Robert Frost's poem "The Road Not Taken" starts "Two roads diverged in a yellow wood...". This is the basic outline of "The Fatal Bullet". 2 roads diverged, one traveled by our 20th President James Garfield, the other traveled by his assassin Charles Guiteau. Garfield enjoyed the American dream life: learned good lessons through hard work & determination, married his sweetheart & brought up a strong, Christian family. By chance, he found himself on the 1881 ballot as the Republican nominee for President. As anybody that has studied American history knows, his run for President was successful, & he became our 20th President. His role, however, would be short-lived as a crazy, misguided cook would do "God's work" & fatally shoot him before he was set to board the train on a much-needed vacation with his family. Guiteau had a similar upbringing to that of Garfield, but as all humans have the gift of free-will & choice, he made a choice to travel the broad road that would ultimately lead to his destruction. After the death of President Garfield, Guideau would face trial that would lead to a quick verdict of "guilty". He would die on the gallows in Washington, DC declaring his godly rightness right up to the last minute.
I am a lover of history, but I can honestly say I had never read much on President Garfield before this book. As with Geary's other graphic novels, it was a quick read that hit all of the important pieces of the story in order to paint a complete picture. The author did what any writer would hope to achieve: he created in me a desire to know more about the subject. I believe it will not be long before I pick up something else on President Garfield to get to know more about him & his short Presidency.
Age recommendation: 12 & up (assassination, death, felony behavior done under the misguided "spiritual leading")
On a scale of 1-10 stars, I give it 9.