Set in the tense days just before the civil war, this thoughtful historical thriller from Aikman (author of All Things Touch) centers on Major John Gage, a resourceful Union officer and newspaperman, dispatched from Washington, which is seething with fear of traitors and rumors of assassination plots, to Charleston in the just-seceded state of South Carolina. There, as he gathers intelligence and faces some personal concerns including long-gone love and his mother’s remarriage, he makes a jolting discovery: a Confederate scheme to take Washington, that incidentally will jeopardize the life of someone close to him. Gage’s navigation of the complexities of the era will be tense and dangerous—the novel opens with him facing imminent execution in a Confederate jail—as he faces deception, treachery, and unlikely alliances in his mission to save Washington City. With swift but engaging prose, Aikman conjures a fraught milieu and offers insight into the political and strategic landscape. Gage interacts with high-profile real-life figures, all convincingly drawn, as is the invented Gus, an escaped slave, whom Gage befriends and, in a heart-stopping encounter, shares the terror of life on the run. Gage's personal life is also deftly handled, especially his strained relationship with his brother, Aramis Gage, and moments of intimacy and confrontations with one-time love Jacqueline Cordele. Gage confronts his past and, with the help of private detective Kate Warne, the “dread” of the nation’s near future. Aikman’s suspenseful storytelling blends historical detail, sharp pacing, and bursts of action (complete with cannonballs), capturing the era's essence by contrasting the gritty industrial landscape with the lives of slaves and the opulent ballrooms of Charleston.
Aikman’s story is both exciting and illuminating, leaving a lasting impression of not just the triumphs and tragedies of the Civil War era but of the textures of living. Aikman conveys the enduring nature of human connection as a nation fights for its soul, as well as lives caught in moral and ethical turmoil.
Takeaway: Potent historical thriller of a Union reporter uncovering a Confederate plot.
Comparable Titles: Steven Wilson’s President Lincoln’s Spy, Dee Brown’s Conspiracy of Knaves.
Production grades
Cover: A-
Design and typography: A
Illustrations: N/A
Editing: A
Marketing copy: A-
