Lincoln's Grave Robbers

Sun, 29 Oct 2023 10:24:43 -0700

The author Steve Sheinkin tells the tale of an event happening 160 years ago in this meticulously researched nonfiction book; he delves into the world of body snatchers and counterfeiters and relates the story of a plot to steal Lincoln's body and hold it ransom. The story goes: Ben Boyd the noted counterfeiter is arrested, so the boss of the ring, Big Jim, hires a team of counterfeiters, including Terrence Mullen and Jack Hughes, to enact the body snatching plot. Yet Patrick Tyrell of the Secret Service is notified, and he promptly hires Lewis Swegles, famed horse thief, to act as a roper, ie, a spy. The story progresses as Swegles gathers information about the plan and Secret Service agents prepare for the planned date of the event. Written in a conversational style and including many interesting quotes from Tyrell's notes and the characters themselves, this book tells an engaging story and has straightforward language; it is also quite informative. This book is an example of good narrative nonfiction, and it's a great book for people of all ages.