A gripping historical thriller packed with tension, political intrigue, and a race-against-the-clock mystery. Flames of Anarchy immerses you in the early 20th century, where anarchist plots, Pinkerton detectives, and high-stakes sabotage swirl together in an atmospheric and well-paced narrative. The characters are compelling—especially the conflicted antagonist—and the plot blends real history with just enough fictional flair to keep it unpredictable. While some moments stretch believability, the tension and pacing rarely let up. A great pick for fans of historical suspense and espionage.

Audio Book Review - Ian Bedford delivers a faultless performance in this amazing story set after the turn of the 20th Century and with the President being targeted in USA. A clever masterful plot well told and extremely absorbing that kept me entertained throughout. Initially not what I expected but Mr Bedford's narration hooked me easily.

Anarchists, assassination attempts, political intrigue, plots to overthrow the government? Sounds like today’s era, but this was over 100 years ago in 1908 America. Jerry Borrowman’s Flames of Anarchy is a thrilling historical fiction based on actual events & the creation of the FBI. It’s a heart-stopping political thriller told from several viewpoints that was hard to put down.

After a bombing at Union Station narrowly misses President Theodore Roosevelt, Senator Jason Ellis vows to find out whether it was a lone wolf or part of an attempt to overthrow capitalism. He enlists his friend Pinkerton Agent Andy Pettit to investigate. But, the plot is complicated & those involved elusive. With the Republican National Convention looming, will they catch the perpetrators before it’s too late?

Angel Casimer, an American Bolshevik, longs to be famous for overthrowing capitalism. When his attempts are frustrated, he becomes increasingly agitated, especially with mounting pressure from those who recruited him. He hopes his next assignment to topple the financial industry & set stocks plummeting will bring him the glory he desires.

I enjoyed this well researched, historical fiction based on actual people & events. Theodore Roosevelt, JP Morgan, & others are deftly brought to life in this story. I was fascinated by the debate over the creation of the FBI. The need for protection & security versus privacy is an ongoing debate & it was interesting knowing past fellow Americans had these concerns.

I listened to the audiobook version & it was chilling getting perspectives from multiple points of view including the anarchist’s. I was on pins & needles wondering how James & Andy would ever discover the key figures behind the plot. The narrator did a good job bringing this story to life. At first, there were a lot of characters to keep track of while listening, but eventually, I was able to distinguish them all.

I enjoyed having notes at the beginning & end highlighting fact vs fiction. It’s a fast-paced thriller with several moving parts that kept me eagerly listening. DefiniteIy recommend to historical fiction fans! I received an advanced copy from the publisher with no expectation of a review. All opinions are completely my own & voluntarily provided.

Wow! I was hooked from the beginning of this book. I listened to the audiobook and really enjoyed it. Set in America in 1908, this one focuses on political intrigue. Great political thriller. You can tell that the author put in a lot of time and effort in researching and writing about this historical time period. I really enjoyed how it alternated points of view between the different characters.

There were several moments where my heart was pumping along with the characters! It was great! Definitely one I recommend to readers who enjoy suspense, intrigue, mystery and just well written characters!

Content: Clean. Moments of peril.

I received a copy from the Dreamscape Select and Shadow Mountain, via NetGalley. All thoughts and opinions in the review are my own.

Happy Reading & Listening!!!

Flames of Anarchy by Jerry Borrowman and narrated by Ian Bedford was an interesting audiobook. It's a audiobook or book I would never chose but I am so glad I did. Flames of Anarchy was a good political thriller and set in 1908 in Washington DC. A bomb narrowly misses President Roosevelt’s personal railcar at Union Station.
The New York senator Jason Ellis is convinced it was an assassination attempt. But no anarchist group claims responsibility.

Now, could this be the work of a lone radical?

Angel Casimer, an American Bolshevik living and working in the shadows, is frustrated by the failure of his bombing.
Now, his boss issues him a new mission and this one is going to be a big one, that could topple the entire American financial system. Casimer wonders if this could be his opportunity to finally get the recognition he feels he deserves.

Flames of Anarchy was an exciting but different audiobook, I found it interesting especially as you learn about the very turbulent era in American history, where anarchists and radicals strike terror and fear into the hearts of bourgeois businessmen and politicians, which is a great setting for a global conflict.

