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Peter Fallon #5
The Lincoln Letter
Treasure hunters Peter Fallon and Evangeline Carrington are heading for adventure in Washington D.C., the sleek, modern, power-hungry capital of America...and the crowded, muddy, intrigue-filled nexus of the Civil War. Their prize? A document of incredible historical importance and incalculable value: Abraham Lincoln's diary. What if Lincoln recorded his innermost thoughts as he moved toward the realization that he must free the slaves? And what if that diary slipped from his fingers in 1862? A recently discovered letter written by Lincoln suggests that the diary exists and is waiting to be found. Some want the diary for its enormous symbolic value to a nation that reveres Lincoln. Others believe it carries a dark truth about Lincoln's famous proclamation--a truth that could profoundly impact the fast-approaching elections and change the course of a nation. Peter and Evangeline must race against these determined adversaries to uncover a document that could shake the foundation of Lincoln's legacy. From William Martin, the New York Times bestselling author of The Lost Constitution , The Lincoln Letter is a breathless chase across the Washington of today as well as a political thriller set in our besieged Civil War capital. It is a story of old animosities that still smolder, old philosophies that still contend, and a portrait of our greatest president as he passes from lawyer to leader in the struggle for a new birth of freedom.
448 pages, Hardcover
First published August 1, 2012
145 people are currently reading
889 people want to read
About the author
William Martin
373 books392 followersMeet 'the king of the historical thriller' (Providence Journal). William Martin is a New York Times bestselling author of twelve novels, an award-winning PBS documentary, book reviews, magazine articles, and a cult classic horror movie, too. He is best known for his historical fiction, which has chronicled the lives of the great and the anonymous in American history while bringing to life legendary American locations, from Cape Cod to the Sierra foothills during the California Gold Rush. His latest, December '41, sweeps us across America in the weeks after Pearl Harbor and has been hailed as "propulsive," "cinematic,' and "riveting" by critics. He was the recipient of the prestigious 2005 New England Book Award, given to "an author whose body of work stands as a significant contribution to the culture of the region." And in 2015, the USS CONSTITUTION Museum gave him the Samuel Eliot Morison Award. He has three grown children and lives near Boston with his wife.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 178 reviews
July 14, 2019
Another great historical fiction/modern day thriller combo book featuring treasure hunter and rare book dealer Peter Fallon and his girlfriend Evangeline Carrington.
I hadn’t planned on reading this one just yet. I love this series so much that I don’t like to read the latest one if I don’t have the next one already in my possession. I’m well aware the next (Bound for Gold) has been published but alas I am not yet an owner. But there I was, with an itch for a good solid historical fiction read, looking over my extensive TBR shelves and this one practically jumped out at me. Why take a chance when I have such confidence in William Martin?
Happily, I can report this one is another home run. The plot jumps off straight away as Peter gets an email with an attached copy of a letter from Abraham Lincoln to somebody named Lieutenant Hutchinson. He notices the date of the letter is the same day that Lincoln was shot so this may have been the last letter he ever wrote. No doubt a story lay behind it and so Peter begins the search.
As always, William Martin masterfully shifts back and forth from the present-day treasure hunt to the actual historical setting, each part combining to tell us readers the full story. The historical setting this time is the relatively short span of 1862 until the end of the Civil War and Lincoln’s assassination in April 1865. The main character here is the same Lieutenant Halsey Hutchinson referenced in the letter, a battle-wounded veteran now working in the telegraph office where Lincoln often visited and where he wrote the Emancipation Proclamation. But poor Halsey falls into a series of predicaments beyond his control resulting in all sorts of misadventure. Chief among them is a lost diary of Lincoln’s (a “daybook”) that details his true thoughts and hesitancy to pursue emancipation.
Meanwhile Peter Fallon and his friends in the present day uncover the fact of a missing diary and of course recognize its historical value. The monetary value is so high that the hunt becomes extremely dangerous with more than one bad guy willing to kill for it.
I’ve always felt a sense of an emotional connection to the history described in a William Martin novel but this time it seems even more intense. Perhaps this is due to the subject matter, dealing with one of the most volatile periods in American history. I’ve read many books about the Civil War and about Lincoln but was nevertheless pulled into this one once again. This is not a book about the Civil War; there are few scenes of battles. But there are a couple scenes in and around battles, such as in field hospitals and we do get to experience actual historical characters such as Clara Barton and others that many readers may not have realized were there such as Ralph Waldo Emerson and Walt Whitman. But most of what is happening in the war at any given time in the novel is related through news coming in to the telegraph office, somebody reading a newspaper, casualty count notices, etc.
I could go on and on, but suffice to say, I am once again in awe of William Martin’s work and look forward to many more books to come.
I hadn’t planned on reading this one just yet. I love this series so much that I don’t like to read the latest one if I don’t have the next one already in my possession. I’m well aware the next (Bound for Gold) has been published but alas I am not yet an owner. But there I was, with an itch for a good solid historical fiction read, looking over my extensive TBR shelves and this one practically jumped out at me. Why take a chance when I have such confidence in William Martin?
Happily, I can report this one is another home run. The plot jumps off straight away as Peter gets an email with an attached copy of a letter from Abraham Lincoln to somebody named Lieutenant Hutchinson. He notices the date of the letter is the same day that Lincoln was shot so this may have been the last letter he ever wrote. No doubt a story lay behind it and so Peter begins the search.
As always, William Martin masterfully shifts back and forth from the present-day treasure hunt to the actual historical setting, each part combining to tell us readers the full story. The historical setting this time is the relatively short span of 1862 until the end of the Civil War and Lincoln’s assassination in April 1865. The main character here is the same Lieutenant Halsey Hutchinson referenced in the letter, a battle-wounded veteran now working in the telegraph office where Lincoln often visited and where he wrote the Emancipation Proclamation. But poor Halsey falls into a series of predicaments beyond his control resulting in all sorts of misadventure. Chief among them is a lost diary of Lincoln’s (a “daybook”) that details his true thoughts and hesitancy to pursue emancipation.
