I always wondered who Jay Gatsby was before all the riches. What a fun read! A prequel to “The Great Gatsby”, follows J.Gatsby and Ella Kaye through a series of adventures and misfortunes that always left me saying “just one more chapter”.
Keep a look out for some “easter eggs” hinting at future Gatsby! What a great touch.
Highly Recommend!

As a longtime fan of “The Great Gatsby”, I was excited to read this book. I wasn’t disappointed. I enjoyed reading about Gatsby’s previous life. Recommend for Gatsby-lovers!

I would like to thank Net Galley and Victory Editing for the opportunity to read this book as an ARC. A few years ago, the copyright ran out on The Great Gatsby. That allowed authors to write books using the characters from the book- to rewrite or reimagine, the familiar names and plots. I have read several of these books. Some were very good. Some were ok, and of course at least 2 were awful. Agent Gatz is very good. It takes Jay Gatsby , before he was great, into a Secret Agent/Spy persona. It is set just before WW!, and Jay , in debt to gangsters, and calling himself Teddy Belmont, is sailing to Europe to carry out a theft for the German War Effort. He does not care about Germany, actually, he just needs the money. It is a different Gatsby than the one we meet later, he is young, brash, and not the suave man about town. We also meet Ella Kaye,a reporter who has a back story connection to Gatsby, as well as a need to prove herself. The story is told by Ella and by Jay, in alternating chapters.The action moves from New York, to England, to Germany and to Belgium. It is a war story, and a spy story, complete with double agents and fake covers. It is fun in parts, thrilling in others, and unsparing in details of the horrors of war.I really enjoyed this book.