What do you think?
Rate this book
A Fine and Dangerous Season
The phone rings in the California home of businessman Nate Michaels before the sun is up on October 24, 1962. An hour later he's on an Air Force jet to Washington. Michaels hasn't seen or spoken to President Kennedy since they met at Stanford in the fall of 1940, but now JFK needs his help to defuse the threat posed by Soviet missiles in Cuba. In both the Pentagon and the Kremlin, pro-war generals want a showdown, not a humiliating compromise. As the world races toward nuclear holocaust during a fine and dangerous autumn, Michaels finds himself spinning in a maelstrom of statecraft, espionage, love, and betrayal.
"A compelling story, written with a sure hand... Raffel definitely has his game on." Steve Berry, author of The King's Deception.
"A rare historical novel, exciting and utterly believable, with Jack Kennedy as you've never seen him. Raffel is a master storyteller. I loved A Fine and Dangerous Season." Gayle Lynds, author of The Book of Spies
"A compelling story, written with a sure hand... Raffel definitely has his game on." Steve Berry, author of The King's Deception.
"A rare historical novel, exciting and utterly believable, with Jack Kennedy as you've never seen him. Raffel is a master storyteller. I loved A Fine and Dangerous Season." Gayle Lynds, author of The Book of Spies
270 pages, Paperback
First published September 16, 2012
134 people are currently reading
356 people want to read
About the author
Keith Raffel
6 books47 followersAs counsel to the Senate Intelligence Committee, Keith Raffel held a top secret clearance to watch over CIA activities. He has also founded an award-winning Silicon Valley software company, taught writing to Harvard freshmen, run for Congress, supported himself at the racetrack, and worked at a DNA sequencing company. These days he stays busy writing his mysteries and thrillers in his hometown of Palo Alto, California. Check the latest news at http://www.keithraffel.com.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 30 of 58 reviews
January 19, 2018
A well-written historical novel about the Cuban missile crisis. The narrator was very good, it's just a shame his Kennedy accent left a lot to be desired.
December 23, 2012
Let me tell you the novelty of being cold and in the dark wears off after just a few days. Keeping sane during eleven days without power in the wake of Hurricane Sandy required a lot of patience, a good supply of batteries for my radio and LED lantern light, and my Kindle, which I could recharge during nightly trips into town to forage for a restaurant with power and food.
This brings me to Keith Raffel's "A Fine and Dangerous Season", set during the Cuban Missile Crisis fifty years ago. This is Raffel's first foray into the genre of the historical novel. Already a fan having enjoyed his three thrillers, I got what I expected: a taught, fast paced mystery with just the right quota of plot twists and turns. But "A Fine and Dangerous Season" is much more. It has a can't-put-it-down aspect which was just perfect for getting me through a couple of long nights.
In retrospect this is surprising and a testament to Raffel's story-telling talents because, after all, I already knew how the major story arc would turn out. Spoiler alert! The United States and the Soviet Union did not destroy the world in an exchange of nuclear missiles.
It's hard to write about a world well known to the reader and not make a mistake. How long did it take to fly from coast to coast in 1962? Could you really buy a Dad's Old Fashioned Root Beer in the 1940's? What streets do you pass getting from the White House to the Soviet Embassy? As far as I can tell the minutia is right on target.
I don't want to spoil the suspense for you by talking too much about the plot. Suffice it to say Raffel puts us right in the middle of the crisis negotiations through the instrument of an everyman who happens to have been a school chum of President John Kennedy who also happens to have a contact which proves invaluable to the President and the nation. It may seem a stretch but that is the beauty of the conceit. Years after the crisis it was revealed that a news reporter named John Scali played a similar go-between role.
"A Fine and Dangerous Season" is Raffel's best to date and I highly recommend it. Even if the power is on at your house!
This brings me to Keith Raffel's "A Fine and Dangerous Season", set during the Cuban Missile Crisis fifty years ago. This is Raffel's first foray into the genre of the historical novel. Already a fan having enjoyed his three thrillers, I got what I expected: a taught, fast paced mystery with just the right quota of plot twists and turns. But "A Fine and Dangerous Season" is much more. It has a can't-put-it-down aspect which was just perfect for getting me through a couple of long nights.
