AnyBook4Less.com	Find the Best Price on the Web Order from a Major Online Bookstore
Home  |  Store List  |  FAQ  |  Contact Us  |
Ultimate Book Price Comparison Engine Save Your Time And Money Keyword AuthorISBN

Title: The Paid Companion of J. Wilkes Booth by Jan Merlin, William Russo ISBN: 1-4134-1026-X Publisher: Xlibris Corporation Pub. Date: September, 2003 Format: Paperback Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $21.99

Your Country USA Canada United Kingdom Australia Austria Belgium France Germany Italy Netherlands Switzerland Currency AutoUSD CAD GBP EUR AUD CHF Delivery Only cheapest delivery All delivery options Include Used Books Are you a club member of: Barnes and Noble Books A Million Chapters.Indigo.ca

Average Customer Rating: 4 (5 reviews)

Rating: 5
Summary: WESTERN CLIPPINGS REVIEW!!!
Comment: (Review by Terry Harris) Jan Merlin, the excellent character actor who appeared in numerous western movies and TV series, usually in villianous roles, is also an author who has written several books. His latest, with co-author William Russo, THE PAID COMPANION of J.Wilkes Booth, focuses on the life of Lewis Paine, the man who conspired with John Wilkes Booth to overthrow the Federal Government at the end of the Civil War. The novel deals with the events leading up to Paine's attempted assassination of Secretary of State William Seward, Paine's capture, trial, and execution by Federal authorities. What Merlin and Russo do so well is to take a potentially repugnant character, Lewis Paine, and present him in such a way the reader is rendered sympathetic to him. The Civil War and its effects on the teenage Paine make him an object of compassion. As Merlin says, "Slavery made him immoral, war made him a murderer, and necessity, revenge and delusion made him an assassin." In many ways, Paine is like us, except he was taught to believe things we know to be wrong, were right. The novel's searing indictment of the dehumanizing evil effects of a vicious Civil War onma a young man's psyche is compelling and sticks in your mind long after finishing the book. Highly recommended, deserves to be ranked among the best of Civil War novels.

Rating: 5
Summary: Intriguing Intrigue
Comment: THE PAID COMPANION OF J. WILKES BOOTH weaves page-turning narrative from speculative history. Motion picture actor Jan Merlin adds dramatic spin to the dark facts of events surrounding the Lincoln assassination conspiracy provided by scholar and collaborator William Russo. It's a hair-raising account that, not unsurprisingly, moves like an action film.

Rating: 1
Summary: Here we go again
Comment: I wonder if Mr. Russo just likes slandering the names of people who have been dead for years, or if he actually thinks he is anywhere near the mark. I, however, am a professional historian who has spent years researching the Lincoln assassination, and to anyone considering buying this book I warn you not to waste your money. The writing is choppy, the scenarios unbelieveable and the historial data way off the mark. As for the charge that Booth hired a bunch of 'losers' to help him kidnap the president, here are the facts. First of all, David Herold was a pharmacist's assistant and had easy access to drugs that could be used to knock Lincoln out when the time came to kidnap him. Second, Paine (whose real name was Powell, by the way), was the perfect muscle for the job, a man who could easily have overpowered Lincoln, something that neither Booth, Herold, Atzerodt or Surratt could have done on their own. John Surratt had contacts in the Confederacy and in the Union, so not only could he find a friendly place to stash Lincoln, he could act as a middleman during negotiations to reacquire Lincoln. Mr. Russo, the line between historical fiction and slander is a thin one, and you have crossed it. I reccommend a new career.