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A string of strange deaths in 1932 leads Bourke Cockran, Jr., and his lover Mattie McGary to uncover a plot by Nazi scientists to conduct lethal experiments on American twins in order to create a master race.
They confront an international conspiracy connecting Wall Street to Washington, DC; from Long Island's fabled Gold Coast to the marble corridors of the Barlow Palace in Munich, headquarters of the fast-rising Nazi Party; and finally to a sinister clinic hidden deep in the Bavarian Forest. The Gemini Agenda is a historical thriller, the third in the Winston Churchill trilogy.
Michael McMenamin is a trial lawyer and author, and his son Patrick McMenamin is a producer at Fox News.
This is the type of book I wouldn't mind seeing as a movie!
I just am head over heels in love with this series now, and even had to start reading this again. Very well written, heart pounding, fast paced thriller that will just not allow you to put it down.
This is a story about Winston Churchill, of course, (by the way, check out the cover!!Stunning cover to say the least!!)
It is also a story about eugenics, and a couple who investigate this real wicked conspiracy, that has lots to do with the Nazi Party, this starts out fairly quick, with some horrific events right up front!
You will adore how this book moves along and takes you on a terrifying ride, back in the 1930's, through some super twisted events!
This book kind of reminds me of trick or treat night, and you get home to find a bunch of all of your favorite 12 candy bars and goodies;) It has everything and will attract your attention if you are into history, thrillers, romance, mystery, crime, it is noted on the cover that it is "A Winston Churchill Thriller", I guess they found a name for such a book that has it all!
s_gallegos
Posted May 30, 2012
This story revolves around the issue of eugenics, the science of improving the population by controlled breeding for desirable inherited characteristics. This is obviously a sensitive and controversial issue that we don't think about in today's world but was a reality during the time when Hitler ruled under the Nazi party. The historical references throughout the book make it a very interesting read and take you back to a time that many of us only know about from history books or watching documentaries. Although your first instinct in the book make you think that the Nazi's are to blame, the fact that Mattie McGary, and investigative reporter and Bourke Cockran Jr., her lawyer boyfriend uncover that the American MID is heavily involved make's you really understand how people's patriotism was uncertain during these times.
Was this review helpful? Yes NoThank you for your feedback. Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.Anonymous
Posted May 18, 2012
About the book:
A string of strange deaths in 1932 leads Bourke Cockran, Jr., and his lover Mattie McGary to uncover a plot by Nazi scientists to conduct lethal experiments on American twins in order to create a master race.
They confront an international conspiracy connecting Wall Street to Washington, DC; from Long Island's fabled Gold Coast to the marble corridors of the Barlow Palace in Munich, headquarters of the fast-rising Nazi Party; and finally to a sinister clinic hidden deep in the Bavarian Forest. The Gemini Agenda is a historical thriller, the third in the Winston Churchill trilogy.
About the Author:
MICHAEL McMENAMIN, a first amendment and media defense lawyer in Cleveland, is the author of the critically acclaimed Becoming Winston Churchill: The Untold Story of Young Winston and His American Mentor published in hardcover in the UK and US in 2007 by Greenwood World Publishing and in trade paperback in the US by Enigma Books in July 2009. The Churchill Book Club called it "Indispensable. The most important new book about Churchill, one you'll come back to again and again for its extraordinary insights into Churchill's genius". Martin Gilbert, Churchill's official biographer, said it was "Fascinating: a tour de force that brings life and light to one of the great early influences on Winston Churchill."
Michael is also the co-author of the Watergate era expose Milking the Public: Political Scandals of the Dairy Lobby from LBJ to Jimmy Carter (Nelson Hall, 1980) which Robert Sherrill termed "an excellent job of reporting…thoroughly entertaining". His work has also appeared in the anthologies Choice: The Best of Reason (2004) and Free Minds and Free Markets, Twenty-Five Years of Reason (1993).
Michael has been a Contributing Editor for 35 years on the leading libertarian magazine Reason, regularly ranked by the Chicago Tribune as one of the country's best magazines. He is also a member of the Editorial Board of Finest Hour, the quarterly journal of the Churchill Centre and Museum in London where his column "Action This Day" chronicles Churchill's life. Michael's articles also have appeared in the Wall Street Journal, Sacramento Bee, St. Louis Post Dispatch, Cleveland Plain Dealer, Inquiry and The Nation magazines.
Michael is a former Army counterintelligence agent and Army JAG officer. He is a member of the Association for Intelligence Officers and the International Thriller Writers Association. He has traveled extensively in Europe, South America and Asia. He was Managing Partner for twelve years of the Cleveland law firm Walter & Haverfield and is currently the Chair of the Global Coordinating Committee of Lexwork International, an alliance of 39 law firms and 2,700 lawyers in North America, South America, Europe and Asia.
My Review:
When first agreeing to review this book I truly did not know what to expect. I was not sure if I was going to enjoy it or just be plain grossed out. I freaking loved it. It is truly butterflying amazing. I am trying this thing where I do not cuss anymore. I am replacing the "F" word with Butterfly or even adding the ing on it. I truly am glad that I agreed to reading this book. Mad props to the author. I do want to say that this is book number three in a series and although it is good by itself I would recommend reading the other two books before reading this one.
