Legacy of Lies by Lew Paper is a historical thriller that delves into the enigmatic disappearance of labor leader Jimmy Hoffa. Set against the backdrop of the 1970s, the novel explores the intricate web of political vendettas, organized crime, and personal ambitions that may have contributed to Hoffa's vanishing. The narrative weaves together real historical figures and events, offering readers a suspenseful journey through a pivotal moment in American history.

While an interesting read and well researched, the execution is not there.

I had a hard time getting in this book. I remember some of the Hoffa story but this really isn't about that. It's about Max and his dad Sam. who is dead. I was interested in the story about Max and Sam and thought all the Hoffa references just made the story too diluted. I also am not a fan of over describing things and this book definitely does that. I skimmed a lot of the book as it just didn't seem relevant to the story I wanted to read.

A historical thriller, Legacy of Lies (2025) by Lew Paper is a dual-timeline story. In 1975, Private Investigator Sam Silver is hired to tail Jimmy Hoffa and witnesses him being driven away. Eleven years later in 1986, Sam’s son Max is a lawyer, who is given a letter from his dad, on the tenth anniversary of his fatal boating accident. An entertaining action-adventure tale unfolds, as the narrative discourse alternates between these two events, and includes anecdotal comments on historical figures from the 1960s and 70s, such as the Kennedys, Mafia and Nixon. Whilst interesting, this mystery thriller is foremost an engrossing read with plenty of action and twists that is a four star rating. As always, the opinions herein are totally my own and freely given. With thanks to the Head of Zeus and the author, for an uncorrected advanced review copy for review purposes.

I am having a hard time connecting with the characters and the story. There is way too many characters at the beginning and then for some reason the format of the book is hard to read on my kindle, like 3 words are stringed together every page and it’s hard for me to break up the words and try to figure out what’s being said…

3.5🌟
This book is a story of "What If's" surrounding the disappearance of Jimmy Hoffa 50 years ago. Following an ex FBI agent searching for answers regarding his father's death... was it really an accident or did the Mafia put a hit out?? This is perfect for any historical or crime fiction lover who is interested in Mafia stories, Jimmy Hoffa, and the JFK assassination. At times it does get a little text bookish and was hard to stay engaged, but you can tell this was incredibly researched.(check out the authors note at the end for sources) There's lies, deception, and murder.... all things to keep you on your toes and help balance out all the facts.

Thank you to Netgalley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Lew Paper’s Legacy of Lies is a fictional dual-timeline historical suspense that captured me from the first page until the end. It has a what-if alternative vibe, which only adds to the suspense. The story follows the disappearance of Jimmy Hoffa, whose vanishing remains unexplained. It is a fascinating, well-written read with vivid settings, details, and characters I could easily relate to.

Jimmy Hoffa is dead. The FBI agent, Sam Silver, who was assigned to him, had just lost his wife and did not want to add any more angst and trauma to his son Max’s life.

But what if he had? This is the burning question I had as I read through the story. The book drags a bit in certain chapters, bogged down by the many details, but it is worth staying with it and meandering the timeline shifts. It requires the reader to pay close attention, as the author’s dual-timeline narrative style can add confusion to the storyline.

There were a few chapters I had to go back and reread to eliminate confusion in the plotlines. But mostly, the book is an intriguing historical fiction novel about a headline-worthy event I remember from newspaper headlines in 1975.

The author writes good historical suspense and offers readers a good bit of history of the era between the Kennedy administration and the Nixon Watergate scandal. I learned a great deal about the Mafia and the Teamsters Union battles. I had to do a fact-check occasionally to ensure I remembered the details correctly. The story made me wonder, "What Really Happened to Jimmy Hoffa, and Why?"

The author does a great job keeping the plot twists coming, but it isn’t a quick beach read. It requires readers to pay attention as it flips back and forth between timelines, which offers a backstory but pulls the reader out of the story because of the dual-timeline writing style.

This is a 4.5-star read. I love historical fiction, where I am entertained and educated. I want to thank Net Galley, the author and the publisher, for the opportunity to read this as a free ARC. This review is voluntary and is mine alone.

