No Certain Rest

June 24, 2002
In his 13th novel, PBS NewsHour
anchor Lehrer delivers a clever forensic mystery. This effort does not quite pack the emotional and dramatic wallop of his last book, The Special Prisoner, but it does raise powerful questions about the ethics of whitewashing historical truths. Dr. Don Spaniel is an archeologist with the National Park Service. He is puzzled by an unusual grave discovered at the Civil War battlefield in Antietam,, Md., site of the single bloodiest day of fighting in America's military history. The skeletal remains of a Union officer reveal that the victim had been executed. While trying to identify the dead officer, Spaniel learns that the name on his I.D. tag is that of a man buried as a local hero back in his Connecticut hometown after the war. Who, then, is this unfortunate soul, and why was he wearing another man's identity tag? And why was he murdered? As Spaniel uses sophisticated, high-tech forensic equipment and procedures in his investigation, a 100-year-old written confession surfaces in an Iowa historical archive, and Spaniel suddenly realizes the magnitude of the mystery. What he doesn't grasp, however, is that the descendants of the Civil War veterans are just as passionate about honor today as their great-great-grandfathers were in 1862. Spaniel's professional fervor, and his ultimate decision about whether to disclose the truth, could have unintended, tragic results. Lehrer's style is fluid and fast moving; he skillfully develops suspense surrounding a compelling ethical dilemma. Agent, Tim Seldes.

April 1, 2002
Lehrer has done very well, thank you, as anchor and director of PBS's NewsHour with Jim Lehrer and as the author of several successful novels. Still, the publisher hopes that this is his breakout work. Lehrer's protagonist is Dan Spaniel, a Parks Department archaeologist who becomes obsessed with identifying a Union officer found in an unmarked grave at Antietam. Here's the rub: the man was clearly murdered.

Copyright 2002 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

July 1, 2002
Journalist Lehrer's thirteenth novel is an almost painfully earnest and well-researched Civil War story, but its lack of dramatic momentum makes it read more like a history term paper. Dr. Don Spaniel, an archaeologist with the National Park Service in Washington, D.C., is called to examine and identify some human remains discovered near the site of the Battle of Antietam. The body is determined to be that of a Union officer, apparently buried face down, with a bullet hole through the back of his skull. The whole story comes out through Don's diligent research and through a confessional letter from a soldier who fought in the bloody battle. His version of the events that turned an old friendship sour on that fateful day deviate sharply from the history books, and the revelations do not sit well with the living ancestors of the men involved. Unfortunately, Don is a cardboard cutout of a protagonist--asides that are meant to develop his character go nowhere--and the present-day consequences of the story are too much of an afterthought. Lehrer's name will undoubtedly create demand for this one, but only the most obsessed Civil War junkies are likely to stick with it.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2002, American Library Association.)