In retrospect this is surprising and a testament to Raffel's story-telling talents because, after all, I already knew how the major story arc would turn out. Spoiler alert! The United States and the Soviet Union did not destroy the world in an exchange of nuclear missiles.
It's hard to write about a world well known to the reader and not make a mistake. How long did it take to fly from coast to coast in 1962? Could you really buy a Dad's Old Fashioned Root Beer in the 1940's? What streets do you pass getting from the White House to the Soviet Embassy? As far as I can tell the minutia is right on target.
I don't want to spoil the suspense for you by talking too much about the plot. Suffice it to say Raffel puts us right in the middle of the crisis negotiations through the instrument of an everyman who happens to have been a school chum of President John Kennedy who also happens to have a contact which proves invaluable to the President and the nation. It may seem a stretch but that is the beauty of the conceit. Years after the crisis it was revealed that a news reporter named John Scali played a similar go-between role.
"A Fine and Dangerous Season" is Raffel's best to date and I highly recommend it. Even if the power is on at your house!
January 24, 2023
Historical fiction - a skillful retelling of the Cuban Missile Crisis. It's a well-written thriller, posing as a novel. It's very believable and fast moving. Sometimes requiring rereading, just to make sure what you think you just read was what you actually read. A great, clever book...all the way to the end.
May 28, 2013
Historical fiction is a challenging genre. An author not only faces the difficulty of creating a narrative, but he or she must also examine how much "truth" to actually put into the work. It is fiction after all. But if a writer is going to use history as his or her framework, then something of that history must be accurate. In A Fine and Dangerous Season, Keith Raffel reexamines the Kennedy Era through the Cuban Missile Crisis.
Kennedy is a subject just ripe for fiction authors and Raffel dives right in. This was an era of Soviet tension, spies, theoretical wars, real wars, secrets, and plenty of lies. The novel centers on our protagonist and his involvement with the Kennedy administration during the Cuban Missile Crisis. Raffel uses real people, places, and events to outline the immense challenges facing the United States government during this period. Had the novel stayed on track, it would have been a great read. Instead, Raffel travels down the tired path of action and violence. Rather than intrigue, we get gun battles in the streets of Washington. The novel felt like it suffered from split personality. One one side, we have a well-written historical thriller about one of the most tense moments in post-war history. On the other, we have a thrill-a-minute action novel with the depth of a mud puddle.
The first person narrative only added to the split personality feel. The historical intrigue and tension worked beautifully within this construct. Car chases and shoot-em-ups did not. By the end, I was skilled at tuning out sections and refocusing my attention once we got past the violent fluff. Definitely mixed feelings on this.
Kennedy is a subject just ripe for fiction authors and Raffel dives right in. This was an era of Soviet tension, spies, theoretical wars, real wars, secrets, and plenty of lies. The novel centers on our protagonist and his involvement with the Kennedy administration during the Cuban Missile Crisis. Raffel uses real people, places, and events to outline the immense challenges facing the United States government during this period. Had the novel stayed on track, it would have been a great read. Instead, Raffel travels down the tired path of action and violence. Rather than intrigue, we get gun battles in the streets of Washington. The novel felt like it suffered from split personality. One one side, we have a well-written historical thriller about one of the most tense moments in post-war history. On the other, we have a thrill-a-minute action novel with the depth of a mud puddle.
The first person narrative only added to the split personality feel. The historical intrigue and tension worked beautifully within this construct. Car chases and shoot-em-ups did not. By the end, I was skilled at tuning out sections and refocusing my attention once we got past the violent fluff. Definitely mixed feelings on this.
December 17, 2012
Keith Raffel is quickly becoming one of my favorite authors. Last year I read “Drop by Drop” and it ranked as one of my favorite books of the year. It was on my list of one of the top 10 books for book clubs to read. Raffel’s new book, “A Fine and Dangerous Season” is equally as good.
Keith Raffel based the title of this book on a quote from the theologian Thomas Merton who wrote, “October is a fine and dangerous season in America.” Keith Raffel in his book “A Fine and Dangerous Season,” addresses two critical October time periods, 1940 before World War 2 and 1962 during the Cuban Missile Crisis when the U.S. had to decide whether or not they should enter a war.
See the complete review at: http://www.examiner.com/article/read-...
