Not loving this book. Not sure if it was the tense it was written in or the fact that the pace didn't match well with the story. It wasn't for me.

The Last Twelve Miles by Erika Robuck is a great story set during prohibition. Based on two real women - Elizebeth Smith Friedman and Marie Waite "Spanish Marie". Elizebeth works for the Coast Guard as a codebreaker and her new mission is to stop the rumrunning activity out of Florida and most of this centers around Spanish Marie. Such a fascinating time in history and I really learned a lot! The Florida setting makes this a perfect summer read! Maybe with a rum drink in hand!

Perfect read for my drive to Key West! I found it hard to decide if I wanted the good gal or the "bad" gal to win! Historical fiction with two strong female leads on opposite sides of the law during Prohibition. A female code breaker working for the Coasties intercepting rum smugglers and one of the most infamous female smugglers who runs an empire through the trading routes in Miami and Key West. A fantastic read as I didn't know about female code breakers and I enjoy strong female characters especially those from history that are not well known.

It's been a s while since we've heard from Erika Roebuck but it was worth the wait. This story is a real page turner based on two women in a man's world. Marie is a rum runner during Prohibitions and Elizebeth is a Federal Agent. Each character is well developed, the story is well researched and written. This is my next book group pick!

THE LAST TWELVE MILES by Erika Robuck is a thrilling historical fiction story of two women, each brilliant, going head-to-head on opposite sides of the law during the Prohibition Era southern rum wars. While I have read about Elizebeth Friedman and her contributions to cryptanalysis, Spanish Marie was new to me, and this author brought both women to vivid life for me as I was reading.

Mrs. Elizebeth Smith Friedman and her husband invented cryptanalysis during WWI. Elizebeth has gone on to work for the Coast Guard during Prohibition to crack smugglers’ codes so the Coast Guard can intercept smugglers and destroy their illegal alcohol. Her primary focus is on the Cuban, Bahamian, and Florida routes. She is the Coast Guards secret weapon to capturing many law breakers.

Marie Waite is the wife of a rum runner and when she learns the queen of the runners is retiring, she seizes the opportunity and becomes Spanish Marie. She takes advantage of every new technology to evade capture and continue her rise to the top of her chosen illegal trade.
Spanish Marie becomes Elizebeth’s obsession in a cat and mouse game.

I loved this story so much! Ms. Robuck brings both women to life on the page, even though the author acknowledges that information on Spanish Marie is more lore than fact. This is a historical fiction book that grabbed me from page one, and I was unable to put the book down. Elizebeth has a full life outside of the home with her cryptanalysis and must learn how to balance her work and home life as a wife and mother, which is an unusual position to be in during the 1920’s. Marie begins life poor and makes terrible choices in men, but it leads to her ambition and endless need for wealth. Elizebeth and Marie are fully developed characters that you can empathize with in different ways, and it makes their protagonist/antagonist battles even more fascinating.

I highly recommend this amazing historical fiction!

The water is perfect to dive into this gorgeous summer read!! I loved boating through the aqua waters of South Florida and Key West on bootlegging runs in this cat and mouse game between two very different but equally interesting women in prohibition era Florida. The ending is spectacular! Highly recommend.

—Dianna Rostad, USA Today bestselling and award-winning author of You Belong Here Now

Many thanks to Netgalley and Sourcebooks Landmark for an ARC copy in exchange for an honest review. This book follows two women, one of them is a government employee while the other is on the bootlegs run to bring alcohol into the US during prohibition.

The book takes place during Prohibition, following Marie Waite, wife of a rumrunner and mother of two little ones and Elizebeth, a codebreaker for the United States. The two don’t know each other but are battling against one another in a head to head in a cat and mouse game. As Marie sees her husband’s shortcomings she realizes she can step in for him, soon becoming rumrunning royalty. But what she doesn’t anticipate is the more refine her operations becomes the bigger the target on her back grows. Meanwhile, Elizebeth is intercepting codes and ciphers on the growing operations of Marie and her crew. Elizebeth’s work becomes personal as she discovers Marie is the primary target of the operation.

I couldn’t put this book down. I haven’t read much in the Prohibition era but I can see the drawl of rumrunning and getting involved in it. However, it was interesting to read how obsessive Elizebeth became as she got deeper into the case. The mastermind games the two played a while trying to make a living and protect their families was an interesting point I didn’t see coming as I read. One thing I love about Erika’s books is that she finds real women who history has spoken little about and bring them front and center within her books. Elizebeth and Maria are two that weren’t on my radar before this book but they won’t be leaving my mind for a long while.

