A Court for Owls [Hardcover]

Richard Adicks (Author)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Adicks's debut novel set during and after the Civil War has all the ingredients of a first-rate historical thriller, yet never rises above a stale and flavorless sketch. Much of the problem stems from Adick's flat journalistic account of the events of the war and his inability to dramatize the story's conflicts. The protagonist, Lewis Powell, was the mysterious young man who assaulted Secretary of State William Seward on the night Lincoln was assassinated, and who was accused of complicity in the latter event. Not long after Lewis joins the Florida Jasper Blues in the heady early days of the Confederacy, he has a fateful encounter with John Wilkes Booth and is drawn into a plot to kidnap Lincoln. As portrayed by Adicks, Booth is so absurd and histrionic that his ability to mesmerize Lewis is scarcely credible. Lewis rides though the South creating havoc among the northern troops, visits a variety of whorehouses, is wounded at Gettysburg and conducts ill-fated romances with local belles. While Booth succeeds in ending Lincoln's life, Lewis bungles the attempt to murder Seward in a scene of unusual dullness. In fizzling succession, Lewis is captured, tried and executed and this lackluster novel mercifully comes to an end.
Copyright 1989 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal

The details of the assassination of Lincoln by John Wilkes Booth are widely known, but many are unaware that eight co-conspirators were tried and four, including one woman, were hanged for their parts in the crime. This novel traces one of these from his induction into the Confederate Army until his execution in Washington in July 1865. The author chose fiction as his vehicle because so few details of Lewis Powell's life are known; however, his style remains that of a historian rather than a novelist. The fanatical charisma of Booth is well portrayed, as he leads his supporters into increasingly rash acts in a city occupied by supporters of both sides of the conflict. The book's primary appeal will be to readers of a historical bent.
- Marcia R. Hoffman, M.L.S., Hoechst Celanese Corp., Somerville, N.J.
Copyright 1989 Reed Business Information, Inc.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 269 pages
• Publisher: Pineapple Press; 1st edition (September 1, 1989)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0910923655
• ISBN-13: 978-0910923651
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 5.9 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,839,061 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars A decent attempt to bring the mysterious Powell to life, December 31, 2006

By 

Morganalee (Eastern Seaboard, USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: A Court for Owls (Hardcover)

I wouldn't describe myself as a devotee of the conspiracy to assassinate Lincoln, but I have read a fair number of nonfiction books on the topic, and in one of them I was arrested by a photograph of Lewis Powell (alias "Paine"), as he appeared on the military ship after his capture. Described in more than one book as a "muscular giant" who was a muscle-headed tool of John Wilkes Booth, he was also, as his photograph shows, a true physical beauty, and I was struck by the waste, knowing he would die on the gallows before he was twenty-one. So I began to look for more about him, and there isn't much. This novel is the only fiction treatment of his life I have found, and I would describe it as not bad, though not fully successful. The author doesn't shy from depicting Powell's documented brutality and unpredictable temper, though he also shows him as tender and capable of love, not the robotlike sociopath that the Powell of history seems to have been. His depiction of Booth is less satisfactory; I haven't read a single novel that managed to capture in any degree the spell Booth cast over those in his orbit, and this novel is no better than any other in that regard. But the author's portrait of Powell has its moments; the final passage, as Powell's mother recalls him as a baby, is poignant. At least for history buffs with a particular interest in the Lincoln conspiracy, this novel is worth a read.