Do I recommend it. . . . . take a chance and read or listen to it. . . . I did and the narrator Ian Bedford was very good I did love his voice. he was perfect for this audiobook.






. I enjoy the historical fiction aspect of it mainly including Theodore Roosevelt.a

This is my first book by award winning Jerry Borrowman, after reading Flames of Anarchy I am now a fan! This book is a political thriller set in 1908. I enjoy the historical fiction aspect of it mainly including Theodore Roosevelt. I think the history in this book added to the story in so many ways. I am glad that he mentions cigarettes and alcohol, amount other things because it keeps the story authentic to the timeline. I was easily invested in this story from the beginning and will be recommending this book!

Flames of Anarchy trades on many well-known characters from the early 20th century in this tale of tumultuous times in American history. Jerry Bowerman writes a fictional story based on real events surrounding the early days of today's FBI. He pits good guys against evil, workers against capitalists, leaving little room for readers to decide for themselves. It was not one of my favorites from that period. Bowerman’s dialogue seemed overly dramatic, sort of like the early black & white talkies. I listened rather than read the book, so maybe that influenced my opinion. Thank you for the opportunity to listen to the review copy.

“Flames of Anarchy” is a historical fiction that starts off in 1908 America with rising concerns for national security after a bomb nearly kills President Theodore Roosevelt. The story follows multiple characters and events that lead to the birth of the FBI.

This was my first Jerry Borrowman book and it did not disappoint. Ian Bedford was a fantastic narrator for this story! The flow of the audiobook felt like an episode of The Untouchables, which I very much enjoyed! I appreciated how Borrowman was able to mix in real historical figures and events with fiction to make it a thrilling adventure with unexpected twists. Lastly, it was entertaining to see the story span out throughout different US cities and countries. We got a glimpse at events abroad and how they also influenced security developments in the US.

I received an audio ARC through NetGalley for an honest review.

Unlike Borrowman, I feel it is important for me to state my biases going into this review and how mistaken my initial assumptions about this book were. The political label I cleave the closest to is anarcho-socialism and I was hoping this might be an interesting or at least a somewhat balanced work of historical fiction. I absolutely was not prepared for a Roosevelt and Pinkerton fan fiction.

This is not going to be my most professional and serious review.

There aren't many books I have read in their entirety that I loathed as much as this book. Logic dictated I DNF this after a handful of chapters, but the sheer magnitude of my hatred insisted thst I complete it to be able to review the whole thing.

The TLDR is the Community Meme:

I can accept the atrociously pedestrian and interminable writing, but I draw the line at making up an evil and craven anarchist and a union leader to get mad about and a senator and a Pinkerton to positively dawn over.

The heroes and villains of this books are entirely fictional and bear no resemblance to their historical analogues.

For our villains we have Big Jim Fitzsimmons is the most ludicrous caricature of an evil union leader boogie man, Angel Casimer is the most ridiculously vain and self important anarchist I've ever come across (and I've interacted with twitter anarchists) who seems to have a strange obsession with his own fame and great man theory for a supposed anarchist, a Wall Street Bolshevik shorting stocks for Lenin??? For our heroes we have Teddy Roosevelt, our manic libertarian dream boy, Senator Ellis, the all American boy detective, and Any Petit, the bravest, most honourable, and pillar of integrity...the Pinkerton detective.

As I have said, I am biased, but the politics and historical revisionism are genuinely hilarious, as is Barrowman's fundamental lack of understanding of what anarchism actually is, which is amongst other things fundamentally being against unjust hierarchy, so the idea that anarchism 'assumes leaders would naturally arise' is utter laughable.

The prose is dull. The story is boring. Everyone on the 'good' team talks exactly the same. Everyone talks out loud way too much. The passive narrator and 'goodies' are absolutely used as mouth pieces for the author to pontificate on. There's whole asides describing short selling for dummies that seem to only exist because of meme stocks and to pad things out.

This is called a political thriller, but there's nothing thrilling. No tension. No emotion or interest. The whole thing is a sterile political cartoon.

Genuinely one of the worst books I've ever read it its entirety.

I would abhor it, if it wasn't so fucking boring.