Meanwhile Peter Fallon and his friends in the present day uncover the fact of a missing diary and of course recognize its historical value. The monetary value is so high that the hunt becomes extremely dangerous with more than one bad guy willing to kill for it.
I’ve always felt a sense of an emotional connection to the history described in a William Martin novel but this time it seems even more intense. Perhaps this is due to the subject matter, dealing with one of the most volatile periods in American history. I’ve read many books about the Civil War and about Lincoln but was nevertheless pulled into this one once again. This is not a book about the Civil War; there are few scenes of battles. But there are a couple scenes in and around battles, such as in field hospitals and we do get to experience actual historical characters such as Clara Barton and others that many readers may not have realized were there such as Ralph Waldo Emerson and Walt Whitman. But most of what is happening in the war at any given time in the novel is related through news coming in to the telegraph office, somebody reading a newspaper, casualty count notices, etc.
I could go on and on, but suffice to say, I am once again in awe of William Martin’s work and look forward to many more books to come.
October 14, 2012
I will admit that my favorite literary genre is historical fiction so I find this one describing an attachment to an e-mail received by a modern day antiquities collector and expert as a letter written by Abraham Lincoln on the last day of his life. The letter suggests that somewhere out there is Abe's missing diary and the hunt is on. The story line is intriguing but the author's style leaves
something to be desired. He introduces a cast of thousands but doesn't flesh them out very well and I had some difficulty in keeping them straight. He used a technique however that I do like in that he switches back and forth between the 1860s and now. He will introduce a clue back then and then tell us how it's dealt with today. I was first introduced to this approach in James Michener's masterpiece, The Source, which was the story of an archaeological dig in Israel. As the archaeologists find each artifact in the following chapter Michener takes you back in time to describe how the relic got there.
Now my beautiful and talented daughter is going to read this and will write a comment to this effect, "Folks, don't pay any attention to his glowing comments about The Source. I started that book and found it so boring I couldn't finish it."
something to be desired. He introduces a cast of thousands but doesn't flesh them out very well and I had some difficulty in keeping them straight. He used a technique however that I do like in that he switches back and forth between the 1860s and now. He will introduce a clue back then and then tell us how it's dealt with today. I was first introduced to this approach in James Michener's masterpiece, The Source, which was the story of an archaeological dig in Israel. As the archaeologists find each artifact in the following chapter Michener takes you back in time to describe how the relic got there.
Now my beautiful and talented daughter is going to read this and will write a comment to this effect, "Folks, don't pay any attention to his glowing comments about The Source. I started that book and found it so boring I couldn't finish it."
January 10, 2014
The Lincoln Letter opens with a glimpse of a letter written by Abraham Lincoln on the last day of his life. The letter alludes to a lost diary belonging to Lincoln and sets the stage for the historical suspense that William Martin writes better than anyone, a novel winding around the irresistible theme of a treasure hunt—this time in Washington, D.C.—and complete with hidden compartments, shootouts, and bodies floating in the Potomac.
Martin sets the action in two time periods, one during the Lincoln presidency and the other in the present day, in which he brings back the sleuthing team of Peter Fallon and Evangeline Carrington. In Lincoln’s time, we follow the actions of Halsey Hutchinson, a fictional officer in the War Department’s telegraph office. Halsey has unique access to President Lincoln and has found himself in the predicament of having lost the president’s diary, one which contains Lincoln’s intimate thoughts on the institution of slavery. In the wrong hands, the diary’s contents could be used for many a political contrivance, potentially altering the course of the war and the path to freeing the slaves. It is as essential that Halsey finds the diary in the past as it is that Peter Fallon finds it in the future—in both cases to keep it out of the hands of political forces that would manipulate Lincoln’s words for their own agendas.
The richness of Martin’s historical research shines on every page, first of all within a divine sense of place, his narrative defining a historical geography, a skill that he’s honed to perfection in each of his novels. The map of Washington in 1862 at the beginning of the ‘The Lincoln Letter’ is helpful, but it’s the vivid, lively descriptions that have the reader walking the muddy streets and smelling the stagnant canal running north of what we today call The Mall. Martin offers us the imagery of the unfinished ‘ribs of the Capitol dome’, the Washington Monument under construction ‘shimmering in the sunlight like a shard of reality in an unfinished dream’, and Washington in June, with a ‘heat that felt like clear, sticky syrup poured into every corner and every crevice of the city’.
We get to know Halsey Hutchinson by way of Martin’s insightful, yet subtle details, like how Halsey had been to Pompeii, comparing Vesuvius erupting to what it felt like in the midst of rebel fire. It makes us know better a man living in the 1850s that had traveled as far as southern Italy, who had walked among the ancient ruins of Pompeii much as we do today, taking us inside the mind of an American who had found himself fighting in the Civil War 150 years ago.
Martin doesn’t shy away from breathing life into well-known nonfictional characters, in particular John Wilkes Booth and of course Lincoln himself. Martin doesn’t just give us a physical description of Booth, but shows us how he behaves as an actor and human being: ‘turning, pushing through the crowd, in and out of the torchlight, his face flashing an actor’s angry scowl’. Martin plunges into Lincoln’s interior ponderances over slavery and race, bringing us closer to Lincoln as a living, breathing character than ever before in popular culture. He shows Lincoln’s agonies over what direction to take in the Civil War, so very relatable to the horrendous decisions facing any president. We see a president plagued with criticism and questioned on the constitutionality of his every move. We live alongside Lincoln’s personal and physical deconstruction during the war-ravaged years of his truncated presidency and witness his humility.
