ACT OF OBLIVION

This gripping historical thriller reimagines the manhunt of two killers of an English king.

In 1660, two fugitives arrive in New England. Years earlier, they had helped plot the trial and execution of King Charles I on charges of high treason. Oliver Cromwell had subsequently taken power as Lord Protector, but now he and most of the regicides have been tracked down and executed, and a new king is on the throne. The remaining fugitives are Col. Edward Whalley and his son-in-law Col. William Goffe, and Richard Nayler’s job is to hunt them down. Nayler, says the author, is the only important fictional character in the book, and his obsession with the hunt drives the story. This is an era when all misfortune is put down to God's will, and folks clearly believe in a vengeful creator. England suffers plague, war with the Dutch, famine, and a horrible fire in London almost contemporaneously—surely they are the four horsemen foretold in the book of Revelation. Condemned prisoners who are lucky are merely beheaded—the unlucky are subjected to deaths so ghastly that it takes 11 lines to describe. Think red-hot tongs. And if you think escaping to America is easy, remember that red worms infest the ship’s biscuits—and just try to ignore the slop and slime and stink you'll be slipping and sliding in. Nayler is relentless in tracking down the traitors to his beloved king—are they still in England? In France? In New England? He is clever in finding clues that finally point him in the right direction. Meanwhile, Whalley and Goffe are separated from their families across the ocean. Will they ever be able to see them again? Or will Nayler find both men and kill them? The deeply researched story is the author's brilliant reimagining of real historical events, with sympathetic characters and a compelling plot.

Thoroughly enjoyable with some cringeworthy descriptions. Readers will not pine for days of yore.