Book Log 2012 #19: The Impeachment of Abraham Lincoln by Stephen Carter

This stop on what appears to be a year-long pop culture tour of Abraham Lincoln sees the Railsplitter survive his assassination attempt, only to be subject to an impeachment trial where the charges against the President obscure the real motive of getting the Speaker of the House into the top job (Andrew Johnson having been a casualty of the conspiracy).

The book mostly involves two junior clerks of the law firm defending the president, one born into a Boston industrial family who may acting behind the scenes to get Lincoln convicted, the other an African-American woman hired by a partner who has gone conspicuously missing (the other partner immediately puts her on housekeeping duties). The pair become involved in trying to uncover the conspiracy against the President, which involves information from a spy carried over from the Civil War and Kate Chase, the daughter of Salmon P. Chase who is trying to clear the way for dad to become President down the line.

Our intrepid heroes also develop a personal relationship, difficult given their different races and prior engagements. It's handled well, adding just the right amount of complication to an already complicated situation.

After the disappointment of Jericho Falls, I was very happy to see Carter return to the themes of race, law and power that have run through his other novels. And while it was a gentle dip into the waters of alternative history (I mean, there was no time travel or cloned dinosaurs or anything), it was successfully done, drawing a sharp portrait of the political conflicts of the era.

Very much recommended, but not for purchase through Apple's bookstore. I purchased it this way, and had to delete and re-download the book five or six times where the book repeated one page several times and then moved on to the next chapter. Reloading restored the missing pages, but was highly annoying. Good thing I didn't read this book while on vacation as planned, as a lack of Internet access would have stranded me mid-read.