The Raids

Overview

It’s spring, 1963 in the “Nickel Capital of the World.” Nineteen-year-old Jake McCool is about to undergo a rite of passage—his first shift underground in a hard rock mine. But the Cold War is at its height, and Jake is also about to become a reluctant participant in a bitter interunion battle fueled by the global struggle between two ideologies in the wake of the Second World War. So is his girlfriend, Jo Ann Winters. Together the couple are swept up in a web of intrigue; at its center is a terrible secret that will haunt their relationship for the rest of their lives, as their hometown becomes not only one of the world’s greatest hard rock mining centers, but also the epicenter of the Cold War in North America. In this fast-paced novel set against the little-known historical backdrop of a true-life battle that included vicious beatings, riots, and worse, author Mick Lowe posits a provocative premise: that the U.S. government sponsored a ruthless covert operation to destabilize a strategic community in the heartland of its closest ally, Canada.

Reviews

". . . a compelling story of political power, love and hatred all rolled into a gritty, hardhitting novel of the Nickel Range." —David A. Patterson, hard rock miner, former president Local 6500, USWA

"If part of a writer's task is to take us places where we would never go, Mick Lowe does so magnificently in The Raids… Lowe knows [his subject] intimately from his days as a fearless reporter: in The Raids, he transforms that knowledge into unforgettable fiction." —Jack Todd, author, The Taste of Metal and Sun Going Down

"The Raids is a fascinating excursion into unexplored realms in the Canadian past.... Mick Lowe weave an intriguing tale based on intense political passions, memorable characters and dramatic conflicts. From the depths of the nickel mines to the fierce union hall confrontations to the beer-fueled conspiracies hatched in Sudbury's raucous bars, Lowe guides us through a tangled story that never fails to entertain. Lowe leaves the reader convinced that was is presented as fiction fits closely historical fact." —Larry Hannant, Adjunct Associate Professor, University of Victoria, History Instructor, Camosun College

"I just finished reading Mick Lowe's most recent book The Raids: Volume One of the Nickel Range Trilogy. Lowe has woven a semi-fictional tale of mining, unionism, mystery and cold-war conspiracy around the book's fictional protagonist, Jake McCool during 1960's Sudbury Ontario. The Raids is vulnerable, exciting, interesting and informative. It grabbed me in the first chapter and never let go. I couldn't recommend it more to others. Now that I'm done, I eagerly look forward to the next chapter of Jake McCool's life (get writing Mick!)" —Jamie West, President, Sudbury & Districtt Labour Council, Ontario, Canada

"The Raids is a mystery novel. It has all the ingredients of this genre of fiction – a few murders and attempted murders, a little bit of sex, snappy dialogue, and a plot that gets on turning the pages . . . Utilizing the skills he developed over many years as a journalist, Lowe has picked the brains of numerous men who have spent their lives working underground in Sudbury extracting ore from the richest mineral deposits on the planet . . . Mick Lowe's imaginative depiction of cold war politics in Sudbury may prompt some enterprising student of Canada's labour history to delve into the archives of the US State Department. Who knows what she or he might find." —John B. Lang, Trade Unionist, Labour historian

Author Biography

Mick Lowe is a prolific journalist, writer, and newspaper columnist, and the author of the Canadian true crime classic Conspiracy of Brothers: A True Story of Bikers, Murder and the Law. Born and raised in Nebraska, Lowe emigrated to Canada in 1970. He moved to Sudbury in 1974 where he became an avid student of that city’s turbulent labor history. He lives in Sudbury, Ontario.