Review: The Crescent Spy by Michael Wallace

The Crescent Spy

by Michael Wallace

Publisher: Lake Union Publishing

Pages: 325

Format: ARC

Buy the Book: Amazon

Goodreads:  Writing under a man’s name, Josephine Breaux is the finest reporter at Washington’s Morning Clarion. Using her wit and charm, she never fails to get the scoop on the latest Union and Confederate activities. But when a rival paper reveals her true identity, accusations of treason fly. Despite her claims of loyalty to the Union, she is arrested as a spy and traitor.

To Josephine’s surprise, she’s whisked away to the White House, where she learns that President Lincoln himself wishes to use her cunning and skill for a secret mission in New Orleans that could hasten the end of the war. For Josephine, though, this mission threatens to open old wounds and expose dangerous secrets. In the middle of the most violent conflict the country has ever seen, can one woman overcome the treacherous secrets of her past in order to secure her nation’s future?

Kritters Thoughts:  A new twist on a civil war book.  Told through the eyes of a female journalist/spy as she is sent down to New Orleans, LA to spy and send back anything she can find out about the Confederate hold on New Orleans.  Josephine Breaux is a tough woman and I was cheering her on from the beginning!  

With little war scenes and more strategy I loved this take on writing about the civil war.  There were definitely guns and ships a blazing, but the focus was on how Josephine could live the life of a well known journalist while sending secrets to the North.  I loved how she was a smart woman when women weren't encouraged to be smart at this time and she could be strategic both in how her information was sent and what she suggested the war department in the North should do.  

The other aspect that set this book apart for me and made me love it even more was the setting.  When reading most civil war books, they are set on the east coast in New York, Washington DC or Virginia, so to read about how New Orleans and Louisiana were involved in the war was very interesting.  

If you have read all the civil war books, read this one.  If you haven't read a one, read this one.  I read this book so fast from beginning to end, the pace was on point.

This is my first time hearing about Michael Wallace and I am excited to dive into his backlist.  Have you read him before what do you suggest I read next?


Rating: definitely a good read, but can't read two in a row

Disclosure of Material Connection:  I received one copy of this book free of charge from TLC Book Tours.  I was not required to write a positive review in exchange for receipt of the book; rather, the opinions expressed in this review are my own.