The Informant

Jimmy Nessheim #2

by Andrew Rosenheim

Autumn 1941. FBI Assistant Director Harry Guttman is asked to a secret meeting with American diplomat Thornton Palmer. When Palmer tells him that the Soviet Union has been infiltrating the highest levels of American government Guttman is sceptical. But Palmer is adamant that the Soviet secret service has recruited Americans and that $50,000 has recently been wired by Russian intelligence officers in New York to a Japanese bank in Los Angeles.

Out in LA, Special Agent Jimmy Nessheim isn't happy. His enlistment in the army has been blocked on medical grounds and he's working a soft desk job that bores him rigid -- he's the FBI adviser to a studio that's making pro-FBI movies. He is delighted to be asked by Guttman to trace some Russian money that came west to a Japanese bank, and he has a local half-Japanese informant named Billy Osaka, who's willing to help. But then Osaka disappears in mysterious circumstances, right after telling Nessheim he's discovered something important.

Praise for Fear Itself:
"If you like wartime political thrillers, you'll love Andrew Rosenheim's gripping Fear Itself." --Newsweek/Daily Beast

"This top-notch historical thriller from Rosenheim, the first in a new series . . . will only whet readers' appetites for more." --Publishers Weekly (starred review)

Genres: Historical Fiction, Espionage, Crime, Fiction

416 pages, Hardcover

First published August 29, 2013

About the author

Andrew Rosenheim was born in Chicago and came to England as a Rhodes Scholar in 1977. He has lived near Oxford ever since. Rosenheim worked in electronic publishing and artificial intelligence for over fifteen years, and ran Amazon UK's Kindle Singles. He has written for the TLS, The Spectator, The Times, The Guardian, The Independent, The Daily Telegraph, The Tablet, The New York Times Book Review, among other publications. Rosenheim is the author of nine novels, including Hands On (1993), a satirical novel featuring a precursor to ChatGPT, the Nessheim trilogy (The Accidental Agent; The Informant; Fear Itself), Without Prejudice, Holly Lester, and a memoir, The Secrets of Carriage H.

Reviews

[Adrienne · Rating 2 out of 5]

Well - this story started off well - then stalled in the middle - for a good many chapters. What was intriguing was the story setting in LA 1941. A time when Hoover was in charge of the FBI. And various stories circulated: should USA come to Britsin's aid in WW11; Hoover thought it preposterous that Russia could have spies in USA and still the Nazi's stiil had Americans poised between for and against them.
The factual side was clearly superbly researched. This interested me.
Well written. Not as good as other books I have read by Andrew Rosenheim.

[Tony Nielsen · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Informant is based in Los Angeles in 1941, with Americans deeply concerned about the war in Europe, but still getting on with their lives as the USA was still on the sidelines.

Special Agent James Nessheim has been seconded to local movie studios by the boss himself, FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover. Hoover wants to ensure that the movies being made uphold American values.

The country is not only nervous about its new Allies the Russians who are desperately defending Moscow from the Nazis, but they also have an underlying concern about the Japanese. When Hoover is informed of an attempt to gain information by a Russian operative he dismisses it out of hand.

Andrew Rosenheim has constructed a tense story, very much in the vein of John Le Carre but , of
course, with a different setting. Nessheim's FBI mission grows increasingly complicated, especially when one of his key contacts' Billy Osaka, disappears.


The tension grows palpably page by page, building up towards the surprise Japanese attack on Pearl Harbour, and America finally being dragged into World War Two. Nessheim is a tough character, frustrated by his bosses at the FBI, and convinced that his case is critical to his country's wellbeing. This is a pulsating read for anyone with an interest in WW 2 from a different perspective.

[Randal · Rating 4 out of 5]

Pleasantly surprised by this one. It's a time frame that doesn't get much love from writers -- the lead-in to the Second World War, which is a nice change, and LA proves a good setting. NYC fares OK as well although the DC parts are a little flat ... not as much sense of place.
It feels well-researched, with plenty of detail. Nessheim makes a good lead. I found some of the flashbacks to the first book a little annoying, but not so much that you had to have read the first book to tackle this one.
There are no strong female characters and it's bloody in spots, so it won't appeal to every reader, but it's unusually grounded in historical fact and feels like there's more thought behind it than is the case with a lot of action writing (Clive Cussler, for instance, where the plot is the only thing driving the books along).
One little quibble is that somebody messed up the pagination and there were frequent cases where words were incorrect-ly hyphenated in the middle ... surprising with an author whose background was publishing before he started to write.