Keith Raffel based the title of this book on a quote from the theologian Thomas Merton who wrote, “October is a fine and dangerous season in America.” Keith Raffel in his book “A Fine and Dangerous Season,” addresses two critical October time periods, 1940 before World War 2 and 1962 during the Cuban Missile Crisis when the U.S. had to decide whether or not they should enter a war.
See the complete review at: http://www.examiner.com/article/read-...
June 16, 2013
What I liked most about this book is the way it showed how history is made by real people, with all their strengths, weaknesses, flaws, old grudges, resentments, grace, loyalty, faithlessness, idealism, and cynicism--sometimes all in the same character. Keith Raffel does a great job of portraying his people, both historical and fictional, so that you care not only about what happens to the country (which you probably already know) but what happens to them. That's what makes the best historical fiction, and the way Raffel handles the "ticking clock" of the Cuban Missile Crisis makes this a top-notch thriller as well. Recommended.
August 29, 2013
A book that had a lot of promise but ended up silly and unbelievable. I was looking forward to a good historical fiction / suspense novel and found an unbelievable plot with little sense of history. President Kennedy, in the midst of the Cuban Missile Crisis, calls upon his ex-friend from college (whose girlfriend Kennedy slept with, hence the ex-friendship), to help solve the crisis. This ex friend, has a friend in the KGB and that is his connection to helping solve the problem. Someone doesn't want the problem solved diplomatically so bullets fly and lives are lost. All very unbelievable! I am not sure why I finished it, but I did.
December 7, 2013
This was an interesting historical novel: a fictional, close-up look at the Cuban missile crisis. What spoiled it for me was the overbearing, egotistical, competitive tone of the protagonist, who, in the book, was a college friend of President Kennedy and who was holding onto a decades-long grudge against him. But that's okay, when the call came, our hero was willing to help save the world anyway. Ugh! This guy personified all that is so crazy about white male culture ... the whole "mine is bigger than yours, and I'm a better man than you" thing ... which, after all, is what caused the Cuban missile crisis in the first place and brought the world so close to the brink of destruction.
February 5, 2013
Keith Raffel's tightest work to date, his fourth book combines the tension of the Cuban Missile Crisis with the suspense of a masterfully written thriller novel. The story of a young man, Nate, who befriends and then falls out with JFK before the war, is woven into the factual events of the time, setting up Nate to save the world or die trying, despite his personal disdain for the president. I screamed so fast through the final chapters to learn Nate's fate, I was out of breath and caught completely off guard by the concluding revelation. Read it.
February 25, 2013
From beginning to end I was hooked, and it kept me reading into the late hours. The portrayal of Kennedy was perfect, and totally believable. I loved how the author captured Jackie also very realistic.The Russians--oh my, they were so real it made me shutter at what could have happened.
If you were a Kennedy fan, you will love this book. I'll be watching for this author to soar to the best-sellers list.
If you were a Kennedy fan, you will love this book. I'll be watching for this author to soar to the best-sellers list.
December 13, 2013
The Cuban missile crisis is an interesting period of time in our history and with a president that I always like to know more about. But although this was about political intrigue and behind the scenes, so to speak, novel, it did mot feel real. I know at the end he talks about the research he did, the story was not convincing. It was a fun, light read, and I know that it is a novel,but I did not take anything away like I have into her similar books.
November 3, 2013
Yes, this is historical fiction, but it is a riveting thriller as well. And yes we did come very close to a nuclear war with the USSR. Thank God the cooler intellect of our commander-in-chief prevailed at that time... Unfortunately 13 months after the Cuban Missile Crisis, 50 years ago, the US military industrial complex murdered him.
March 20, 2014
The title doesn't do it justice; this is a very good historical novel.
I read this over the course of a day and a half. Riveting and realistic, recognizable historical characters, iconic figures from my early teenage years -- hard to put down! Only two predictable scene moments, but maybe I just guessed right.
I read this over the course of a day and a half. Riveting and realistic, recognizable historical characters, iconic figures from my early teenage years -- hard to put down! Only two predictable scene moments, but maybe I just guessed right.
January 27, 2013
This book began with an interesting premise and some good writing; it sadly ended in chase scenes and gun battles on the streets of Washington DC. Books that devolve into movie scripts are just not for me.