A story about Lincoln would be incomplete without ominous foreshadowing of the inevitable, of the event which we optimistically, naïvely hope will not happen. Martin flawlessly creates this foreboding with descriptions like ‘the gaslights around the White House glowed like footlights in a theater’, but while maintaining stunning authenticity, he treats the subject (and scene) of Lincoln’s assassination with gut-wrenching poignancy that is equaled only by the description of being in the Twin Towers on 9/11 in his New York novel City of Dreams.
We get the idea that William Martin has actually lived in the time period of the Civil War. In his talks promoting ‘The Lincoln Letter’, Martin recounts how he does his research by examining old photographs, and it’s a delicious pleasure to see his protagonist Peter Fallon and other characters doing the same. Through their points of view we discover what Martin discovered when he pored over the same photos and engravings of the past. Martin has also shared that he’ll go to the library (or these days, online) and read an entire year of newspapers for the time period in question, even—and especially—the advertisements. Likewise Peter Fallon tells another character in the book, ‘You read everything, even the advertisements. They tell you how people lived in the details. And we look for God in the details.’ Martin pulls a life, an intrigue out of those details, and the result of his excitement for documents of the past is that we feel as if we are there, too. His characters can tell us ‘what a bowl of she-crab soup cost at the Gosling Restaurant on Pennsylvania Avenue’. They can tell us ‘that Laura Keene is playing all week at Ford’s Theatre, closing on Saturday night before Easter’. And we get to witness the see-and-be-seen action, gatherings, and plotting in full public display at the political hot spots of the Willard and the National Hotels in Civil War Washington.
Martin cleverly intertwines Civil War reenactors into his intrigue, the reenactments the perfect stage upon which to juxtapose and link events occurring in the timeline of the past and in the present-day timeline. We get into the psyche of the reenactors and what makes them tick. We see them reenacting the treatment of battle wounds in a hospital, and in a following chapter, experience from the point of view of a soldier what it was like to recover from a wound with only opium pills and needles of morphine to kill the pain, shedding fascinating light on the types of wounds that would be caused by Civil War-era ammunition as well as the types of physical therapy in practice 150 years ago.
Finally, The Lincoln Letter doesn’t pull punches with hard language on slavery, yet Martin treats the subject with respect as when one of his characters asks, ‘What godly nation would do such a thing?’ ‘The Lincoln Letter’ transports the reader back to a fascinating, albeit difficult period in American history, and William Martin, even while providing a rich history lesson, delivers an exciting yarn that will give his readers much to think about long after they have turned the final page.
Martin sets the action in two time periods, one during the Lincoln presidency and the other in the present day, in which he brings back the sleuthing team of Peter Fallon and Evangeline Carrington. In Lincoln’s time, we follow the actions of Halsey Hutchinson, a fictional officer in the War Department’s telegraph office. Halsey has unique access to President Lincoln and has found himself in the predicament of having lost the president’s diary, one which contains Lincoln’s intimate thoughts on the institution of slavery. In the wrong hands, the diary’s contents could be used for many a political contrivance, potentially altering the course of the war and the path to freeing the slaves. It is as essential that Halsey finds the diary in the past as it is that Peter Fallon finds it in the future—in both cases to keep it out of the hands of political forces that would manipulate Lincoln’s words for their own agendas.
The richness of Martin’s historical research shines on every page, first of all within a divine sense of place, his narrative defining a historical geography, a skill that he’s honed to perfection in each of his novels. The map of Washington in 1862 at the beginning of the ‘The Lincoln Letter’ is helpful, but it’s the vivid, lively descriptions that have the reader walking the muddy streets and smelling the stagnant canal running north of what we today call The Mall. Martin offers us the imagery of the unfinished ‘ribs of the Capitol dome’, the Washington Monument under construction ‘shimmering in the sunlight like a shard of reality in an unfinished dream’, and Washington in June, with a ‘heat that felt like clear, sticky syrup poured into every corner and every crevice of the city’.
We get to know Halsey Hutchinson by way of Martin’s insightful, yet subtle details, like how Halsey had been to Pompeii, comparing Vesuvius erupting to what it felt like in the midst of rebel fire. It makes us know better a man living in the 1850s that had traveled as far as southern Italy, who had walked among the ancient ruins of Pompeii much as we do today, taking us inside the mind of an American who had found himself fighting in the Civil War 150 years ago.
Martin doesn’t shy away from breathing life into well-known nonfictional characters, in particular John Wilkes Booth and of course Lincoln himself. Martin doesn’t just give us a physical description of Booth, but shows us how he behaves as an actor and human being: ‘turning, pushing through the crowd, in and out of the torchlight, his face flashing an actor’s angry scowl’. Martin plunges into Lincoln’s interior ponderances over slavery and race, bringing us closer to Lincoln as a living, breathing character than ever before in popular culture. He shows Lincoln’s agonies over what direction to take in the Civil War, so very relatable to the horrendous decisions facing any president. We see a president plagued with criticism and questioned on the constitutionality of his every move. We live alongside Lincoln’s personal and physical deconstruction during the war-ravaged years of his truncated presidency and witness his humility.
A story about Lincoln would be incomplete without ominous foreshadowing of the inevitable, of the event which we optimistically, naïvely hope will not happen. Martin flawlessly creates this foreboding with descriptions like ‘the gaslights around the White House glowed like footlights in a theater’, but while maintaining stunning authenticity, he treats the subject (and scene) of Lincoln’s assassination with gut-wrenching poignancy that is equaled only by the description of being in the Twin Towers on 9/11 in his New York novel City of Dreams.
