When Abraham Lincoln's body is stolen from his Tomb and held for ransom by men who can't admit that the South lost the Civil War, who else would the Government ask to pay the ransom and recover the body but The Gunsmith? Facing a small army led by a former Confederate Colonel and his sexy wife, Clint Adams turns to the only person he can to watch his back, his friend, private detective Talbot Roper. Together they fight to recover Lincoln's body and prove that the South is truly dead.
In a lively and dramatic narrative, Thomas J. Craughwell returns to this bizarre, and largely forgotten, event with the first book to place the grave robbery in historical context.
A true crime thriller -- the first book for teens to tell the nearly unknown tale of the brazen attempt to steal Abraham Lincoln's body. Reissued in Scholastic Focus, with an exciting new cover. The action begins in October of 1875, as Secret Service agents raid the Fulton, Illinois, workshop of master counterfeiter Ben Boyd. Soon after Boyd is hauled off to prison, members of his counterfeiting ring gather in the back room of a smoky Chicago saloon to discuss how to spring their ringleader. Their plan: grab Lincoln's body from its Springfield tomb, stash it in the sand dunes near Lake Michigan, and demand, as a ransom, the release of Ben Boyd -- and $200,000 in cash. From here, the action alternates between the conspirators, the Secret Service agents on their trail, and the undercover agent moving back and forth between them. Along the way readers get glimpses into the inner workings of counterfeiting, grave robbing, detective work, and the early days of the Secret Service. The plot moves toward a wild climax as robbers and lawmen converge at Lincoln's tomb on election night: November 7, 1876.A dynamic and thrilling tale from critically acclaimed author Steve Sheinkin.
#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER More than ONE MILLION copies sold A TODAY Show Read with Jenna Book Club Pick A New York Times Notable Book, and Chosen by Oprah Daily, Time, NPR, The Washington Post and Barack Obama as a Best Book of the Year “Wise and wildly entertaining . . . permeated with light, wit, youth.” —The New York Times Book Review “A classic that we will read for years to come.” —Jenna Bush Hager, Read with Jenna book club “A real joyride . . . elegantly constructed and compulsively readable.” – NPR The bestselling author of A Gentleman in Moscow and Rules of Civility and master of absorbing, sophisticated fiction returns with a stylish and propulsive novel set in 1950s America In June, 1954, eighteen-year-old Emmett Watson is driven home to Nebraska by the warden of the juvenile work farm where he has just served fifteen months for involuntary manslaughter. His mother long gone, his father recently deceased, and the family farm foreclosed upon by the bank, Emmett's intention is to pick up his eight-year-old brother, Billy, and head to California where they can start their lives anew. But when the warden drives away, Emmett discovers that two friends from the work farm have hidden themselves in the trunk of the warden's car. Together, they have hatched an altogether different plan for Emmett's future, one that will take them all on a fateful journey in the opposite direction—to the City of New York. Spanning just ten days and told from multiple points of view, Towles's third novel will satisfy fans of his multi-layered literary styling while providing them an array of new and richly imagined settings, characters, and themes.
Lock the doors, draw the curtains, and light a candle as you join author John Kachuba on a guided tour of Illinois's most terrifyingly haunted places. Your hair-raising journey will take you to: • Old State Capital, Springfield -- Lincoln lay in state here before his burial in Oak Ridge Cemetery. Could his ghost haunt the spot where his body lay? • Harpo Studios, Chicago -- When the Eastland steamer capsized in 1915, the building served as a temporary morgue. Oprah's employees have encountered the ghosts of the victims, including the "Gray Lady" who floats through the halls. • And many more scary sites. Maps and travel information are provided to every haunted location for those brave enough to make the journey in person.