This book will be published June 4, 2024.

Two brilliant women on two sides of the law playing a game of cat and mouse in the roaring twenties? Yes, please! This was a fun read. The third person present voice was a bit challenging initially as I found it harder to stay in the character's head. But, I'm glad I persevered! This story is fun, and the characters are fascinating. History has the most interesting cast, and I'm glad Robuck took the time to open the door on what might have been going on in the minds of these two wicked-smart and vastly different women.

The Last Twelve Miles by Erika Robuck is a historical fiction novel that tells the true story of two women who led criminal and legal operations during the Prohibition era.
The novel is based on extensive research and historical sources, and it features a captivating plot and realistic characters. The novel also explores various themes and issues related to crime and justice, and the role of women in history and society. This book is suitable for readers who like historical fiction, suspense, and strong female protagonists. I rate this book 4 out of 5 stars.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with this book in exchange for my review! All opinions are my own.

I thought this book was an entertaining read. It wasn't amazing, yet it wasn't horrible. Some parts of the book were not as exciting as other parts. As I have stated in previous reviews on my social platforms. I have found that sometimes I need to be in a very specific mood to read certain books. This is why I am a fan of re-reading both books that I enjoyed and those that I didn't enjoy. I will for sure consider reading another book by Erika Robuck in the future!
And remember, all humans are unique so someone else might hate a book that I love and vice versa!
–

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The Last Twelve Miles by Erika Robuck weaves a complex and intriguing story about Special Agent Elizebeth Smith Friedman and her husband who helped break codes in WWII. After the war, she's a Cryptanalyst working with the Coast Guard to intercept rumrunners in 1920's Prohibition era. Her husband, William Friedman, contributed to developments in radio detection finders during WWII. His team at the Special Intelligence Service, broke the Japanese "Purple" cipher that led to the creation of the National Security Agency (NSA). Working together, they were known as America's First Cryptographic Couple breaking codes for the coast guard and army.
This story has them after rumrunners in Florida and they're after a known criminal mastermind named 'Spanish Marie' and her husband Charlie.
They have a fleet of boats they use to transport booze illegally across the ocean from Cuba to the coastline of Florida. The rumrunners use codes to communicate with each other and Elizebeth and her husband are hired to crack the codes and arrest them.

What I appreciated most about this story were the factual characters and how the author adds fiction in with historical accuracy to make this a great story!

I loved that these two strong women, Elizebeth and Marie, are the protagonists. The story is told from both of their perspectives. This historic fiction novel features the prohibition adventures of this honorable female codebreaker and her unrelenting pursuit to halt a notorious female rumrunner along with her criminal sidekicks.

I absolutely loved this book and will recommend it!

Thank you to NetGalley and Sourcebooks Landmark Publishing for an advanced readers copy in exchange for an honest review.

The Last Twelves Miles was a very compelling read! I found myself getting frustrated that I didn't have enough time to read it as quickly as I would have liked. I was very curious to see what would happen with the characters. I loved how vivd the characters were and that they were all strong women and pioneers in their field. The fact that such characters are actually based on real people (and reading the Author's Note to find out that they both continued to go on and do even more than what's presented in this novel) makes it even better. I had never heard of these women, but I'm so glad I'm now aware of them!

"The Last Twelve Miles" by Erika Robuck is a fantastic historical fiction novel featuring two strong-willed and gutsy women who are on opposite sides of the law during the Prohibition era. The story beautifully portrays the characters and provides a well-developed plot that showcases the struggles faced by these women, which are still relevant today, 100 years later. I thoroughly enjoyed reading this book.

This was my least favorite of hers and likely my last . It just wasn’t that interesting and rambled without any real point. I found it a bit preachy . I feel like this writer is letting her religious beliefs color her writing and not in a good way .
After this one she will be a no go author for me especially after her recent ig post and comments regarding Sylvia path.

Two strong women. Two sides of the law. One uncertain future for both. The Last Twelve Miles by Erika Robuck tells the stories of two very different women as they both attempt to realize their goals during the Prohibition era.

Elizebeth Friedman is, along with her husband, William, a pioneer in the field of cryptography. Working for Coast Guard intelligence, this talented cryptanalyst is helping to track down participants in the illegal smuggling of bootleg liquor between the Bahamas and Florida and Cuba and Florida. During this so-called Rum War, Elizebeth has solved a two-year backlog of intercepted messages in just three months and is on the trail of the Queen of the Rumrunners.