We get the idea that William Martin has actually lived in the time period of the Civil War. In his talks promoting ‘The Lincoln Letter’, Martin recounts how he does his research by examining old photographs, and it’s a delicious pleasure to see his protagonist Peter Fallon and other characters doing the same. Through their points of view we discover what Martin discovered when he pored over the same photos and engravings of the past. Martin has also shared that he’ll go to the library (or these days, online) and read an entire year of newspapers for the time period in question, even—and especially—the advertisements. Likewise Peter Fallon tells another character in the book, ‘You read everything, even the advertisements. They tell you how people lived in the details. And we look for God in the details.’ Martin pulls a life, an intrigue out of those details, and the result of his excitement for documents of the past is that we feel as if we are there, too. His characters can tell us ‘what a bowl of she-crab soup cost at the Gosling Restaurant on Pennsylvania Avenue’. They can tell us ‘that Laura Keene is playing all week at Ford’s Theatre, closing on Saturday night before Easter’. And we get to witness the see-and-be-seen action, gatherings, and plotting in full public display at the political hot spots of the Willard and the National Hotels in Civil War Washington.
Martin cleverly intertwines Civil War reenactors into his intrigue, the reenactments the perfect stage upon which to juxtapose and link events occurring in the timeline of the past and in the present-day timeline. We get into the psyche of the reenactors and what makes them tick. We see them reenacting the treatment of battle wounds in a hospital, and in a following chapter, experience from the point of view of a soldier what it was like to recover from a wound with only opium pills and needles of morphine to kill the pain, shedding fascinating light on the types of wounds that would be caused by Civil War-era ammunition as well as the types of physical therapy in practice 150 years ago.
Finally, The Lincoln Letter doesn’t pull punches with hard language on slavery, yet Martin treats the subject with respect as when one of his characters asks, ‘What godly nation would do such a thing?’ ‘The Lincoln Letter’ transports the reader back to a fascinating, albeit difficult period in American history, and William Martin, even while providing a rich history lesson, delivers an exciting yarn that will give his readers much to think about long after they have turned the final page.
Read
October 26, 2012William Martin, the bestselling author of “The Lost Constitution” is back with his latest book “The Lincoln Letter.” William brings us back to Civil War America leading us to ask the question, did Abraham Lincoln have a diary, one that could hold secrets that he never meant to let out? If this diary existed, what if it fell into the wrong hands, would his legacy and the legacy of the Civil War be changed forever? Every President in history has taken secrets of his Presidency to the grave, and Lincoln is no different.
William takes his main characters Peter Fallon and Evangeline Carrington, on a journey in search of the missing diary. William has in the past, done a fascinating job of taking the reader on an historical thrill ride and “The Lincoln Letter” could be his best book to date. By blending the past and present in “The Lincoln Letter,” readers will be engrossed in a mystery and suspense that is a first class read. For the reader that has not picked up an historical thriller, William Martin’s “The Lincoln Letter” should be your first read and then you will be hooked.
Reviewed by John Raab, CEO/Publisher for Suspense Magazine
William takes his main characters Peter Fallon and Evangeline Carrington, on a journey in search of the missing diary. William has in the past, done a fascinating job of taking the reader on an historical thrill ride and “The Lincoln Letter” could be his best book to date. By blending the past and present in “The Lincoln Letter,” readers will be engrossed in a mystery and suspense that is a first class read. For the reader that has not picked up an historical thriller, William Martin’s “The Lincoln Letter” should be your first read and then you will be hooked.
Reviewed by John Raab, CEO/Publisher for Suspense Magazine
February 4, 2017
What a riveting book! Who knew that looking for antiquities would be so hazardous to one health?! A brilliantly structured tale that takes place now and in the 1860's. The hunt for Lincoln's Diary during both time periods-harrowing and fast paced. A must for history and mystery buffs alike.
April 15, 2015
The Fallon series continues with another Martin classic, focussed on the US Civil War and its central character, Abraham Lincoln. When a letter surfaces, potentially the last he ever penned, in which Lincoln asks that a bureaucrat in the War Department return his personal date book, Fallon is pulled into the middle of the mystery and asked to locate the whereabouts of the original letter and the aforementioned piece of history to which it eludes. Alongside his girlfriend (yes, the wedding never took place), Evangeline Carrington, Fallon searches through numerous historical documents to give a more complete picture of the time and offer insight as to where this date book might have gone. The story alternates (in true Martin fashion) from the present to events during the War, in which the story of said date book and its robbery becomes central. However, Martin also offers numerous angles surrounding Lincoln's thinking throughout the War and the sentiment by African Americans during the event, in hopes of shining a light on where they saw themselves in the larger picture. Fallon must not only find the date book, but fend off politicians who hope to use Lincoln's decisions surrounding the War to fuel their own interests, all while pushing new and controversial ideas on the American people. What could Lincoln have included in that book and could it change the way modern America sees itself, both internally and on the world stage? A wonderful addition to Martin's work and hopefully not the final chapter in the Fallon series.
Martin touches on yet another collection of historically significant events to present a novel that piques the reader's interest from the outset. While all other novels in the series have used vast swaths of time to illustrate changes in mentality and how the specific historical item changed hands repeatedly, in this novel, the story focusses on wartime, and the nuanced shifts within that time period. Martin touches on the change in mentality surrounding the War's justification and how constitutional loopholes left secession open for any state that desired its option. However, Lincoln would not stop until the issue of slavery had been decided, even if he offered a murky and somewhat contradictory stance on the larger issue. History has always come to shape this debate and even a century later, politicians were still trying to sort things out, based on Lincoln's desires and Grant's victory.
I would like to take a moment to touch on the Peter Fallon series as a whole, if I might. I am not sure if there are more books to come from William Martin, so it seems useful to offer some general comments at this point. Martin has used the series not only to touch on various aspects of New England history, but also to discuss how that history is woven together over numerous generations. Some call him a modern Mitchener or a fellow Edward Rutherfurd in his multi-generational storytelling. I agree on both counts, as Martin grabs onto history and presents it to the reader in an interesting manner. Each of the five novels is steeped in history and should not be scoffed at, though attention to detail is a must. While each novel can and does stand on its own, reading the series in chronological order offers a more sensical way of digesting the overarching themes the characters present and makes things more enjoyable all about. I would highly recommend the series to anyone with patience and a hunger for New England history. You'll likely come away much better informed than when you arrived!
