What readers think of The Cold Millions, plus links to write your own review.

Gangsters posing as upright citizens and activists treated as criminals. Good stuff and so relevant today.

Thank you to HarperCollins and Edelweiss for sharing Jess Walter’s new novel. I really enjoyed this historical fiction title. Jess Walters is a great and multifaceted writer. I’ve started comparing him to Chris Bohjalian and Mary Doria Russell, authors who write on a huge variety of subjects and genres, all successfully. This story especially will be enjoyed by fans of Russell’s “The Women of the Copper County” as there are a number of thematic similarities. It was somewhat slow going in the beginning, but stick with it, things pick up. I recommend this to an fan of historical fiction.

While I disliked THE COLD MILLIONS before I liked it, simply because I was bored by the first part of it, all in all, I appreciate it and am glad I read it. It is historical fiction about characters fighting for and against unionization, mostly in Washington state, during the early 20th century and the coming awareness of a 17-year-old boy who becomes involved.

Rye and his older brother, Gig, are hobos in 1909, tramping around the country looking for work. When they are in Spokane, Gig sides himself with the unionists while Rye couldn't care less. But when Gig gets in trouble, Rye does care. He thinks help will come from a very rich non-union man. In spite of myself, I enjoyed seeing how and why Rye becomes a union man.

Even though you may not agree that Jess Walter should call many of these characters progressives, you will sympathize with Rye and should even appreciate the necessity of what the unions were trying to do.