In this sequel-of-sorts to Swanson’s Manhunt, the story of America in the days of Abraham Lincoln continues. While Manhunt focused on the assassination of Lincoln and the hunt for John Wilkes Booth, Crimes turns its attention to the funeral procession of Lincoln and the concurrent hunt for Confederate President Jefferson Davis. Swanson researches well and writes even better, both capturing the spirit of the time about which he writes and capturing the attention of his readers.

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After John Wilkes Booth fired the shot that killed President Lincoln, he went on the run, hoping to escape to the sympathetic depths of the Confederacy. He never made it. The 12-day manhunt -- meticulously pieced together from a wealth of sources -- not only gives us insight into Booth, but into the psyche of a fragile nation reeling from civil war. A powerful and suspenseful account, even when the outcome is known from the start.

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