I'm just finishing this up. Very good read. Detailed and engrossing; although the actual chase doesn't begin until almost 1/2 way through.
Heart-wrenching when he writes of the journey the dying President made as he was carried from Ford's Theatre to the Petersen House where he died. Mary Todd Lincoln is (as usual) odd and in need of a good slap
Sometimes the writing veers off into an unedited morass. I understand he wanted to give life to the characters but some of the dialog is just weird. I ignored those shortcomings because there were two things that really kept me up reading: the fascinating parts Seward & Stanton played in this developing drama.
The attempted assassination of Secretary of State Seward takes up quite a large portion of the book but it is essential to the tale of the Manhunt. I've only ever thought of Seward as "that Alaska guy" lol so I enjoyed taking a closer look.
The other is the role of Edwin M. Stanton, Secretary of War. Stanton here is depicted as almost a mythical hero as he basically takes over during the assassination crisis.
Swanson brings these men to life for me in a way no history book ever has. Telegrams are reprinted, diaries are referenced, letters and newspaper accounts rehashed and I found myself just enthralled at the way Stanton held the Union together, got Johnson sworn in, coordinated the Presidential funeral and undertook a nationwide manhunt with no phones, faxes, laptops or CSI team standing by.
Photos are kind of wonky but that may just be me fiddling with my ereader settings. I've been able to Google any that I wanted a better look so not a real problem.
I give this book 4 stars. It's a different slant on well-known historical events with even some sympathy for Booth showing up in a couple of spots...