Kudos, Mr. Martin for such a wonderful book and series. I applaud you for all you've done to make history entertaining and educational at the same time.
Like/hate the review? An ever-growing collection of others appears at:
http://pecheyponderings.wordpress.com/
Martin touches on yet another collection of historically significant events to present a novel that piques the reader's interest from the outset. While all other novels in the series have used vast swaths of time to illustrate changes in mentality and how the specific historical item changed hands repeatedly, in this novel, the story focusses on wartime, and the nuanced shifts within that time period. Martin touches on the change in mentality surrounding the War's justification and how constitutional loopholes left secession open for any state that desired its option. However, Lincoln would not stop until the issue of slavery had been decided, even if he offered a murky and somewhat contradictory stance on the larger issue. History has always come to shape this debate and even a century later, politicians were still trying to sort things out, based on Lincoln's desires and Grant's victory.
I would like to take a moment to touch on the Peter Fallon series as a whole, if I might. I am not sure if there are more books to come from William Martin, so it seems useful to offer some general comments at this point. Martin has used the series not only to touch on various aspects of New England history, but also to discuss how that history is woven together over numerous generations. Some call him a modern Mitchener or a fellow Edward Rutherfurd in his multi-generational storytelling. I agree on both counts, as Martin grabs onto history and presents it to the reader in an interesting manner. Each of the five novels is steeped in history and should not be scoffed at, though attention to detail is a must. While each novel can and does stand on its own, reading the series in chronological order offers a more sensical way of digesting the overarching themes the characters present and makes things more enjoyable all about. I would highly recommend the series to anyone with patience and a hunger for New England history. You'll likely come away much better informed than when you arrived!
Kudos, Mr. Martin for such a wonderful book and series. I applaud you for all you've done to make history entertaining and educational at the same time.
Like/hate the review? An ever-growing collection of others appears at:
http://pecheyponderings.wordpress.com/
March 22, 2017
William Martin’s hybrid historical-fiction/thriller, THE LINCOLN LETTER, promised to be an interesting read, and I was not disappointed. The story revolves around a previously-unknown diary of Abraham Lincoln’s, a daybook that clearly shows the evolution of his thoughts on the emancipation of slaves. Modern-day historical sleuths Peter Fallon and Evangeline Carrington are racing to locate the diary before it is found by those who would use its controversial contents to further their nefarious political desires. Juxtaposed with the 21st century treasure-hunting story is the story of how Lincoln’s diary came to be lost during the Civil War, and the lengths to which Lincoln’s enemies would go to locate it. In order to track down the diary, Fallon and Carrington must – through careful research – reconstruct the Civil War story. They must also thread their way through a complex web of characters whose varied selfish aims place the sleuths in danger at every turn.
The novel was very interesting, but it also appealed to me on another level: it reminded me of my own research in reconstructing the Civil War career of my great-great-grandfather, a junior officer in Tennessee’s Confederate Cavalry who disappeared under mysterious circumstances in the middle of the war, never to be seen again. Solving Lt. Andrew Lacy’s mystery does not have the potential impact of Lincoln’s diary in THE LINCOLN LETTER, and there is no race to elucidate this mystery. But just as seemingly minor details at the time of the Civil War provided important clues to the disappearance of Lincoln’s diary in THE LINCOLN LETTER, my hope is that minor details (many of which are found in the letters Lacy and his family wrote one another during the war) may lead to the discovery of my ancestor’s actual fate. This possibility is what keeps me searching, researching, and re-researching. It also makes for more extensive research than I realized I would need in order to tell Lt. Lacy’s story. That, in turn, has caused the writing of my story to take much longer than I had guessed. All I can ask for is patience from those who are waiting to read Lt. Lacy’s tale.
The novel was very interesting, but it also appealed to me on another level: it reminded me of my own research in reconstructing the Civil War career of my great-great-grandfather, a junior officer in Tennessee’s Confederate Cavalry who disappeared under mysterious circumstances in the middle of the war, never to be seen again. Solving Lt. Andrew Lacy’s mystery does not have the potential impact of Lincoln’s diary in THE LINCOLN LETTER, and there is no race to elucidate this mystery. But just as seemingly minor details at the time of the Civil War provided important clues to the disappearance of Lincoln’s diary in THE LINCOLN LETTER, my hope is that minor details (many of which are found in the letters Lacy and his family wrote one another during the war) may lead to the discovery of my ancestor’s actual fate. This possibility is what keeps me searching, researching, and re-researching. It also makes for more extensive research than I realized I would need in order to tell Lt. Lacy’s story. That, in turn, has caused the writing of my story to take much longer than I had guessed. All I can ask for is patience from those who are waiting to read Lt. Lacy’s tale.
December 28, 2019
I've stared at this book on my shelves for quite a while but have been leery for some reason to pick it up. First, I'm always interested in historical fiction but I can't seem to remember the context in which I picked up this book. The author was not familiar to me but I remember something vague like it was recommended but then why couldn't I remember?
But it was definitely time and I'm so glad that I took the plunge. This is a well written, carefully crafted book that swings between two time periods that time running up to the end of the Civil War and the assassination of Abraham Lincoln, and the current period with one historian taping a TV series about the era and her boyfriend interested in a rare letter from Lincoln that was emailed to him.
So we're really following two mysteries through time and history: what was the something referred to in the Lincoln letter and what happened to it? And why are men after it that are willing to kill for it?
