The Sixth Conspirator

The author of Shooting the Sun blends a spy story with a love story in this tale of the secret mission to find the conspirators in Lincoln’s assassination. The assassination of Abraham Lincoln set off a hysterical burst of international conspiracy theories, with all eyes turning first to Canada—once a hotbed of Confederate plots—and then, as evidence mounted, to the Catholic Church and Rome . . . Now from bestselling author, Max Byrd, comes a long forgotten true story: a confidential mission to track down and capture any Europeans (and fugitive Confederates) who may have aided John Wilkes Booth. Drawn from State Department archives and personal letters and diaries, The Sixth Conspirator recounts the dramatic journey of George H. Sharpe, General Ulysses S. Grant’s real-life spymaster, to three European capitals. Three people travel with him—calculating banker Daniel Keach, Sharpe’s Civil War protegé Quintus Oakes, and former Pinkerton agent Maggie Lawton. One step ahead of them is a mysterious Confederate courier, Sarah Slater, known during the war as “the Veiled Lady,” who may or may not have been Booth’s lover. Behind Sharpe’s team, breathing grimly over their shoulders, are Secretary of State William Seward, brutally mutilated by the knife of one of Booth’s henchmen, and the perversely vengeful, guilt-ridden Secretary of War Edwin Stanton. Along the way Byrd creates a panorama of wonderfully realized characters, great and small, fictional and real. In deeply researched, fascinating historical detail, he carries us back to another reality—the far away mid-nineteenth century world from which our America slowly emerged. Praise for The Sixth Conspirator “From its brilliant and devastating opening scene to its surprising and breakneck conclusion, The Sixth Conspirator takes the last tendril of the Lincoln assassination and weaves it into a compelling, erudite, witty, and wise novel that should secure Max Byrd's place among the premier writers of historical fiction working today. Not to be missed!” —John Lescroart, New York Times–bestselling author of The Rule of Law and The Missing Piece “Taking us through the hideaways and haunts of European capitals in the mid-nineteenth century, this intriguing historical mystery . . . keeps us guessing right up to the last page. As in his highly acclaimed novels, Jefferson, Jackson, and Grant, Max Byrd tells the tale with witty and fast-paced writing that kept me turning pages— eager to know more about the “real” men and women of the era along with the fictional characters of his creation.” —Cokie Roberts, Emmy-winning political commentator and author of Capital Dames: The Civil War and the Women of Washington

Acclaimed historical novelist Max Byrd delivers a riveting account of America’s secret mission to track down the conspirators in Lincoln’s assassination. The Sixth Conspirator is both a fascinating spy story and irresistible love story. “From its brilliant and devastating opening scene to its surprising and breakneck conclusion, The Sixth Conspirator takes the last tendril of the Lincoln assassination and weaves it into a compelling, erudite, witty, and wise novel that should secure Max Byrd's place among the premier writers of historical fiction working today. Not to be missed!” —John Lescroart, bestselling author of The Thirteenth Juror and Betrayal The assassination of Abraham Lincoln set off a hysterical burst of international conspiracy theories, with all eyes turning first to Canada—once a hotbed of Confederate plots—and then, as evidence mounted, to the Catholic Church and Rome. Now from bestselling author, Max Byrd, comes a long forgotten true story: a confidential mission to track down and capture any Europeans (and fugitive Confederates) who may have aided John Wilkes Booth. Drawn from State Department archives and personal letters and diaries, The Sixth Conspirator recounts the dramatic journey of George H. Sharpe, General Ulysses S. Grant’s real-life spymaster, to three European capitals. Three people travel with him—calculating banker Daniel Keach, Sharpe’s Civil War protegé Quintus Oakes, and former Pinkerton agent Maggie Lawton. One step ahead of them is a mysterious Confederate courier, Sarah Slater, known during the war as “the Veiled Lady,” who may or may not have been Booth’s lover. Behind Sharpe’s team, breathing grimly over their shoulders, are Secretary of State William Seward, brutally mutilated by the knife of one of Booth’s henchmen, and the perversely vengeful, guilt-ridden Secretary of War Edwin Stanton. Along the way Byrd creates a panorama of wonderfully-realized characters, great and small, fictional and real. In deeply researched, fascinating historical detail, he carries us back to another reality—the far away mid-nineteenth century world from which our America slowly emerged. “Taking us through the hideaways and haunts of European capitals in the mid-nineteenth century, this intriguing historical mystery –the search for Lincoln’s “Sixth Conspirator” -- keeps us guessing right up to the last page. As in his highly acclaimed novels, Jefferson, Jackson and Grant, Max Byrd tells the tale with witty and fast-paced writing that kept me turning pages--eager to know more about the “real” men and women of the era along with the fictional characters of his creation.”—Cokie Roberts, Emmy-winning political commentator and author of Capital Dames, The Civil War and the Women of Washington

