Blacklist by Jerry Ludwig

Published by Forge Books on June 10, 2014

Teddy Weaver, a Hollywood writer hounded by the House Un-American Activities Committee, flees the country to avoid betraying friends who once supported the Communist Party. Teddy's long-time friend and writing partner, Leo Vardian, makes a different choice: he names names, although he has always maintained that he refused to name Teddy. Leo goes on to direct films while Teddy writes in anonymous exile. The two meet again but never manage to reconcile before Teddy's death.

While Teddy and Leo provide the background to Blacklist, most of the story takes place several years after HUAC has abandoned its search for Hollywood communists. Teddy's son David, who eventually replaced Leo as Teddy's writing partner, returns to Hollywood from Paris after his father's death. He reconnects with Jana, Leo's daughter and David's childhood friend, but has difficulty making peace with Leo. The novel's early drama centers on David's conflicted relationships with Leo and Jana.

David has an anger management problem that makes him lash out at authority figures, including the FBI agent, Brian McKenna, who tormented his father and is now the liaison between the FBI and Hollywood studios. When a homicide occurs midway through the novel, David (who was seen punching out the victim not long before the homicide occurred) becomes a logical suspect. McKenna and the local police are even more inclined to suspect David when they realize that two recent homicides are connected by the same thread: both victims were informers who caused Hollywood writers and directors to be blacklisted. With J. Edgar Hoover pressing McKenna for results, the second half of the novel is aptly subtitled "The Hunt for the Blacklist Killer" -- at least until a murder occurs that don't fit the pattern.

Blacklist offers a useful reminder of a shameful period in American history, and does so with a nuanced view. It is easy to condemn people who avoided the blacklist by accusing others of Communist affiliations, but it is also easy to understand why someone who needs an income to pay for a spouse's medicine or a child's education might do so. Leo's decision to cooperate has ramifications that go well beyond the lost careers to which he may have contributed. Is the enormous guilt he carries sufficient punishment for the betrayals he committed? Everybody targeted by HUAC lost something -- those who stood up to the government lost their jobs, those who did not lost friends and self-respect. The people most deserving of blame are Hoover, Joe McCarthy, and others in government who orchestrated or carried out the un-American witch-hunt.

Unfortunately, the story's setting is better than the story. The first half is slow moving. The murder mystery in the second half is enlivened by the attempt to frame David, but the killer's identity comes as no surprise. The theme of betrayal runs through the novel as the reader wonders whether Jana will betray David (just as her father betrayed his father) but that subplot fizzles away. The story is too contrived to be truly engaging.

Each chapter is titled with the name of the character who narrates it. The names are helpful because the narrative voice is always the same. Without the chapter titles, it would be difficult to guess which character is speaking. While the novel is written in capable prose, it never soars. The characters are unremarkable, but the characters we are given reason to dislike are at least fashioned with a degree of complexity. None of the characters grabbed me. David is remarkably dull. McKenna is the most realistic character but he is also the least likable. In short, I liked the subject matter more than I liked the book or its characters.

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