For one young soldier serving in the telegraph office, it can be the key to his honor and his freedom — or his death. For the modern players, it is a priceless artifact that can earn millions and be used to change the nation's outlook on "the Great Emancipator."
You will be pulled into the stories and carried away. This is a good page turner and a good introduction to the author and his main character.
But it was definitely time and I'm so glad that I took the plunge. This is a well written, carefully crafted book that swings between two time periods that time running up to the end of the Civil War and the assassination of Abraham Lincoln, and the current period with one historian taping a TV series about the era and her boyfriend interested in a rare letter from Lincoln that was emailed to him.
So we're really following two mysteries through time and history: what was the something referred to in the Lincoln letter and what happened to it? And why are men after it that are willing to kill for it?
For one young soldier serving in the telegraph office, it can be the key to his honor and his freedom — or his death. For the modern players, it is a priceless artifact that can earn millions and be used to change the nation's outlook on "the Great Emancipator."
You will be pulled into the stories and carried away. This is a good page turner and a good introduction to the author and his main character.
July 29, 2013
This book is a historical mystery per excellence. The author has managed to capture the times and life of the Lincoln era while infusing it with modern day intrigue and mystery. Treasure hunters Peter Fallon and Evangeline Carrington take off after a lost diary/journal Abraham Lincoln supposedly wrote in 1862—a document revealing his very thought on slavery and the course of our country. To add to the intrigue, this is an election cycle, and the diary/journal may have implications for that and possibly even change the future of our country. Peter and Evangeline follow the mystery of the diary across a modern day Washington, infused with realistic portrayals of the era in which it was supposedly written. The author manages to seamlessly combine the two eras, switching back and forth between them. I don’t normally read or enjoy historical novels, but this one pulled me in from the beginning and kept my interest through its myriad of twists and turns. If you enjoy historical novels, if you enjoy Lincoln and his era, or if you are just looking for a fascinating portrayal of the man and his thoughts and their impact on modern day, this is a book for you. I received this book from goodreads.
August 14, 2017
Found this in a used bookstore. New author to me, though he has written much historical fiction. The main character is a "treasure hunter" of historical documents ( with scruples)...kind of like the librarian in those TV movies. The action switches back and forth between now and the Civil War, including real-life characters such as President Lincoln and Walt Whitman. This book is a very fun read if you like historical fiction.
On this Monday after tragedy at a counter-protest at a Virginia rally staged by white-supremacists, imagine finding this paragraph at the end of the book:"Until white and black can know each other as people, as equals in life and partners in the building of America, until they can march together after the nation's battles shall have been won, the work of Lincoln is unfinished."
In the story, a huge parade of troops was held in Washington, but the black soldiers, over 100,000 of them were not allowed to participate. Fiction written in 2012 about events of 150 years ago is entirely relevant on this day.
On this Monday after tragedy at a counter-protest at a Virginia rally staged by white-supremacists, imagine finding this paragraph at the end of the book:"Until white and black can know each other as people, as equals in life and partners in the building of America, until they can march together after the nation's battles shall have been won, the work of Lincoln is unfinished."
In the story, a huge parade of troops was held in Washington, but the black soldiers, over 100,000 of them were not allowed to participate. Fiction written in 2012 about events of 150 years ago is entirely relevant on this day.
January 6, 2013
I thoroughly enjoyed this book. The time period is one of my favorite and I appreciate how the author brings it to life with simple things like the Washington Canal, the Adams pocket revolver, the boot black, the "hole man" cleaning privy holes, Julia Ward Howe's "The Battle Hymn of the Republic", Whitman's poem "O Captain! My Captain", the Harper's engraving of Frederick Douglass, etc. The small details bring the period to life, Lincoln engages in personal dialogue with the protagonist, Walt Whitman plays a role, Booth makes multiple appearances, the politics and emotions of the period are accurately portrayed, and of course Peter and Evangeline (who did not get married but SHOULD have) must track down the lost Lincoln diary while navigating current political extremes. It is difficult to choose a favorite in the Peter Fallon series, but this one ranks with the best.
December 13, 2012
William Martin continues to amaze me with his Peter Fallon series. Each book builds on the one before and combines rich historical accuracy with exciting current day action. This time we are in Civil War era Washington D.C. experiencing momentous events and connecting with incredibly vital people through the eyes of a young Union Soldier. The depiction of Lincoln, Booth, and all of the players is exquisite and the current story is just as fulfilling. I can't wait for our next exciting journey with Peter Fallon into living American history. Great work, Bill.
December 18, 2015
A historical novel/thriller that will keep you interested to the very end. I loved the writing so much I have decided to read more of this author. William Martin is a true professional. I enjoyed reading his work. Meticulous research and study went into it. I've been to the DC area he is describing and he takes you back to the beginning.
May 20, 2018
I've read a lot of William Martin's books and this is now in my top two....I loved this book. I've really enjoyed all of the Peter and Evangeline books and I was so excited that I'd be going on a new adventure with them. The story, the history of it is more than compelling. William Martin writes in the beginning that he wants to you to be able to feel and smell and just get what Washington was all about during the Civil war and he more than accomplishes that I think. I cried in the end...I'm sitting in a park with a gazillion little kids buzzing around me and I just couldn't help it. Everybody knows Abraham Lincoln freed the slaves...if you don't, you have to be some kind of idiot...but this is the first time, and I've read other books dealing with the Civil War, that I really got the overwhelming ramifications of Emancipation. You'd have to be an idiot not to know that slavery sucked big time, but I think unless your black, or a civil war buff, you just don't think about how all those people who weren't allowed to learn, were treated like a possession, chattel...were expected to assimilate into society as free people...because it's not like just because Abe Lincoln forced freedom, that freed slaves were accepted...I just can't even process it in my head, even though I've always known there was a president who made a decision and wrote a proclamation, and it happened.
