March 28, 2019
Tasting The Apple is the continuation of the Bootleggers Chronicles. The first important thing that struck me was how Sherilyn Decter connected the beginning of the Chronicle in Book 2 to Book 1, Innocence Lost. Often in a series, a reader has to buy the first book to understand what is going on in the second book. In the case of Ms. Decter’s series, this is not so. She weaves in the first four or five chapters of the Tasting The Apple, a kind of summary into the narrative. The reader, therefore, gets a great picture of what has already happened.
In Tasting The Apple, you will again meet Maggie and Frank, and other recurring characters like Mickey Duffey but you will also encounter some new characters like Tony Giordano.
It is the year 1926, eight years into the height of Prohibition. Some people would say it is one of the crowning years for bootlegging before Franklin Roosevelt was elected as President seven years later and the Prohibition Laws crippling the United States in bondage to alcohol was repealed by the twenty-first amendment.
Decter interweave this historical period through the lives of her characters. We see Maggie still struggling to make ends meet. Decter also paints a beautiful picture of friendship between Maggie and the wife of one of the arch antagonists that she’s helping to trap and put behind bars.
Finally, you will meet again, Inspector Frank Geyer. Maggie’s special friend and partner.
To say, that the story will draw you in is an understatement. It is well-crafted historical documentation written within a fictitious tale, that I believe you will enjoy.
Congratulations, Ms. Decter, I am truly enjoying your series.