The father of Communist Russia, Vladimir Ilych Lenin now seems to have emerged fully formed in the turbulent wake ofWorldWar I and the Russian Revolution. But Lenin's character was in fact forged much earlier, over the course of years spent in exile, constantly on the move, and in disguise. In Conspirator, Russian historian Helen Rappaport narrates the compelling story of Lenin's life and political activities in the years leading up to the revolution. As he scuttled between the glittering capital cities of Europe—from London and Munich to Vienna and Prague—Lenin found support among fellow émigrés and revolutionaries in the underground movement. He came to lead a ring of conspirators, many of whom would give their lives in service to his schemes. A riveting account of Lenin's little-known early life, Conspirator tracks in gripping detail the formation of one of the great revolutionaries of the twentieth century.

With all that has already been written about President Abraham Lincoln’s assassination, one of the little known stories is the case of the only successful conspirator, John Harrison Surratt, the son of Mary Surratt, who was hanged for her part in the crime. The Last Lincoln Conspirator is the true story of John Surratt, who became the most wanted man in America after the death of John Wilkes Booth’s and was the only conspirator to escape conviction. The capture and killing of Booth twelve days after he shot Lincoln and the fate of Booth’s other accomplices are familiar history. Four accomplices, including Surratt’s mother, were convicted and hanged, and four were jailed. John Surratt alone managed to evade capture for twenty months and, once put on trial, to evade prison. The first full-length treatment of Surratt’s escape, capture, and trial, this book provides fascinating details about his flight through Canada, England, France, the Papal States, and eventual capture in Egypt. Surratt’s desperate journey and the bitter legal proceedings against him that bizarrely led to his freedom hold the reader’s attention from first to last page.

Texas Rules of Evidence Manual provides an updated comprehensive reference to Texas evidence for both civil and criminal cases. The book provides a rule-by-rule analysis of each Rule of Evidence. This sturdy hard-cover text is designed for heavy use in the courtroom. This text helps those who are bound to use the Texas Rules of Evidence, whether it is the bench or the bar or those studying evidence. While the text contains some academic discussions, the book is designed to explain what a particular Rule requires or prohibits, to indicate what the appellate courts have said about the Rules, and to offer some practical pointers on using the Rules. The book itself has been designed to make it as useful as possible to the harried judge, counsel, and student who must quickly find the "law." Following each Rule is an editorial commentary on the Rule explaining how the Rule works, what the Texas courts have said about the Rule, and how it compares with the Federal Rule, because Texas courts often review federal precedent where they find it helpful in applying a Texas Rule. When appropriate, practical pointers are also provided on how to use the Rule. Where the Rules apply in the same fashion for both civil and criminal cases, those points are discussed together. On the other hand, where they diverge, the authors have used separate headings for "Civil" and "Criminal" when that seems appropriate. One of the objectives of the Editorial Analysis in this text is to deal with the interrelationships of the various Rules. The authors have noted those areas where the Rules differ from pre-Rules case law or statutory provisions. Some of the Rules changed the prior Texas evidence law and, althoughmany of the Texas Rules agree with the Federal Rules, a number differ significantly.