It was a struggle to read this book because of the words that ran together because there were no spaces. There were quite a few and it was hard to keep attention while reading those lines.

However, the book itself was pretty good! It grabbed my attention and held it pretty well. I appreciated the list of characters and explanation of each one at the beginning of the book. The author did great with the words that flowed well.

Thank you to Netgalley for a free copy of this ARC. All thoughts and opinions in this review are my own.

I became fascinated with the lore of Jimmy Hoffa’s disappearance after reading “I Heard You Paint Houses” by Charles Brandt and watching the movie adaptation “The Irishman” by Martin Scorsese. I thought “Legacy of Lies” was a good supplementary read, and another interesting albeit fictional account of similar events surrounding Hoffa’s disappearance.

The author did a great job building up the suspense, and switching between flashbacks and present events to propel the story forward. However, some chapters seemed a bit lengthy description-wise, I would have appreciated it if the concluding chapters were less expository in nature and allowed more “showing” and less “telling” / “explaining” as I feel that readers already have enough details to form their own ideas of how the conflicts were resolved.

I still think this is an interesting read for fans of Mafia-themed fiction / historical fiction.

346 pages

4 stars

I’ve been interested in the Jimmy Hoffa disappearance since he went missing. So, I had to read Mr. Paper’s novel.

The premise is a solid one. An ex-FBI Agent turned private investigator is hired by an unknown individual to follow Jimmy Hoffa’s car. Sam Silver winds up in the parking lot of a restaurant. Three men exit the restaurant with Jimmy and get into a car. Sam recognizes the men. But his attempt to follow Jimmy and the men is blocked by a delivery truck, and Sam’s mission fails. He later learns of Jimmy’s disappearance.

Sam dies in a mysterious boating accident.

Ten years later, Sam’s son Max receives a letter from his deceased father. He learns about his assignment to follow Jimmy. He is told of the three men, but not their identities.

So begins Max’ dilemma. Does he tell someone? Hoffa’s mysterious demise is top news, especially with conspiracy buffs and the FBI. Will finding answers lead Max on a treacherous pathway?

Max contacts a former FBI friend of his father’s.

A chain of events is set in motion. There are several characters involved in the drama that follows. Lawyers, FBI agents, police, the FBI and of course, the Mafia.

This book is an interesting “what if” story. Sadly, the story loses its drama and drive in the end. (Although the last line of the book is a killer.) The book is very well written and plotted. The characters are true to life and colorful. I liked the major characters, for the most part.

I want to thank NetGalley and Level Best Books for forwarding to me a copy of this great book for me to read, enjoy and review. The opinions expressed in this review are solely my own.

I struggled to read this book because the formatting was so bad with a lot of sentences not having any spaces. I tried it on my Kobo and Kindle, but it had the same issues.

The book itself seems to be written well. It grabs on starting on page one and keeps a hold. Learning about the Teamsters and Hoffa and things that happened before my time was made interesting! It didn't feel like I was reading history despite knowing I was reading historical fiction! Most of the historical fiction I've read is barely believable or only feels historical due to racism etc in the years the story takes place. Paper did a great job of being immersive while simultaneously requiring the list at the beginning of the book regarding who is real and who is fictional as EVERYONE feels real or at the very least, plausible! Even if this isn't your go-to genre, it's an interesting read that brings history to life in a way that they didn't teach us in school!

I've asked that this book be added to Fable as it was not yet in their database when I was trying to add it to my reading. Hopefully, they will have it available soon. Thank you to Lew Paper Level Best Books for the ARC copy. All thoughts and opinions are my own and are not influenced by receiving a copy to review.

