This is a historic thriller by the author of Fatherland, Pompeii, and The Ghost. It tells of the manhunt for the various escapees from justice- particularly two colonels who managed to cross the Atlantic and settle in the fledgling American state.
Colonel Edward Whalley and his son-in-law Colonel William Goffe have managed to flee Europe on a ship bound for the new world. In London, Richard Naylor, Secretary to the regicide committee of the Privy Council has made it his mission to track them down.
In the foreword, Harris admits that Richard Naylor is a completely fictitious character, something that renders much of the book similarly based totally on Harris's imagination. That's just an observation not a criticism. This is, as he says in the foreword, a fictionalised account of their escape and the hunt. the main historic events are all as accurate as they need to be.
I did find myself wondering why the two colonels still had their English army tunics so many years into their exile. It would have made much more sense after the arrest warrants were publicised across the Atlantic for them to simply take on new identities and merge into a new township where they weren't known. Instead they're still hiding in cellars and effectively prisoners wearing their increasingly old and presumably threadbare uniforms.
The middle section of this book was most effective, while the chase was still on and Naylor had tracked them to the New World. The last third was still good, but I was starting to doubt any of the details about the two colonels. The section dealing with the plague and Great Fire in London was a particular highlight of the book.
Overall, this kept me reading and interested. It's a solid read. I'm not sure it's a classic of any sort, but I'm glad I read it.
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