I love William Martin's writing, I respect his research...his books are so readable, and sometimes you don't even realize that your learning some good stuff! I live around Boston and Peter Fallon the antiquarian book dealer...No Pete, is based in Boston. It's always fun when you know some of the locations and just kind of what his background, blue collar, lower class neighborhood, is underneath his Harvard education! I absolutely loved this book.
I love William Martin's writing, I respect his research...his books are so readable, and sometimes you don't even realize that your learning some good stuff! I live around Boston and Peter Fallon the antiquarian book dealer...No Pete, is based in Boston. It's always fun when you know some of the locations and just kind of what his background, blue collar, lower class neighborhood, is underneath his Harvard education! I absolutely loved this book.
March 17, 2014
The Lincoln Letter is the tenth and latest William Martin’s series of historical novels, several of which feature antiquarian book dealer Peter Fallon. Now Fallon is back and hot on the trail of a heretofore unknown letter written by Abraham Lincoln on the last day of his life. The letter is brief, addressed to former War Department decoder Hawley Hutchinson , and seems to refer to a diary that Lincoln lost earlier in the Civil War. Fallon heads to Washington DC, only to discover that he is not the only hunter in this increasingly dangerous quest. While Fallon is feverishly searching and defending his life, a series of flashbacks, narrated from the point of view of Hutchinson, illustrate how and why this mystery came to pass. The plot is enriched by the actions of colorful characters in both time periods, and I found the Civil War story the more compelling. Martin adroitly handles the moral issues of slavery and political machination without becoming preachy, and the African American characters are among the best developed. Why were people so determined to find Lincoln’s diary in the 1860′s? For its value to anti-Lincoln factions for use as a weapon. Why are they so determined in the early 2000′s? For the diary’s value, to history, yes, but more importantly, for the fortune it would bring.
A fast paced, engrossing tale, thoughtful and well presented.
A fast paced, engrossing tale, thoughtful and well presented.
November 21, 2016
Another great effort by a solid author. Mr. Martin catches the tenor of the times with his narrative of Washington, D.C., during the civil war, as told not just from the point of view of the generals and politicians, but also the freedmen, night soil gatherers, wounded soldiers, and female citizens bound by the conventions of their day. His hero of the time is well-drawn, and all his familiar characters such as Peter Fallon and Elizabeth add to a few villains, a few vivid but mysterious lesser characters, and some recognizable people like Abraham Lincoln, John Wilkes Booth and Walt Whitman to make an enjoyable plot.
October 3, 2013
This was an excellent story that carried me right along from the first page. I love Peter Fallon's character, and Lincoln's story is told from yet another point of view. Very interesting and fun. I loved it.
May 9, 2020
This is one of his best!
Martin has mastered the concept of fluid dialog and gets the humor right.
Great read.
Martin has mastered the concept of fluid dialog and gets the humor right.
Great read.
November 8, 2022
I love historical fiction and anything about Lincoln, so what's not to like about this book? It is well written, fast paced and interesting. I would recommend this book to anybody looking for a good read not just those of us obsessed with why America is like it is and how we got there.
May 27, 2023
Another solid entry in this historical suspense series.
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December 20, 2017This was a fascinating book about a letter written by Abraham Lincoln, the history behind it, and the people who wanted to get their hands on it. A great mix of history and fiction. Definitely a good read!
March 7, 2016
The Lincoln Letter was one of the more interesting entries in the Peter Fallon series of historical treasure hunts.
Like its predecessors, The Lincoln Letter is a split narrative. About a third of the novel unfolds in the present day. Fallon, an antiquarian/treasure hunter, lands on the trail of a potentially valuable lost artifact, a diary kept by Abraham Lincoln during the Civil War. Fallon and his travel writer girlfriend, Evangeline Carrington, find themselves in a complex web in Washington, DC, navigating the numerous factions and power players manipulating them in pursuit of the diary.
That story alternates with chapters set during the Civil War. They focus on Halsey Hutchinson, a Harvard-educated soldier who has several encounters with Lincoln. Halsey is responsible for the loss of Lincoln’s diary and spends the remainder of the war trying to retrieve it. Along the way, he runs a deadly gamut of spies, traitors, profiteers, soldiers, and ex-slaves, all with competing agendas. Halsey is present for several important historical moments and mixes with such famous names as Oliver Wendell Holmes, Walt Whitman, John Wilkes Booth and Clara Barton. The two narratives cross and converge as Peter works his way through danger in the present day to locate the hiding place of the diary, as dramatized at the climax of Halsey’s story.
William Martin has produced several Peter Fallon novels, some excellent, one or two not so great. The Lincoln Letter was a solid entry in the series. Peter remained an appealing lead character, a colorful, resourceful pivot for the contemporary action. Evangeline was less shrill than she’d been in previous outings, but still came off a bit whiney. Martin’s attempts to weave modern issues into the narrative didn’t quite come off, though were less ham-fisted than in the past. The treasure hunt itself was interesting enough to keep a reader’s attention, even if Martin strained to come up with plausible political/philosophical reasons for the various factions to want the diary. Sometimes “it’s valuable” would have done just fine.
The Civil War sections were much more consistently compelling. Martin has a strong hand with historical fiction and did a first rate job of recreating the political gamesmanship and shadowy conspiracies of Washington and the brutalities of the battle fields of the Civil War. Halsey was an intriguing central character and Martin did a nice job of developing him into a three-dimensional, sympathetic protagonist. If at times a reader might want to slap sense into Halsey, his basic decency and loyalty to Lincoln made him easy to root for. Martin’s recreation of Civil War Washington was probably the novel’s greatest strength. He captured the tension and danger of the era and used it as an effective canvas. His research was impeccable and he packed the narrative with all kinds of subtle details that enriched the story without being showy. Really, the historical sections are so strong, Martin could consider dispensing with the contemporary framing device in the future.
