Book Review for The Last Twelve Miles by Erika Robuck

The Last Twelve Miles by Erika Robuck 

Published June 4, 2024 by Sourcebooks Landmark 

Genre:  Historical Fiction,  

 

 

Taken from Goodreads:  Two real, brilliant women on opposite sides of the law, in a deadly game of cat and mouse… 
 
1926. Washington, D.C. 
 
The Coast Guard is losing the Prohibition Rum War, but they have a new, secret weapon to crack smuggler codes, intercept traffic, and destroy the rum trade one skiff at a time. That secret weapon is a 5'2" mastermind in heels, who also happens to be a wife and mother: Mrs. Elizebeth Smith Friedman, one half of the husband-and-wife pair who invented cryptanalysis. 
 
Bahamas 
 
Cleo Lythogoe, The Bahama Queen, announces her retirement while regaling the thugs at the bar with tales of murder and mayhem on the high seas. Marie Waite, listening in, knows an opportunity when she hears it, and she wants the crown for herself so badly she can taste it. So begins Marie's plan to rise as rumrunner royalty long enough to get her family in the black. But the more sophisticated her operation grows, the more she appears on the radar of the feds. 
 
Meanwhile, Elizebeth is the only codebreaker battling scores of smugglers. Despite the strain of solving thousands of intercepted messages, traveling the country, and testifying in court, Elizabeth’s work becomes personal—especially when she discovers the identity of her premier adversary is the notorious Marie Waite. 
 
From the glamorous world of D.C. Intelligence to the sultry shores of the Straits of Florida, The Last Twelve Miles is based on the true story of two women masterminds trying to outwit each other in a dangerous and fascinating high stakes game. 

 

My Thoughts:  Erika Robuck is an author that writes phenomenal books.   The twists and turns throughout the story kept me on the edge of my seat wanting to see what was happening next.   I love that this was an American Historical Fiction book, which is something I am trying to read more of.    

 

I love that both main characters are strong women.  They are on opposite sides of the law but they both have skills that keep them at the top of their game.   They both work with their husbands, but there is no doubt who is in charge.  I love that Marie, the rumrunner, let her husband believe he was the boss and how that played out in the story.   

 

The history of rumrunning is new to me and I learned so much while losing myself in The Last Twelve Miles.  Even the title of the book has history attached to it.    

 

Thank you Sourcebooks for a copy of the book via NetGalley in exchange for my honest review.  

 

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Meet Erika Robuck (taken from her website):  Erika Robuck is the national bestselling author of historical fiction including SISTERS OF NIGHT AND FOG, THE INVISIBLE WOMAN, and HEMINGWAY’S GIRL. Her articles have appeared in Writer Unboxed, Crime Reads, and Writer's Digest, and she has been named the Maryland Writer’s Association’s Notable Writer of April 2024. 

A boating enthusiast, amateur historian, and teacher, she resides in Annapolis with her husband and three sons.