Welcome to Street Prophets Sunday Coffee Hour. This is an open thread so grab something to drink and sit a spell and let us know what is new with you. I recently discovered a new, at least to me, author named David O. Stewart. He is a prolific author and writes many books on historical figures. It is his Fraser and Cook Historical Novels that I want to talk about.
Jaime Fraser is a doctor from Ohio living at the beginning of the twentieth century and Speed Cook is the last black man to play baseball in the big leagues. There are three books in the series.
The Lincoln Deception takes place in 1900 when their are still people who were alive from the time of Lincoln's assassination. A former Congressman tells Dr. Fraser that he was told a secret at the time he was one of the prosecutors against the co-conpirators of John Wilkes Booth.
What makes the book so interesting is that there might have been a conspiracy to kill Lincoln and that Booth wasn't acting alone. There is a definite logic to the theory as it is presented. Whether it could be true or just a great imagination by the author is up to the reader.
The second book is The Paris Deception. This book takes place at the end of World War I and during the deadly Spanish influenza. What I found most interesting about the book is the depiction of President Woodrow Wilson. No relation. Wilson isn't covered as much as some Presidents but served at a critical point in history. What happened in the peace talks at the end of World War I helped set the stage for World War II.
The third book is The Babe Ruth Deception. This book takes place in 1920. This was an era of wide spread corruption. There were rumors of games and series being fixed. The cocky, talented and somewhat naive Babe Ruth was an upcoming star in that era.
The books of course delve into the personal lives and families of the main characters. It is a glimpse of a time past that doesn't get explored that often.
I enjoyed these books and would recommend them. Let me know if you would like me to review more novels. In this hectic life I find that reading novels helps keep me sane.