"A compelling story, written with a sure hand, that keeps you intrigued. But watch out for the gut punches. They come often and unexpectedly. Raffel definitely has his game on." —Steve Berry,
New York Times bestselling author of
The Columbus Affair and
The Jefferson Key"A rare historical novel—exciting and utterly believable—with Jack Kennedy as you've never seen him. Raffel is a master storyteller. I loved A Fine and Dangerous Season." —Gayle Lynds, New York Times bestselling author of The Book of Spies
"It's been half a century since the Cuban Missile Crisis brought us to the edge of the abyss. It's about time we got a page-turning thriller this good about it. The stakes are incredibly high, the action swift and chilling, the writing sleek and smooth. And the historical characters, from JFK to General Curtis LeMay, leap off the page. It may be fiction, but you'll believe every word of it." —William Martin, New York Times bestselling author of Harvard Yard and The Lincoln Letter
"Think you know JFK? Think again. Keith Raffel's novel A Fine and Dangerous Season is a nail-biting, meticulously researched foray into the real-life thriller territory of the Cuban Missile Crisis. Don't miss it!" —Kelli Stanley, award-winning author of City of Secrets
"Raffel takes the reader on a wild ride from Stanford University right before World War II to one of the most dangerous moments of the Cold War. Loved it!" —Rebecca Cantrell, award-winning author of A City of Broken Glass
"A clever and deftly crafted retelling of the Cuban Missile Crisis through the eyes of JFK's old Stanford buddy. Not to be missed." —Robert Gregory Browne, bestselling author of Trial Junkies
"Impressive from beginning to end...A Fine and Dangerous Season is an old-school thriller, more reminiscent of Ambler and Greene than modern-day warriors, which is as it should be, given the setting. Raffel's attention to detail with respect to time, place and circumstance is an added bonus...It is, however, Raffel's ability to deftly switch topical gears that makes this a must-read." —Joe Hartlaub, Bookreporter.com
"Through Raffel's crisp, muscular prose the dialogue unfolds with frightening veracity. In drawing his characters and their voices, Raffel does not stumble." —Sue Dremann, Palo Alto Weekly
"What I find impressive and captivating about this book is the philosophy, the symbolism and the poetry with which Raffel writes. I think this book...is destined to become a movie. I will be first in line to see it. Five stars out of five." —Lynn Farris, Examiner.com
"This book packs a wallop...Is Keith Raffel's A Fine and Dangerous Season a bestseller? If not, it should be. Will it be a movie? If not, it should be." —Pat Browning, Pen and Keyboard Writers
Born in Chicago, Keith Raffel has lived in Palo Alto since he was eight. As a boy growing up there, he remembers eating with his parents at JFK’s old haunts like L’Omelette, long gone, and selling soft drinks at football games at Stanford Stadium, since rebuilt. He watched as local orchards filled with cherry and apricot trees were replaced by tilt-up buildings filled with software engineers and MBAs. He founded UpShot Corporation, Silicon Valley’s first cloud-computing company, which won numerous awards. In addition to his career as an entrepreneur, Keith has been counsel to the Senate Intelligence Committee, a college writing instructor at Harvard, a candidate for Congress in California’s Twelfth District, a professional gambler at Bay Area horse tracks, and chief commercial officer at a DNA sequencing company. (He seems to have career ADD, doesn’t he?) An avid reader of crime fiction since picking up his first Hardy Boys mystery, Keith became a published author in 2006 with Dot Dead, which Bookreporter.com called “the most impressive mystery debut of the year.” These days he stays busy following the San Francisco Giants and writing his novels just around the block from where he grew up.