Book Review: The Ambush of My Name

Reviewed By: Harriet Klausner

The Ambush of My Name    
Jeffrey Marks
Class/Genre:   Mystery   Historical
Series: Ulysses S Grant Mysteries
Silver Dagger, Jun 2001, $23.95, 184 pp.

It has been six months since Lee surrendered to Grant and now the victorious General thinks he will run for president once Johnson's term ends. Grant returns to his hometown of Georgetown, Ohio expecting a hero's welcome.

Perhaps it is the geographical location being near the Border States but there are many Confederacy sympathizers are in the crowds. He is called butcher by a heckler and no one intercedes on his or his wife Julia's behalf. When the Grants enter their hotel room, they find a corpse waits to greet them. Later Ulysses takes Julia on a picnic on the back roads only to have a sniper try to kill them. Secretary of State Seward sends a Pinkerton Agent to investigate and soon he concludes that southerners are still fighting the war by targeting Grant as a means of shocking the nation with his assassination.

Jeffrey marks has done a wonderful job of capturing the mood of the nation just six months after the Civil War ended. General grant is treated as real person with doubts and fears as opposed to an unflappable legend. THE AMBUSH OF MY NAME is a fascinating historical mystery that achieves the mark of excellence.

Harriet Klausner

Reprinted with permission. Do Not repost without permission from the author, Harriet Klausner