Interesting and good blend of fact and fiction for a very good historical fiction read.
Max Silver, a young attorney, has his life spiral into turmoil when he is given a
letter from his dead father, 10 years after he died.
The letter sends Max on a search for papers his father apparently had stored recounting
his time spent following Jimmy Hoffa on a private job,v after he had retired. The big deal of the
papers and a notebook stored with them is the info they contained: the names of the men whom he saw get into the car with Jimmy Hoffa in the famed parking lot of the Macchus Red Fox Restaurant.
on the day he disappeared.
What follows is an incredibly suspenseful and interesting story of the Teamsters and
the mobs and what could have been a plausible explanation of Hoffa's disappearance, with
some embellishment and historical extras. Throw in present day murder, mayhem and threats of
violence and the story becomes a real classic mystery/ thriller.
The characters were well defined and the occasional reference to known mafia figures was
a bonus.
Good read.
For sure.

Jimmy Hoffa is missing. Sam Silver is dead. Ten years later Max Silver receives a letter from his dead father. Now he is faced with the decision on whether to move forward with investigating his father’s death or leaving the past in the past.

While I very much enjoyed the idea behind this book, I do this it is overly descriptive and too wordy. I found myself skimming many chapters that didn’t have much to do with the story itself.

Idea of the book: 5 stars
Execution of book: 2 stars

This was such a good book. I loved the story and the writing so much. The characters were great and the story flowed smoothly. Will definitely read more books by this author in the future.

The Jimmy Hoffa disappearance is one of the greatest mysteries of the 20th century.
This fictional story uses historical facts and theories to tell an entire story.

You start out with Sam Silver, an FBI agent that eventually leaves to have a private practice in order to have more time for his son (Max) and he is hired to watch Hoffa. He happens to be watching the day Hoffa disappears. One year later, Sam dies while out on his sailboat.

Ten years after his father's death, Max receives a call from Sam's lawyer saying there's a letter that his dad left for him with instructions to wait 10 years to give it to Max. This letter opens a can of worms so to speak.

Now Max and his girlfriend, Morgan, find themselves in a world where they have to evaluate everything based on risk. There are things happening around them and to them...

Okay, so I had a very hard time with this book because I knew nothing more than the broad details of the story. I would recommend at least doing a little bit of research and familiarizing yourself with the Hoffa disappearance mystery if you're not familiar.

I thoroughly enjoyed Max's storyline and the book itself picks up halfway through until the end.
I also loved the author explaining what inspired the story including the character Max in the afterward.

The story is written in multiple points of view in different periods of time which can be a bit confusing but ultimately it's labeled to make it easier to flip back and forth in time.

The book is very descriptive so if you're someone that is good at imagining fashion, buildings, people, etc then you'll enjoy the details included. I am not a visual reader so if someone tells me some guy is in a suit, that's about all my brain reads.

Ultimately, this is 3/5 stars for me but I can absolutely understand how this would be much higher rated for those with a better understanding of the history of the event.

Thank you Netgalley for the opportunity to read this book and provide my honest feedback.

Combining fictional characters with historical characters, particularly in the context of a well-known event about which many people already have opinions, is a tricky business. On the whole, Lew Paper does well with that and fashions from it a readable and intriguing novel well worth your time.

Two quibbles. First, the ending was downright lame, so much so that the last major chunk of the novel consists of nothing but people sitting around and explaining to each other, and the reader, exactly what has just happened. Second, while the author's reverence for detail was impressive, sometimes he allowed that reverence to overwhelm the narrative. For example, just because a character goes to dinner at the Palm, it isn't necessary to include the entire history of the Palm restaurants, right down to the names of the men who started the first one.

One more thing. The ARC that was provided by the publisher was a mess. Huge chunks of the text were run together without spacing between words, which made much of the reading awkward, annoying, and unpleasant. The author spun out a good enough narrative to make it worthwhile to stick with it and suffer through decoding the mangled text, but the publisher should be ashamed to send something this badly formatted out to reviewers. In a time when any home hobby writer can produce perfect text with readily available, inexpensive software, it is inexcusable for a company claiming to be a professional publisher to circulate something this sloppy. Authors deserve far more respectful treatment than that.

This was a wonderfully done what if concept, it had that feel that I was looking for and enjoyed the overall concept of this. It worked with the Jimmy Hoffa element and had that tense atmosphere that I was hoping for and enjoyed getting in this story. The characters worked well overall in this story and were written well in this time-line. Lew Paper wrote this perfectly and had me on the edge of my seat.