[Peter · Rating 4 out of 5]

The same protagonists from Fear Itself are here involved in a less engaging but still interesting case centred on a missing Japanese-American informant in late-1941 Los Angeles and complications from a potential Soviet spy-ring which eventually link to Pearl Harbor. It’s a polished and atmospheric read, particularly of the city of LA, although their persistence in pursuing the informant against Hoover’s wishes detracts. Nessheim is the more-centrally featured character but both are rounded and realistic. 4.5 stars.

[Dave · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'm torn on this book. On one hand, it is well written and well researched. The overall plot is interesting but the problem comes from the pacing. It is veeeeeeeerrryyy slow and a book about World War II spies ends up being kinda boring. The main character FBI agent Nessheim is a fine protagonist, but he and his superior on the East Coast, basically just walk into rooms and asks questions for the vast majority of the book. That's basically it. Very few exciting things happen. It makes for a more realistic book, but a much less interesting one.

An editor should have cut this book by a third since it's way too long as it is. The main mystery isn't that complex and was pretty easy to spot. But as I said, the author has talent but this book could have used a few more drafts.

[Rob Kitchin · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Informant is a historical political thriller set immediately prior to America entering the Second World War. It’s the second book in the James Nessheim series, but can be read as a standalone. The strength of the story is the plot and contextualisation. The tale is told through a set of alternating perspectives of James Nessheim in Los Angeles, and is his boss, Harry Guttman in Washington and New York, and centres on finding a missing Japanese-American informant, uncovering the work of Soviet agents, and establishing if there is a link between the two and its significance. Whilst, the timeline is linear, the plot weaves together a number of strands and subplots to create a complex, if somewhat fanciful, stew. Nevertheless, Rosenheim makes sure the reader stays orientated and that the story keeps moving forward. Moreover, he evokes the tense atmosphere, politics and political landscape of the time and nicely places the story in its locales, with a strong sense of place with respect to the film studio, Little Tokyo in LA, and the hills above Santa Barbara, and context with respect to the marginalised position of the Japanese in America and political sympathies with communism and the plight of the Soviet Union as German troops advance on Moscow. The result is a thoughtful, engaging and well told tale.

[Bonnie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Andrew Rosenheim follows his first novel in this series titled Fear Itself and this time he enhances his technique of writing the historical thriller. The setting is Washington, D. C. in 1941 and FBI agent Harry Guttman hears a rumor that the Soviet Union has infiltrated the highest levels of the United States government. He finds that fifty thousand dollars have been wired from the Russians to a Japanese bank in Los Angeles, but the trail has gone cold. He asks Special Agent Jimmy Nessheim to track it down. Jimmy knows a local informant Billy Osaka and realizes that he has disappeared. His frantic search for Billy takes him to Little Tokyo and finally to Hawaii before he realizes it is to late to prevent the Japanese from bombing Pearl Harbor.

The novel follows in minute detail the daily work of FBI agents headed by J. Edgar Hoover trying to ensure the safety of Americans. It is a precise detailing of America on the cusp of war.

[Michelle Connell · Rating 4 out of 5]

After a slow start, the book started to get interesting and then it was hard to put down. Nessheim is on another case, this time in L.A. One of his Japanese informants has gone missing, and Nessheim goes all over the place trying to find him before the bad guys do. Lots of red herrings and little jaunts here and there keep the plot moving.

[Jayw]

Rumors of a Russian infiltrator at the highest levels of government. Secret wire transfer and disappearance of Japanese agent in California and trouble making FBI agents in DC and Hollywood in 1941.

[Louie Haltom · Rating 5 out of 5]

liked it

[Michelle Prak]

Nicely done, stylish period spy thriller. Lots if character names, of course, so stay sharp!

[Victor Borgeest · Rating 3 out of 5]

a good read for a winters rainy day