A review by seandelliot
The Lincoln Conspiracy: The Secret Plot to Kill America's 16th President—And Why It Failed by Brad Meltzer, Josh Mensch

5.0

Another book brought to me thanks to NPR, and another winner. The story was so compelling as summarized on the show I just had to read it, and I couldn't wait for my library to return to lending. I'm not a huge Civil War buff per se, but history is definitely my thing, and little known stories with epic outcomes are great to find. The first plot to assassinate Lincoln, before he was even inaugurated, was not unknown, but it was, thanks to being unsuccessful, a small enough footnote to be left out of most history books. The story brings together the tale of the President-Elect's travel from Illinois to D.C. for his inauguration and the work of many parties, most notably the famous private investigator Allan Pinkerton (honestly, if you hadn't hear of him, look him up), to foil the plot to ambush Lincoln as he transited through Baltimore. Meltzer make a gripping potboiler of a thriller out of the story, bouncing back and forth from the mundane story of Lincoln's political story and preparations to assume the presidency to the secret white supremacists societies of Baltimore to the investigation by the first private investigator. The story of Lincoln is, of course, mostly known and Meltzer does a great job of building the suspense, getting into the weeds of the preparations, while unspooling the plot so compellingly.