Review: The kind of fiction that makes you forget it's fictional
Rating: 4 out of 5
Date: 01 22, 2013
Wow! I really liked this book. I have a fascination with all things Lincoln, and this book fed the appetite. Not only does this author have a fabulous command of the English language, but his descriptions were stellar. I was surprised by how exciting this book turned out to be considering the fact that it was based on historical events. I felt the liberties the author took were appropriate to fill in the gaps in historical knowledge and he did a good job of making a suspenseful story that I wanted to finish.My favorite parts of this book were the sections that about John Wilkes Booth. I was fascinated by the way he was portrayed, just as I would have imagined him being in real life--arrogant, self-concerned and sure of himself. Of course, we have no way of knowing exactly what he was like or exactly what he was thinking, but the portrayal of the man this author came up with was interesting and compelled me to keep reading. My favorite scene was when he was trying to ride the horse out of town after the assassination. This depicted his self-confidence and delusions of grandeur perfectly.The only part of this book that irked me was when Mary Lincoln was forced to leaver her husband's side by Edwin Stanton. Have you ever just wanted to reach into a book and smack a character? I really did appreciate that the author made this book so real at points that the reader could become angered over the situations it presented.The scene of Lincoln's death was written so well that I almost felt I was there, in the room, waiting through the final moments. One of the things that has bothered me about other books that featured this event, was that they seemed to rush through it. One of the biggest events in history, in my opinion, is worthy of more than just a passing mention and this author really took the time to make it appear important.Overall I thought this was a really good book that I will certainly keep on my shelf to read again later. I would recommend this book to anyone who likes history and historical fiction.