The Thackery Journal
By John Holt
Publisher: Phoenix
Published: Nov. 7, 2013
ASIN: B00EFALJCE
Amazon Synopsis:
On the night of
April 14th 1865 President Abraham Lincoln attended a performance at The Ford
Theatre, in Washington. A single shot fired by John Wilkes Booth hit the
President in the back of the head. He slumped to the floor, and died a few
hours later without regaining consciousness. Was Booth a lone assassin? Or was
he part of a wider conspiracy? A plot
Book Links
My Thoughts:
This was an interesting look at a possible scenario for the
events leading up to the Lincoln assassination at the end of the Civil War.
Though the event was based in history, the story itself is fiction.
There were several photos and drawings included in the
story, but if you read the notes at the beginning of the book, the individuals
that the people to whom the photos are attributed are not actually the
individuals that are actually in the photos, nor is the photo of the Journal actually
of Jacob Thackery’s journal. I liked the addition of the photos and drawings in
the novel as they lent an air of authenticity to the story.
The story starts with Jacob’s father reading the journal of
his son Jacob who enlisted as a Confederate soldier in the Civil War. The war
is over and all Aaron Thackery has left is the journal that Jacob kept during
the four years of the war. He reads this journal over and over and remembers.
As I do not know much about the assassination of President
Abraham Lincoln, other than that he was supposedly shot by John Wilkes Booth at
a theatre, I am unable to comment on how this story and how it happened differs
or supports what is known about the actual event in history. Nor am I aware of
the emotional and political feelings of the times. However, I am aware that
this was a brutal and bloody war, and I do believe that that the events in this
novel are plausible, and intriguing.
Also unique in the Kindle version of this book were the
links provided in the book to a number of different items that took the reader
to additional information on that particular topic. The links took you to
pictures or locations on the internet with more information. This was a useful
feature when coming across items where one might want additional information. I really liked this feature.
I found this story had somewhat of an ebb and flow to it
where in some parts it was quite engaging and other parts dragged somewhat.
Overall, I thought the story was plausible and I found the situation between
Jacob Thackery and his friend Miles Drew to be somewhat sad and ironic. The
novel does reflect the sad situations that we are sometimes left in after
tragic circumstances such as war.
John Holt has written this book with clear language and intent.
The characters were fairly well developed and the drama surrounding the last
few lines written in Jacob Thackery’s journal could be felt. I gave this novel four stars out of five.
Thank you to the publisher and John Holt for providing a
copy of the book in exchange for a fair and honest review. A positive opinion
was not required. All thoughts are my own.
About the Author:
I was born in 1943 in Bishops
Stortford, Hertfordshire. I currently live in Essex with my wife, Margaret, and
my daughter Elizabeth. And not forgetting Missy, the cat who adopted us, and
considered that we were worthy enough to live with her. For many years I was a
Chartered Surveyor in local government. I was a Senior Project Manager with the
Greater London Council from 1971 until it was closed down in 1986. I then set
up my own surveying practice, retiring in 2008.
I suppose like many others I had
always thought how good it would be to write a novel, but I could never think
of a good enough plot. My first novel, “The Kammersee Affair”, published in
2006, was inspired by a holiday in the Austrian lake district. We were staying
in Grundlsee. The next lake, Toplitzsee, was used by the German Navy during the
war to test rockets, and torpedoes. As the war came to an end many items were
hidden in the lake – millions of UK pounds, and US dollars, in counterfeit
currency; jewellery stolen from the holocaust victims; and weapons. There were
also rumours of gold bullion being hidden in that lake. Despite extensive
searches the gold was never found. In my book, however, it is found, only in
the next lake, Kammersee.
The books that followed, The
Mackenzie File, The Marinski Affair, and Epidemic, all feature Tom Kendall, a
down to earth private detective, and were originally published by Raider
Publishing in New York. My fifth book, A Killing In The City, another featuring
Tom Kendall, was originally published by Night Publishing. In August 2012 I
decided to go down the self published route, and formed my own publishing brand
PHOENIX. All five novels have now been published on PHOENIX. A sixth novel “The
Thackery Journal” was published on 8 August 2013.
I am currently working on two other
novels featuring Tom Kendall, and I have made a tentative start on an Adventure
novel.
Contact the Author
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