The E-Sylum:  Volume 10, Number 1, January 7, 2007, Article 2

BOOK REVIEW: DOUBLE DAGGERS BY JAMES CLIFFORD

Jeff Reichenberger writes: "'Double Daggers' is a novel about the famous
Brutus Eid-Mar denarius that was minted after the assassination of
Julius Caesar, and four men who had brief and ignominious possession
of it. Four men whose lives span 2000 years and parallel each other in
misfortune after they each acquire the Eid-Mar coin. A very bad luck
pedigree, or a God sanctioned curse?

"We are witness to the death of Caesar and subsequent chaos, taken on
horseback to Constantinople during the Crusades, caught with an insane
leader in the last days of WWII, and follow the present day life of a
Wall Street bond trader.

"All of the scenarios seem researched and plausible, and the author
describes the times well. I particularly enjoyed the descriptions of
the 'The Queen of all Cities", Constantinople, the Byzantines, and
the Christian Crusades.

"The present day chapter is the weakest link. The author is employed
in financial securities so he knows his way around a trading floor to
be sure, but the numismatist in me found it impossible to believe "The
Trader", Jack Weston used the Eid-Mar denarius as a ball mark on a
golf outing! No matter how callous and inane the man's personality, he
still wouldn't use a two million dollar coin for a ball mark, would he?!
Note to self - calm down, this is fiction.

"Another item I have to nit-pick, when Jack Weston is admonishing a
colleague for trading in soybeans and hogs, he says; "You're not working
for Zsa Zsa Gabor on Green Acres!" Well, as a self-proclaimed purveyor
of useless information and trivial nonsense, one who was weaned on mind-
numbing sitcoms of the 60's and 70's, I couldn't live with myself until
I corrected this glaring faux pas. Any self-respecting couch potato knows
it was Eva Gabor, not Zsa Zsa, who played the lovable Lisa Douglas down
in Hooterville. Greeeenn Acres is the place to be ...

"Over all I liked the book - it is a relatively easy read and moves along
nicely. It has 196 pages, and comes with a replica of the Eid-Mar coin and
an insert explaining it. A bargain for $17 bucks, it can be ordered on
the author's website: jrclifford.com.

"Historical fiction is an interesting genre that appears to be gaining
popularity. The author can move his story in and out of actual history
as he pleases and the reader need not check the facts unless he is
compelled to do so. The most famous of these is "The DaVinci Code" of
course. It was nice to read one with a numismatic theme. There is one
other I have read called, "Through a Gold Eagle" by Miriam Grace Monfredo,
in which Dave Bowers is acknowledged for his contributions.  Are there
any others out there?"

[We're all showing our age when we recall Green Acres.  I have no idea
how it might hold up today, but I always found the show delightfully wacky
- a sort of 60s forerunner to the 90s' "Northern Exposure" and today's
"My Name is Earl."   On cold days I can't help but recall farmhand Eb's
penchant for Hot Water Soup.

The closest thing I can think of for a numismatic connection is when the
local bank refused to open an account for Arnold the pig and his owner
Fred Ziffel told the pig not to get too upset because "there's lots of
prejudice in the world."  Anyway, many thanks to Jeff for providing a
great review. -Editor]

  Wayne Homren, Editor

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