The Detroit Electric Scheme
Disguised by its uninspiring cover and prosaic title as niche non-fiction, The Detroit Electric Scheme is in reality an action-packed historical mystery propelled forward by intriguing characters, thought-provoking moral conundrums, and a gripping plot. Detroit in 1910 is “vibrant, powerful, and full of optimism.” The automobile industry is in its infancy, and businessmen, inventors, politicians, and union bosses are all jockeying for positions of dominance. Head-cracking is a regular occurrence, but it could just as easily be the police wielding the clubs as the strike-breakers or criminals.
Will Anderson, 22-year-old son of the owner of Detroit Electric, the leading electric automobile manufacturer, is jolted from his drunken haze when he finds the crushed body of his one-time friend, John Cooper, in a hydraulic press in his father’s factory. The gruesome murder scene is traumatic enough, but it is the realization that he will certainly be the prime suspect that causes Will to panic and flee. Soon he is charged with murder. Desperate to protect those he loves, as well as to avoid spending the rest of his life in jail, Will launches his own investigation. Will Anderson is as flawed as the city he inhabits, and his stumbling missteps soon lead him into the seamy underworld of Vito Adamo, Detroit’s first crime boss. If he is to survive long enough to prove his innocence, Will must first confront the addictions and regrets that have already imprisoned him in a life of mediocrity.
Johnson is so skilled a writer that the race for supremacy between the manufacturers of electric and gasoline-powered automobiles is every bit as exciting as the chase through the streets of Detroit to find a ruthless killer. This remarkable debut novel will give you a thrilling ride, and leave you wanting more.
