with a novelization of his spy ring, tho? The Crook Factory? ...Is something truly extraordinary. :)

But I should mention that this will only appeal to fans of Hemingway, spy fiction in general, WWII buffs, and the positively curious. Otherwise, all this name dropping focus on the man will go to waste. Alas.

Good thing I'm a fan of everything that went on here, right? :) show less

The Crook Factory was an engaging read that despite its length kept me engaged for the duration of the story. It did drag a bit with an extensive epilogue that was unnecessary, but I can forgive that with the idea that the author wanted to detail the real endings to the actual people and events used during the narrative. The interplay between the fictionalized account of Hemingway's amateur espionage ring and the real events and historical characters was interesting and would be to anyone interested in the intelligence saga of WWII. A credit to the author is that the narrative kept moving and new events/pieces to the puzzle were added just as the narrative might start dragging, and the main character figured out the various twists at show more the same time as the reader. show less

An interesting thing about this fictional account of Ernest Hemingway’s amateur intelligence gathering, spy-catching and German submarine-hunting operation in Cuba during the early years of WWII is that it is “all the more incredible for being 95 percent true,” according to the author, Dan Simmons.

FBI Special Agent Joe Lucas is a South American specialist with a reputation for killing. He is summoned from Mexico City for an audience before J. Edgar Hoover, the Director. Hoover wants Lucas to get close to Hemingway and report back to Hoover about his activities.

Lucas becomes integral to Hemingway’s “Crook Factory” and lends his expertise to the cause. Despite his mixed feelings, Lucas comes to grudgingly admire Hemingway and show more his operation. There is also the intrigue and interaction of the German, U.S., British and Cuban intelligence and law enforcement agencies on the island.

The mix of fiction and historical reality, along with some sound writing, makes this an intriguing and well-paced thriller. show less

Think what you might about Ernest Hemingway’s writing, personality, attitude toward women, etc., there is no denying that the man lived life to the fullest. And, of course, he went out with a bang, further ensuring his legendary status in the world of American literature. But, as detailed in the Dan Simmons novel, The Crook Factory, there is much more to the Hemingway life story than most realize.

Lest readers be left wondering how much of the novel is based on fact, Simmons adds this clarifying note at the end of the book: “The incredible story of Ernest Hemingway’s Cuban spy-catching, submarine-chasing, World War II adventures in my new novel, The Crook Factory, is – I think – all the more incredible for being 95 percent show more true.” He then goes through a list of plot twists and main characters that are based on “confirmed fact.”

Fictional FBI man Joe Lucas, under direct orders from J. Edgar Hoover, is in Cuba to keep tabs on Hemingway and the little network of spies Hemingway is running there. Hemingway, although he is a little suspicious of Lucas, only knows that the U.S. ambassador to Cuba will not approve the operation unless Lucas is part of the team. He is not particularly happy to have Lucas on board, and, in turn, Lucas is unhappy because he thinks he has been assigned simply to “babysit” Hemingway long enough to keep him out of trouble – or from embarrassing the U.S. government.

But then people start dying. And everything changes. In this world of agents, double-agents, traitors, and professional killers, all Lucas knows is that someone wants Ernest Hemingway – and him- very, very dead. Now, if he can figure out why, he might be able to save both their lives.

The Crook Factory is a superb World War II thriller that will, I think, leave the reader with a new appreciation for just what a wild man Ernest Hemingway really was. Its seamless blending of fact and fiction includes appearances by the likes of: Gary Cooper, Marlene Dietrich, Ingrid Bergman, Hoover, John F. Kennedy, Ian Fleming, and other figures from both sides of the war.

The author’s account of Hemingway’s end is both so touching and so disturbing that readers will long remember it. That such a famous man could have been so ill-treated by the medical community and his own government is shocking. This, in combination with the incredible “missions” undertaken by Hemingway’s Crook Factory, make for engrossing reading.

I do, however, have one word of warning. The story involves a tremendous amount of infighting between Hoover’s FBI and the other intelligence agencies of the U.S. and Britain, and Simmons spends way too many pages explaining how it all happens - and why. Several long sections within the book’s first two hundred pages read more like mind-numbing pages from a bad history textbook than like content from a war thriller. But don’t give up because the last 350 pages or so will greatly reward your patience.

Rated at: 4.0 show less

Dan Simmons has written a number of fantastic books - some of my favorites are Hyperion, Illium, and Flashback, mostly in the Science Fiction realm. But he's wide ranging - Drood was a widely regarded novel based on the life of Charles Dickens and he's also written various Horror novels.

In The Crook Factory, Simmons tackles a fun meme - the semi-fictional novelization of little known or improbable events. This is territory that reminds me of one of Tim Powers' best novels, Declare, which somehow manages to put together Kim Philby (the super spy), Lawrence of Arabia, Djinn and Nazis. In this case Simmons isn't channeling the supernatural, just the world of 1940s Cuba and J Edgar Hoover - and yes Nazis and Marlene Dietrich too. Oh, and show more Ernest Hemingway.

Did you know that Hemingway was a spy? Me neither.

The Crook Factory plays out through the eyes of Joe Lucas, a fictional FBI agent with a history of bending the law and being the FBI's goto person when dirty tricks or semi legal activities are involved

Joe is sent to become part of, and spy on, Hemingway's burgeoning spy ring - the crook factory. Through Joe we meet, and become very close to, Ernest Hemingway - the writer, the lover, the prodigious drinker, the pugilist, the sentimentalist, the blowhard, the trickster. The novel renders Hemingway in amazing depth.

Joe and Ernest are off to fight the Nazis and sink subs (seriously), as well as the fighting off the local Cuban police while watching out for any number of competing intelligence agencies.

Crook factory is a great adventure and a fantastic history lesson all wrapped in one. Virtually all of the novel with the exception of Joe Lucas himself is well grounded in fact. I also gained a much more realized view of Hemingway the man (albeit fictionalized), and the book inspired me to return to some of Hemingway's novels (e.g. For Whom the Bell Tolls) with renewed appreciation.

If any of this sounds interesting, get The Crook Factory - you won't be sorry.

[I received a complimentary copy of The Crook Factory through the excellent LibraryThing Early Reviewers program.]. show less