This book is good. It just bothers me that Bill O'Reilly's name is on it. I wonder how much was actually written by him. Very informative and interesting. I had forgotten a lot of my Civil War history and I will say that it has sparked an interest for me. I would probably rate this 3 1/2 stars.

Admittedly, I did not know much at all about the assassination of Abraham Lincoln. If asked, I could probably mention he was shot by John Wilkes Booth in a theater. Beyond that, I'd have very little to say. Being a Chicagoan, particularly, I SHOULD know more.
From those who have read it before me, I heard rave reviews. Honestly, though, I struggled through the first half of the book. Maybe it is war strategy, logistics, or geographical references that made it tough for me, but after completing the book I do understand why all of that was essential. But, when it started to walk through the thought processes of Booth I was hooked. It was very obvious that these authors did their homework. Every thought was fleshed out and every theory addressed.
Couple of other thoughts: It does not matter anyone's opinion of Bill O'Reilly. This book was well written, thorough and entertaining. I want to know your opinion of the book, not O'Reilly. Second, O'Reilly is known for his "word of the day." At times I felt this book was a place where he could finally use a lot of his material. It seemed most present in the beginning but I grew tired of it at times. Finally, the great amount of detail in this book is sometimes exhausting. Everything from the color of a garment to the number of horses available for rent. I don't mind knowing the details if they have significance to the story. Sometimes they did not.
Would I recommend it? Absolutely.

Really enjoyed and learned a lot

I believe even young school children know that Abraham Lincoln was assassinated. It was a pivotal event in the history of our country. In listening to this audio book I was surprised at how much I did not know. I had the benefit of having visited Ford's Theater and the museum there so I had some knowledge of the event, but I appreciated the refresher and new knowledge that I gained. The author does a wonderful job of giving the full picture. That said, the author also mentions some other possible conspiracies that were never proven. Perhaps it is safer to say that we'll never know everything. I was sucked right into the story and enjoyed all of it.

This book was my audio book choice in August. The actual book has sat on my shelf for a couple of years and somehow I never got to it. I am not sure why as I have looked forward to reading it since I bought it. It was highly recommended by a number of people. I'm sad it took so long. I would have loved to have read this book before visiting Ford's Theater in Washington D.C. It was a perfect companion to another Civil War book I just listened to about the friendship between Grant and Sherman. The Civil War is a very fascinating time in history.

It is so unfortunate that Lincoln was assassinated. I wonder how different our world would be if he had lived. He had such great plans for reunification. What an incredible individual. I certainly came to admire Abraham Lincoln even more.

I enjoyed this book much more than I did "Killing Kennedy". My only complaint is that there is often times superfluous information and then numerous other times where I thought to myself, "Wait, I didn't know that happened?!" But there was such limited information given that I had to go out on my own to research more. I'm fine with researching for myself, but the quality and type of information given sometimes fell short.

better than reading a history book.

I listened to this on audio. The first part of the book is the history leading up to the assassination. Good background information.

O'Reilly warned that this story will read like a thriller. Partly because he reads it, it sounded more like a boring history lecture. Even so, I was very much engaged. Bits and pieces of the assassination plot were never taught. I appreciated the summary of the last days of the war. The possibility that Secretary Stanton was involved in the conspiracy was intriguing. The flamboyant exploits of the detective Lafayette Baker sounded like fiction. I even appreciated the long-winded afterward. It was nice to have a few of the loose ends tied up.

O'Reilly does a great job with the way he lays out the days before the assassination. It is a very colorful description of the 12 days before Lincoln can no longer heal the torn nation. Any history buff should read this book. O'Reilly was a history teacher before he became a talking head and it shows, Go Bill!