Philadelphia, 1791. James and Maria Reynolds are flat broke. Well aware of the attraction between his wife and Treasury Secretary Alexander Hamilton, James hatches a plan to blackmail Alexander and get rich – and sends Maria to seduce him.Meanwhile, the mysterious Dr. Severus Black befriends the Hamiltons and becomes a close confidant of Alexander’s wife, Eliza. While Mrs. Hamilton grows fond of … grows fond of the handsome doctor, she also senses something different about the debonair young man.
Meanwhile, a vicious serial killer is stalking the city by night. As Hamilton’s affair with Maria runs headlong towards personal and professional catastrophe, the constables of Philadelphia draw a net around the apparently deranged killer of young serving girls.
But what connection could Dr. Black have with the murders, which a hundred years later would be mirrored in his own country… by none other than Jack the Ripper?
In ‘Sharing Hamilton’, historical romance author Diana Rubino and award-winning thriller writer Brian L. Porter uniquely blend the mystery and romance genres, based on the true story of the Hamilton affair with the added spice of a serial killer stalking the streets of USA’s first capital city.
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Oh, what a tangled web we weave
The name Alexander Hamilton has an aura of celebrity, bordering on mythical proportions. No doubt a book titled “Sharing Hamilton” is certain to attract readers from the outset. That it’s created by two award-winning authors sweetens the pie, and ensures that the pages will be jam-packed with rip-roaring storytelling, historical details, lusty romance and chilling suspense. The book satisfies on all counts. Not knowing any details of Hamilton’s life, I read the book as pure fiction. For who in the world in those days would have the time, the energy, the devious mindset to create and perpetuate such intrigue and deceptions. It wasn’t until I read Rubino’s author notes at the end, that I was even more impressed by such a masterful telling of fact, with some fictional characters woven in. (That said, I suppose they did have a lot more time on their hands: no TV, social media, or other distractions of modern life.)
Here we have a Hamilton who is not only a revered Founding Father, the first Treasury Secretary of the United States, but is also a bed-hopping cad with an insatiable sexual appetite and a penchant for deception and infidelity. These idiosyncrasies make Hamilton ripe for blackmail lest his latest perfidious affair be revealed by none other than the scheming opportunistic husband of the lady that Hamilton desires. There are so many threads to this devious web of deceit, and so many personal agendas that, at times, it resembles farce or a drawing room comedy of the most delicious kind. We have political shenanigans, spies, insider trading, a clueless Lady Hamilton, heart-rending romantic obsession, and – oh, yes: A Jack the Ripper-style serial killer (fiction). All this, while Hamilton tries to corral political allies and fend off political foes while shaping a new nation and its economic policies.
But have no doubt, the story line is compelling and serious, with heart-rending passion and human pathos. The attraction between Hamilton and Maria Reynolds is based as much on intellectual brilliance as it is on body heat. The lady is shamelessly besotted, while Hamilton’s commitment to the nation is stronger than his commitment to his paramour. His wife, Lady Eliza Hamilton, is blindly supportive of her husband’s political and patriotic pledge, but is shaken by the blackmail attempts that would mar her husband’s reputation and destroy his career. As she goes about trying to unmask the scoundrel, she is in complete denial about the truth and looks for answers in all the wrong places.
Eventually, destiny wins out, and the story follows its own truth. (If only History were taught in schools with such panache, there might be more students interested in its intricacies.) As for our fictional serial killer, created by Brian Porter, as chilling as this story line is, it is almost superfluous, but since this character has been “kicking around” in Porter’s mind as the possibility for one of his own novels, I say bring it on. The author gives us a cliffhanger of an update on the killer’s whereabouts that has you wanting more.
Bravo!