Too Bad to Die
Francine Mathews
  • Published: 3 March 2015
  • ISBN: 9781101626726
  • Imprint: PEN US eBook Adult
  • Format: EBook
  • Pages: 368

Too Bad to Die

A Novel

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A tense and enthralling historical thriller in which British Naval Intelligence officer Ian Fleming attempts to foil a Nazi plot to assassinate FDR, Churchill, and Stalin.  

November, 1943. Weary of his deskbound status in the Royal Navy, intelligence officer Ian Fleming spends his spare time spinning stories in his head that are much more exciting than his own life…until the critical Tehran Conference, when Winston Churchill, Franklin Roosevelt, and Josef Stalin meet to finalize the D-Day invasion.

With the Big Three in one place, Fleming is tipped off that Hitler’s top assassin has infiltrated the conference. Seizing his chance to play a part in a real-life action story, Fleming goes undercover to stop the Nazi killer. Between martinis with beautiful women, he survives brutal attacks and meets a seductive Soviet spy who may know more than Fleming realizes. As he works to uncover the truth and unmask the assassin, Fleming is forced to accept that betrayal sometimes comes from the most unexpected quarters—and that one’s literary creations may prove eerily close to one’s own life.

Brilliantly inventive, utterly gripping and suspenseful, Too Bad to Die is Francine Mathews’s best novel yet, and confirms her place as a master of historical fiction.
  • Published: 3 March 2015
  • ISBN: 9781101626726
  • Imprint: PEN US eBook Adult
  • Format: EBook
  • Pages: 368
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About the author

Francine Mathews

Francine Mattews has worked as a foreign-policy analyst for the CIA. She is the author of The Cutout, which has been purchased for a major motion picture by Warner Bros.; The Secret Agent; and Blown. Under the pseudonym Stephanie Barron, she is the author of eight bestselling Jane Austen mysteries. She lives in Colorado, where she is at work on her next novel of historical suspense.

Also by Francine Mathews

Death on a Winter Stroll
Death on Tuckernuck
Death on Nantucket
Death in a Cold Hard Light
Death In A Mood Indigo
Death In Rough Water
Death in the Off-Season
See all

Praise for Too Bad to Die

Praise for Jack 1939

"The pace is so propulsive that you'll read every word... Mathews's ability to weave fact into her tale is nothing short of remarkable... there are precious few entertainments this captivating."--The Washington Post

"One of the most deliciously high-concept thrillers imaginable."--The New Yorker

"A brisk thriller that defies the odds... It's no small feat to take a historic figure who looms as large in real life as John F. Kennedy, place him in an improbable fantasy and not strain credulity. But in this case, Mathews has accomplished her mission."--USA Today

"Grounding her thriller in spycraft and historical detail, Ms. Mathews pulls it off."--The New York Times Book Review

"Francine Mathews has a way of making you believe that improbable situations just might be true... Jack 1939 is a complicated thriller, filled with trust and betrayal."--The Denver Post

"Deliciously inventive."--MORE Magazine

"A highly entertaining cocktail of 20th century political history and sexy-spy-novel tropes."--The Daily Beast

"A rollicking adventure story... an awful lot of fun."--Financial Times

"Tautly written...thrilling, credible, and memorable."--The Historical Novel Society

"Imaginative, well-researched... an intriguing look at pre-WWII politics, both in the U.S. and Europe, as well as a meticulous character study of the future president."--Publishers Weekly

"Complex and thrilling in equal parts."--Library Journal (starred review)

"Vivid and sexy... Mathews' strobe-light, fact-infused drama of covert pre-WWII operations is riveting."--Booklist

"Filled with memorable characters both fictional and historical, Mathews provides an edge-of-the-seat journey, filled with haunting images that readers won't soon forget... Aficionados of espionage fiction, history, the Kennedy family, World War II and seat-of-the-pants excitement will devour this book, a must-read story that stands out from the pack. It'll make you want to turn back to your history books once again."--BookPage

"Francine Mathews delivers a marvel: a thriller with genuine heart. This is a delicious imagining of one of the 20th century's most fascinating figures, wrapped up in a gripping story of espionage." Eleanor Brown, bestselling author of the The Weird Sisters

"Like JFK himself, this book is smart, sexy and unafraid of taking risks. With nimble prose and easy charm, Francine Mathews leads us beyond the frontiers of history to make us believe in her vision of a young Kennedy at large in a dark world of prewar spies and secrets." Dan Fesperman, author of Lie in the Dark

"A brilliantly conceived, riveting tightrope race across Europe in the predawn of World War II." Stephen White, author of Line of Fire and The Last Lie

"A triumph: an exciting thriller, an intriguing exploration of a troubled time, and an absorbing take on the early history of one of America's most iconic figures. Highly recommended." Iain Pears, bestselling author of An Instance of the Fingerpost