An Unexpected Encounter

April 21, 2010

April 21, 1861 — an excerpt from The First Assassin:
Hay held out his hand, and Mazorca shook it. Then a bell rang. Hay seemed to expect it.
“He’s ready,” said Hay. “You can expect to have about five or ten minutes. Come this way.”
Hay stepped to a mostly closed door on the north wall, pushed it [...]

Read the full article →

Mysterious

April 20, 2010

April 20, 1861 — an excerpt from The First Assassin:
Below the signature, the bottom of the letter was sheared off. Grenier set it down and left the room. Mazorca heard her open and shut a drawer. She came back with a small piece of paper in her hand. One of its edges [...]

Read the full article →

Through the Spyglass

April 20, 2010

April 19, 1861 — an excerpt from The First Assassin:
Lincoln returned his spyglass to its place on the desk. If he had continued to look through the window, he would have observed the George Page, a ferry steamer that shuttled people between Alexandria and Washington. On this trip, it was moving in Lincoln’s direction. The [...]

Read the full article →

Runaway

April 18, 2010

April 18, 1861 — an excerpt from The First Assassin:
Portia leaned against the tree and watched a few dozen slaves stoop in the fields. She saw her two older brothers trying to fix a broken plow. She recalled how they had run off before. Anthony and Theo were always talking about getting away. Anthony was [...]

Read the full article →

“Lincoln Is Evil!”

April 17, 2010

April 17, 1861–an excerpt from The First Assassin:
By now Bennett had returned to the subject of the federal troops trapped for weeks in Sumter, and how they must have suffered, especially on the second day of the attack. “It is hard not to admire an enemy like that,” said Bennett. “But it is easy to [...]

Read the full article →