March 25, 2014
Fantastic suspenseful work of historic fiction set in the Cuban Missile Crisis. Using JFK's fall in Stanford in 1940, the author takes us behind the scenes as JFK calls on an old friend to work back channels with the Russians. Highly recommend for lovers of historical fiction.
March 29, 2014
I loved this story, the real facts fit perfectly within the fiction and the story keeps you moving. I thought it was just as much a romance as thriller. Something for everyone with a sprinkling of America's royal family.
August 22, 2014
One of the best! Well written, detailed thriller based on reality
One of the best! Well written, detailed thriller based on reality
I was born in Cuba, lived through the missile crisis, a Pedro Pan child in the U.S. Thanks, Keith Raffel
One of the best! Well written, detailed thriller based on reality
I was born in Cuba, lived through the missile crisis, a Pedro Pan child in the U.S. Thanks, Keith Raffel
March 31, 2013
Just not good enough for me to suspend my disbelief.
October 16, 2013
Exciting - another book hard for me to put down. I enjoyed the possibilities that could have takien place during those times.
November 16, 2013
Exciting book even though we knew the eventual outcome. It is a thriller!
August 24, 2014
An enjoyable fiction wrapped around history
This was a very good story wrapped around Kennedy and the missile crisis. Action packed. Drama. A fast and good read.
This was a very good story wrapped around Kennedy and the missile crisis. Action packed. Drama. A fast and good read.
October 7, 2018
This is my assessment of this book A Fine and Dangerous Season according to 6 criteria:
1. Too long and Strenuous action - exciting - 4 stars
2. Boring - fun - 4 stars
3. not difficult to read (as for non English native speaker] - 4 stars
4. predictable (common) - good story (unusual) - 3 stars
5. Shalow story - has a deeper meaning - 3 stars
6. The story is mass and Unfinished - The story is clear, understandable and well rounded story - 4 stars
Total 3.7 stars.
1. Too long and Strenuous action - exciting - 4 stars
2. Boring - fun - 4 stars
3. not difficult to read (as for non English native speaker] - 4 stars
4. predictable (common) - good story (unusual) - 3 stars
5. Shalow story - has a deeper meaning - 3 stars
6. The story is mass and Unfinished - The story is clear, understandable and well rounded story - 4 stars
Total 3.7 stars.
June 7, 2021
I enjoy these type of books. You know the ones, written as seen through the eyes of that guy not mentioned in the history books. Take any event from history and look at it from someone who was there for all of the critical decisions and outcomes.
John Jakes did it best with the Kent Family "The Bastard" books.
This book was well written and held my attention throughout.
I have read it twice and enjoyed it both times.
I recommend it.
Jeff Fuller
John Jakes did it best with the Kent Family "The Bastard" books.
This book was well written and held my attention throughout.
I have read it twice and enjoyed it both times.
I recommend it.
Jeff Fuller
December 17, 2018
2.5 stars. I was entertained, but struggled to continue on with this book. I was initially interested in the fictionalized event put into the high-stress Cuban missile crisis. Convoluted happenings that seem way out of line with the factual events and a lazy portrayal of Kennedy as a cold womanizing scoundrel ruined the book for me.
October 26, 2018
Worth Reading...
This book takes the story of the Cuban Missile Crisis from a different angle and presents the a different side of the characters some may not know. This truly is worth reading.
This book takes the story of the Cuban Missile Crisis from a different angle and presents the a different side of the characters some may not know. This truly is worth reading.
November 26, 2017
Good read
Enjoyed it. I really don't want to review this book and feel I should not be required to meet a minimum requirement.
Enjoyed it. I really don't want to review this book and feel I should not be required to meet a minimum requirement.
August 1, 2018
Enjoyable. However, the thriller part didn’t happen until the latter part of the story
August 17, 2018
Great & exciting read
Had my blood racing. Couldn't put down. Great adventure & thriller all in one. A side of JFK I didn't know about. Enjoy!
Had my blood racing. Couldn't put down. Great adventure & thriller all in one. A side of JFK I didn't know about. Enjoy!
September 14, 2018
A nice easy reading booking about Cuban Missile Crisis, well written.
February 9, 2019
Interesting just couldn't bring myself to finish it
Displaying 1 - 30 of 58 reviews