2009 book 20

Dara Horn's All Other Nights
I loved Dara Horn's last novel, but I guess it was a little too esoteric to get a lot of widespread acclaim. I think this one might do a little better--it's kind of a Civil War epic, focusing on a young Jewish man who ends up becoming a spy for the Union. His first task is to thwart a Lincoln assassination plot--his second, to infiltrate a Confederate spy ring by marrying its ringleader. Totally awesome and exciting. Horn clearly did some research and even unearthed facts I've never heard before--like that Grant expelled Jews from the Tennessee Territories (Tennessee, Kentucky, and Mississippi). What a jerkward! Anyway, this book was great. A.