Washington Post review: "The Anarchist"
DC
"THE ANARCHIST" by John Smolens (Amazon.com: http://snurl.com/Anarch1 )
In 1901, as today, America was suffering economic turmoil while
battling shadowy zealots trying to destabilize Western governments
with acts of terror and assassination. These early-20th-century
anarchists disrupted markets and kept political leaders in a state of
constant anxiety. Given the threat level, the rumors about plots
against the president's life and the unprecedented security arrayed to
protect him, how could a young man walk up to President William
McKinley and murder him? That shocking breach of security is the
subject of John Smolens's smart and compelling historical thriller.
Newly-reelected President McKinley is coming in a month with his
fragile wife to see the Pan-American Exposition in Buffalo and deliver
the most important speech of his career. He's determined to be
accessible, even with the murders of Lincoln and Garfield still
haunting the nation. A Pinkerton detective named Jake Norris has been
sent ahead from the capital to investigate any possible threats, but
the leads are so numerous that "it's like trying to hold water in your
palm." On the first page, one of Norris's recently hired spies is
pulled from the Erie Canal; someone beat her to death with a rope. So
begins a frantic search to stop a man who will eventually alter
20th-century history...
Continued: http://snurl.com/Anarch2
Chapter 1: http://snurl.com/AnChap1