Swanson's Manhunt

I just finished listening to Manhunt, by James L. Swanson--I put it on the list on the side of the blog. It is the story of the assassination of Abraham Lincoln and the twelve day search for John Wilkes Booth. Although the writing can veer toward the melodramatic, accentuated by the reader (Thomas Richard, the actor who was John Boy in The Waltons), including a bit about how the conspirators were meeting beyond the grave, it was a fascinating story, suspenseful even though we know the outcome. I came away with the impression that Booth could’ve escaped into the deep south, which was his goal—and what the government feared--but overconfidence and arrogance led him to go too slowly. Arrogance dominated him throughout.