About the Book
The U.S. has finally entered the First World War and scheduled the first draft lottery. No one in Boynton, Oklahoma, is unaffected by the clash between rabid pro-war, anti-immigrant "patriots" and anti-conscription socialists who are threatening an uprising rather than submit to the draft.
Alafair Tucker is caught in the middle when her brother, a union organizer for the Industrial Workers of the World, pays her a visit. Rob Gunn is fresh out of an internment camp for participants in an Arizona miners' strike. He assures Alafair that he's only come to visit family, but she's not convinced. More unsettling, Alafair's eldest son enlists, and a group calling itself the "Knights of Liberty" vandalizes the farm of Alafair's German-born son-in-law.
Alafair's younger son, 16-year-old Charlie, is wildly patriotic and horrified by his socialist uncle. With his father's permission, Charlie takes a part-time war job at the Francis Vitric Brick Company. Soon several suspicious machine breakdowns delay production, and a couple of shift supervisors are murdered. Everyone in town suspects sabotage, some blaming German spies, others blaming the unionists and socialists. But Charlie Tucker is sure he knows who the culprit is and comes up with a plan to catch him red-handed.
And then there is old Nick-a mysterious guy in a bowler hat who's been hanging around town.
About the Author :
Donis Casey is the author of ten Alafair Tucker Mysteries- The Old Buzzard Had It Coming, Hornswoggled, The Drop Edge of Yonder, The Sky Took Him, Crying Blood, The Wrong Hill to Die On, Hell With the Lid Blown Off, All Men Fear Me, The Return of the Raven Mocker, and Forty Dead Men. This award-winning series, featuring the sleuthing mother of ten children, is set in Oklahoma during the booming 1910s. Donis has twice won the Arizona Book Award for her series, and been a finalist for the Willa Award and a seven-time finalist for the Oklahoma Book Award. Her first novel, The Old Buzzard Had It Coming, was named an Oklahoma Centennial Book in 2008. Donis is a former teacher, academic librarian, and entrepreneur. She lives in Tempe, Arizona.
Review :
"America's entry into WWI provides the backdrop for Casey's absorbing eighth Alafair Tucker mystery (after 2014's Hell with the Lid Blown Off). Passions run high in the small town of Boynton, Okla., the home of Alafair, her husband, and their 10 children. Patriotic zealot Emmanuel Clover, a Council of Defense member, is on the lookout for those not doing their bit for the war effort. In contrast, Dutch Leonard, a member of the Industrial Workers of the World labor union, opposes the far-off war. Innocent civilians such as German-born Kurt Lukenbach, Alafair's son-in-law, and grocer Aram Khouri are caught in the general distrust of foreigners and socialists by hotheads like Billy Claude Walker. The arrival of Alafair's IWW-activist brother, Rob Gunn, coincides with the unrest, acts of sabotage at the local brick works, and murder. In the middle of it all is "old Nick," a ubiquitous stranger feasting on the conflicts and fanning the flames. Casey vividly evokes a tumultuous moment in U.S. history."
"Donis Casey's books are always well written tales with flowing plot lines. She also stays true to her characters. I love following the trials and tribulations of the Tucker family. All Men Fear Me is an excellent addition to the series. I loved the surprises at the end."
"The eighth book in the series(Hell with the Lid Blown Off) introduces strong-willed Alafair Tucker to a new set of problems (sabotage, vandalism, murder) to solve when her brother Rob, a union organizer who had been detained in Arizona after participating in a strike, visits. The United States has just entered World War I and patriotism in Boynton, OK, is running at fever pitch."
"Although it is considered a mystery novel, it is more of a history lesson with a covert mystery imbedded within the text. Readers who enjoy a slowly paced and thoroughly detailed story will enjoy this installment of the Tucker family goings on....As with many books that feature the daily diet of the characters, All Men Fear Me has at the back several recipes featured in the story. Additionally, a calendar of the war rules pertaining to food is listed for readers who curiously enjoy details with their murders."
"All Men Fear Me did exactly what I think the authors and publishers hope books will do on Netgalley: it made me love the author and look forward to reading everything she's written. It won a fan....I love Alafair. It's that simple. The fierce mother; the intelligent and inquisitive woman; the contented frontier homemaker; the woman who wants to help the prostitutes her mother takes her to charitably call upon but who is simultaneously terrified that someone will see her near that house....I love her, I love her family, I love the setting, and I want to read or listen to; I have discovered that the audiobooks (read by Pam Ward) are outstanding all of them."
"Casey's skill at making you care about the injustices of a time and place not often covered in history books is second to none. The admirable mystery is the cherry on top."
"Three years into World War I, the United States is mobilizing in support of its European allies. The debate over national responsibilities continues, taking different and sometimes pernicious forms. In little towns like Boynton, Oklahoma in 1917, even pro-war families struggle with the recently-introduced Draft Lottery. Should young sons be held back until called or allowed to enlist immediately? Death is preferable to the shame of conscientious objection, and pacifists are shunned....All Men Fear Me revolves around a wife and mother at the hub of a large Oklahoma family. Alafair Tucker's eldest son has enlisted, her younger son is an outspoken patriot, and her brother is a socialist whose activism angers and, perhaps, endangers the family. When radical pro-war factions accuse local immigrants of sabotage and espionage, and an evil outsider adds murder to the mix, Alafair and her family must reexamine their own values....Casey gives full expression to opposing points of view in what was a contentious era, but stock characters, especially when one is the Devil, make sections tedious. The eighth in Casey's Alafair Tucker mysteries (after Hell with the Lid Blown Off) is for series fans."