Marie Waite is a rumrunner with lofty goals and aspirations and will do whatever it takes to bring those goals to fruition. She aspires to be the new Queen of the Rumrunners. She has had it with being poor as dirt and she’s tired of the life of poverty she leads. What is more, she has a plan for how to remedy the situation. With dreams of a better life, she begins to build an empire as the new Queen of the Rumrunners which will allow her to fulfill her dreams of a life where she no longer takes part in criminal activity, and can live the life she dreams of with her children, and never has to worry about money again.

In The Last Twelve Miles, Erika Robuck gives readers a window into the Prohibition era by showing the reader both sides of the war. Who will come out on top? Who will you root for? It is a definite 5-star read!

Thank you to SOURCEBOOKS Landmark, NetGalley, and Erika Robuck for this ARC. Planned publication date is 3 June 2024.

I absolutely loved this book. I loved reading about how Elizebeth Smith Friedman, assisted the Coast Guard to intercept and crack communication codes of "rumrunners" in order to apprehend them off the Florida Keys using coded communication during Prohibition. Beautifully written, and I can see the extensive research that Erika did to write this amazing book. I really enjoyed this book and I will be recommending it.

Thanks Sourcebook Landmark Books and Netgalley for allowing me to read this arc. All thoughts and opinion are my own and are not influenced by anyone else

Wow! Great read. I gave it a five star but would give it a 10 star if available. Wonderful historical fiction recounting of the rum runner era. Characters are spot on in retelling of their stories. This book has it all. Suspense, intrigue, friendship, family values (both good and bad) challenges. Well written book. Grabs you from the first page to the last. Recommend. I was given an advanced reader copy of this book by NetGalley and I am freely sharing my review

The Last Twelve Miles follows two strong women, on opposite sides of the Prohibition Rum Wars. Elizebeth works as a codebreaker for the coast guard, and is hunting down Marie Waite, an infamous rumrunner.

I'm an avid historical fiction reader, and I love to see authors writing about more niche areas of history, like this one! Prior to this book I knew nothing about the Prohibition Rum Wars and I enjoyed getting a glimpse into that time. The main characters were well developed and I loved that we had not one, but two strong female main characters in this book.

This being said, this book just did not pull my interest very much. I found it to be pretty dry and quite forgettable.

Thank you Erika Robuck and NetGalley for the ARC. Review will be posted to Goodreads, Storygraph, and instagram @readwiththewinters in the month prior to pub date.

I enjoyed The Last Twelve Miles as a historical fiction with strong female characters! I found the history and stories of Marie and Elizebeth to be intriguing. I have never read much about the rum running during prohibition and found the time period and historical aspects fascinating. The story was fast-paced and characters were well developed. Interestingly, I found the second half of the story easier to read than the first. It is almost as is an aspect of the author's writing style changed mid-way through the book. Overall, it was an engaging read that I would recommend to others.

Thank you to NetGalley and Sourcebooks Landmark for the ARC opprotunity!

I just finished the ARC of The Last Twelve Miles by Erika Robuck.
This book hits bookshelves on June 4, 2024.

This historic fiction novel features the prohibition adventures of a honorable female codebreaker and her unrelenting pursuit to halt a notorious female rumrunner who broke all the rules to save her family’s fortune and her not-so-noble reputation.

The emotional, personal, and professional battles of each of the two main characters bring these real female powerhouses to life on the fictionalized page. Their battle of wills is a delight to read. You find yourself cheering not only for the “good” lady, but also just a little for the “bad” one too.

Elizebeth Friedman personifies women’s equality, bravery, and sheer drive during the Prohibition Rum Wars. She elegantly survives her battles to remain on top as a woman, not only in her cryptanalyst position and in the male-dominated world of the Coast Guard, but also in her day-to-day life to be a good wife and mother. All this, while her country was demanding her expertise.

Marie Waite “Spanish Marie” is also a role-model of women’s equality, but on the wrong side of the law. She is the perfect criminal that highlights what women must do to survive in a man’s world of smuggling during the 1920s and beyond. Against all odds, her own self-taught “expertise” and intuition raises her to the upper ranks of the crime world where she repeatedly survives another day to rise again.

The book seamless bounces between the dynamo women offering a glimpse into their daily lives, struggles and accomplishments. The story kept you on your toes!

I loved every minute of this romp through the cat and mouse battles in Miami, Key West, Cuba, the Bahamas, and New England! Pre-Order your copy now! 4.5 Stars!