Stars I give this book:
***** (5)
beckvalleybooks
Posted April 19, 2012
The third book in the trilogy featuring Bourke Cockram and heroine Matty McGarry. This time the year is 1932 and Winston Churchill has again received, through his intelligence network, the answer to the mystery of why naked bodies with their eyeballs extracted and drained of blood lies in Germany.
Churchill informs William Hearst and he them assigns Mattie McGarry to investigate with her love Bourke Cockran. They discover that all the victims were twins and ten more missing sets of twins have been moved to Bavaria where the 'autops protocols' were due to start in ten days.
On arriving in Munich, Cockran and McGarry make an alliance with an unlikely source and they lead them to a sinister Nazi clinic in Bavaria. Can they save the twins and expose the project that has been undertaken?
The story revolves around the controversial issue of eugenics, which is the science of improving the population by controlled breeding for desirable inherited characteristics. Winston Churchill once supported sterilization of mental defectives as a method of securing their release from state institutions in 1910-12. Even though Britain never passed these laws 26 US states passed the law for the compulsory sterilization and through the 1930's 35,878 men and women were sterilized or castrated. The Nazis adopted the policy in 1933 when they gained power.
The story based around the issues and the power that certain individuals had and the secrets they kept are immense. The writings again are easily read and understood , the thought provoking issues raised will question your beliefs and will touch your emotions.
An excellent read and brilliant follow up novel to the Parsifal Pursuit. A very clever title The Gemini Agenda, obviously Gemini being the sign of the twins.
Becca71
Posted April 7, 2012
Good Read~~~In the book The Gemini Agenda the third installment in the Winston Churchill series we once again join photo journalist, Mattie McGary and her boyfriend, a law professor (and former CIA agent), Bourke Cochrane Jr. This time we on a quest to investigate murders. In what is an experimental project being done by Germany on twins to create a master race? When twins go missing and 10 bodies are found murder in a horrific way Mattie and Bourke go investigate at Winston's request. Again this book was very well written and set in Pre-world war II time. I found the book to be just as enjoyable as the first and it has me now wanting to read the first installment to get more details on these characters. All in all a great read.
Was this review helpful? Yes NoThank you for your feedback. Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.The Gemini Agenda follows investigative reporter Mattie McGary and her boyfriend lawyer Bourke Cockran Jr (who is a former US Army MID operative) as she is investigating a series of murders, that turns out to be a eugenics experiments on American twins. The story runs a gambit of close calls and intrigue from the United States to Pre-Nazi Germany.
The authors set the time frame of the book in the early 1930's at a time when Winston Churchill is out of political power, and investigating troubling things going on in Germany involving the muder of American twins, which his god-child Mattie is tasked with investigating. At first it looks as the Nazi's are involved by themselves, but eventually we find out that the American MID is also involved, and helping fund the experiments in the US and Germany. During this story we even get to meet Adolf Hitler after he stands up Churchill for a dinner date. Its a interesting book with some history mixed in and worthwhile to read. I'm looking forward to reading the rest of the series!
kim0712
Posted March 12, 2012
Last week I finished the 2nd book in the Winston Churchill trilogy, The Parsifal Pursuit, by the father and son McMenamin duo. I really liked that book, but I think I liked this one even better!
Like the others in the trilogy, The Gemini Agenda follows photo journalist, Mattie McGary and her boyfriend, a law professor (and former CIA agent), Bourke Cockran Jr. as they investigate on behalf of Winston Churchill. Set in pre-World War II, they are following Nazi scientists who are said to be conducting experiments on American twins. These experiments are meant to create a “master race” and they are becoming lethal after 10 bodies are found around the country. In addition, they were killed in a horrible manner as they had their throats cut, their eyeballs removed and then someone drained their blood. YUCK! They find out that there have been 10 sets of American twins kidnapped in the recent months and they were thought to be taken to Germany.
On their quest, they begin to believe that these experiments have something to do with Eugnenics. Eugenics defined by Wikipedia is “the “applied science or the bio-social movement which advocates the use of practices aimed at improving the genetic composition of a population“, usually referring to the manipulation of human populations.” I’ll be honest, I knew nothing of Eugenics and spent quite a bit of time reading up on it when I read the book. Hard to believe this was once a regular practice that included the involuntary sterilization of women for many years. If you get a chance, check out the history of it – very interesting topic and makes for a great addition to this book.
As I stated before, I love anything that has to do with history, but I usually don’t care for historical fiction. The McMenamin’s have changed my mind once again with The Gemini Agenda. I really loved the mix of history, intrigue and romance. It made for a very fast paced story that has a grip on you from the beginning – making it a major page-turner for me. It also wasn’t hard to believe that Hitler (even though not in power yet) could have had a hand in something so vile, so it was an easy buy-in for me on the plot! Loved it!
Overview
A string of strange deaths in 1932 leads Bourke Cockran, Jr., and his lover Mattie McGary to uncover a plot by Nazi scientists to conduct lethal experiments on American twins in order to create a master race.
They confront an international conspiracy connecting Wall Street to Washington, DC; from Long Island's fabled Gold Coast to the marble corridors of the Barlow Palace in Munich, headquarters of the fast-rising Nazi Party; and finally to a sinister clinic hidden deep in the ...