Robert Harris - Act of Oblivion (London: Penguin, 2022)
This is a gripping story, based on mostly historical facts. It outlines the pursuit of the 'regicides' who were responsible for the execution of King Charles I and the establishment of Oliver Cromwell's republican protectorate in England. In particular the story revolves around two of Cromwell's closest disciples, Edward Whalley and his son-in-law William Golle, who escaped to colonial America in the 1660s. The long arm of the royalists, once Charles II had been put on the throne, chased the two men across puritan New England. The book gives enough historical background for the story to flow and depicts the hard and poor living conditions in London and England and in the colonies and among the Puritans very well indeed. Great read; great historical novel by one of the masters of this genre in the UK. (July 2023).
Rich Cohen - A Ghost Ship, a Killer and the Birth of a Gangster Nation: The Last Pirate of New York (New York: Spiegel & Grau, 2019)
Very well-written book about the chase, the prosecution and execution of Albert Hicks, the notorious murder of 3 sailors on a ship in New York harbor in 1863 and many previous murders. The short book of 235 pages is full of suspense and throws an illuminating and enlightening light on life and the fate of Irish and other immigrants in NYC just before the civil war. The New York underworld is very well described and explained. (July 2023)