For fans who have read the previous entries in the Peter Fallon series, The Lincoln Letter is an enjoyable outing. Newcomers would be better advised to start with Back Bay.
A version of this review originally appeared on www.thunderalleybcp.com
Like its predecessors, The Lincoln Letter is a split narrative. About a third of the novel unfolds in the present day. Fallon, an antiquarian/treasure hunter, lands on the trail of a potentially valuable lost artifact, a diary kept by Abraham Lincoln during the Civil War. Fallon and his travel writer girlfriend, Evangeline Carrington, find themselves in a complex web in Washington, DC, navigating the numerous factions and power players manipulating them in pursuit of the diary.
That story alternates with chapters set during the Civil War. They focus on Halsey Hutchinson, a Harvard-educated soldier who has several encounters with Lincoln. Halsey is responsible for the loss of Lincoln’s diary and spends the remainder of the war trying to retrieve it. Along the way, he runs a deadly gamut of spies, traitors, profiteers, soldiers, and ex-slaves, all with competing agendas. Halsey is present for several important historical moments and mixes with such famous names as Oliver Wendell Holmes, Walt Whitman, John Wilkes Booth and Clara Barton. The two narratives cross and converge as Peter works his way through danger in the present day to locate the hiding place of the diary, as dramatized at the climax of Halsey’s story.
William Martin has produced several Peter Fallon novels, some excellent, one or two not so great. The Lincoln Letter was a solid entry in the series. Peter remained an appealing lead character, a colorful, resourceful pivot for the contemporary action. Evangeline was less shrill than she’d been in previous outings, but still came off a bit whiney. Martin’s attempts to weave modern issues into the narrative didn’t quite come off, though were less ham-fisted than in the past. The treasure hunt itself was interesting enough to keep a reader’s attention, even if Martin strained to come up with plausible political/philosophical reasons for the various factions to want the diary. Sometimes “it’s valuable” would have done just fine.
The Civil War sections were much more consistently compelling. Martin has a strong hand with historical fiction and did a first rate job of recreating the political gamesmanship and shadowy conspiracies of Washington and the brutalities of the battle fields of the Civil War. Halsey was an intriguing central character and Martin did a nice job of developing him into a three-dimensional, sympathetic protagonist. If at times a reader might want to slap sense into Halsey, his basic decency and loyalty to Lincoln made him easy to root for. Martin’s recreation of Civil War Washington was probably the novel’s greatest strength. He captured the tension and danger of the era and used it as an effective canvas. His research was impeccable and he packed the narrative with all kinds of subtle details that enriched the story without being showy. Really, the historical sections are so strong, Martin could consider dispensing with the contemporary framing device in the future.
For fans who have read the previous entries in the Peter Fallon series, The Lincoln Letter is an enjoyable outing. Newcomers would be better advised to start with Back Bay.
A version of this review originally appeared on www.thunderalleybcp.com
May 27, 2013
I really enjoyed this book a lot. William Martin is a tremendous author of books with historical context. His style is to write two stories in one essentially. The first story is about an old artifact of some sort. This historical artifact or document fuels the story from the start and the reader must learn about the origins of this thing. It follows the artifact throughout its entire history up until the very present. The second story is about the people in the present trying to follow the historical trail until they can find its final resting place. This tale is about a daybook that Abraham Lincoln used to write his thoughts. It conveyed his thoughts on slavery and the initial emancipation of the slaves, and it could be used against him and his legacy. The characters always seem very much like living people rather than the creations of an author. The plot seems very plausible and very detailed. You find yourself getting hooked by the plot and trying to figure out where the artifact will head next. The people of historical significane the author uses are life-like as well and you can feel the essence of their being coming off the page. I look forward to this author's books each time I hear a new one is coming. I was excited about this, and wonder where Peter Fallon is going to be taken next.
October 17, 2012
"Lincoln Letter" is told through simultaneous action in both the Civil War and modern eras. Unfortunately, the modern characters and setting cannot keep pace with those events and personalities surrounding the Lincoln White House. Much of the historical representation is interesting, and some characters have interesting color and interwoven back stories, but the action is less than breakneck and modern characters are more often disappointing caricatures. For any true fan of historical thrillers, there are several more viable options. This one, while not entirely unworthy, is better left to simmer on the back burner.
August 6, 2016
With his usual flair for suspense and careful plotting, William Martin, tells a fascinating story of Halsey Hutchinson, an aspiring lawyer and enlisted Civil War soldier. Meanwhile, in the present day, Peter Fallon and his sidekick, Evangeline Carrington, spend an exciting weekend in Washington DC on the trail of lost documents authored by the sixteenth president as he wrestled with his decision to emancipate the slaves.
October 13, 2012
William Martin does a fantastic job of bringing into a political world that is even more riven than ours today. His details, characters, and mixture of fiction and history is masterful. Loved every minute of it.
March 20, 2013
Quit about 1/3 of the way through. I was expecting a present day mystery involving a lost Lincoln letter. And the few pages devoted to that was good. Problem was, it also took place in 1862 and that part, which consisted of the majority i had read, was mind numbingly boring
March 10, 2014
Good book for those who love historical fiction. Easily read with a great mystery story. I enjoyed this book and would recommend it to those who love reading about the Civil War, Lincoln and the freeing of the slaves. Kudos to Mr. Martin. I look forward to reading his other books.
January 21, 2015
This book was read as part of my monthly book discussion. As a fan of history in general, I loved the concept of being able to read Lincoln's thoughts. I would recommend this to anyone who enjoys fiction of the civil war or about Lincoln.
February 15, 2016
Reading a history about Lincoln, although mostly fictional, was exciting for me, as I am distantly related to him on my mother's side. The book stayed fast-paced and a thrill as it jumped from present day to the past with each chapter and was a delight to see how the past built the future.
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