On Secret Service

“
On Secret Service
draws you back into the Civil War and the wrenching days preceding Abraham Lincoln's assassination. The factual details are simply astonishing: You walk the muddy streets, smell the acrid smoke of battlefields, and experience firsthand the inner workings of a vast conspiracy.”

—Patricia Cornwell

“The author saves the best for last in dealing with Lincoln's assassination, bringing the drama to life by giving each of his protagonists a crucial role as the conspiracy unfolds with expert pacing and suspense. Jakes uncovers the little-known history of espionage and counterespionage during the War Between the States with his signature combination of meticulous research and epic narrative.”

—
Publishers Weekly

“Gripping, exciting, and historically accurate…a very good book.”

—
Library Journal

“An absorbing study of how human affairs stubbornly fall outside the simplistic categories of ‘right' and ‘wrong.'”

—
Kirkus Reviews

“John Jakes has written another fine historical novel about his favorite period—The Civil War…. Jakes is a wonderful storyteller, mixing fiction with fact and capturing the feel and flavor of that turbulent time.”

—
The Sunday Oklahoman

“Perhaps no author has made popularized American history more his own province than John Jakes…. [He] does the invaluable service of any historical writer in transforming history's dusty pages into a living account. An excellent job of conveying the horror of that war now dimmed by the passage of the years.”

—
Florida Times-Union

“[Jakes] gets the big story right, while writing in a clear style, keeping the narrative moving briskly from cliff-hanger to cliff-hanger, serving up portions of steamy sex in between, and offering us plenty of heroes and heroines to admire and several villains to hate. Even a deep-dyed Civil War buff…will find himself turning the pages to see what happens next.”

—
Civil War Book Review

Homeland

“First-rate…chock-full of fascinating period detail…brings to life the sounds, smells, and tastes of turn-of-the-century America in a manner comparable to Michener's
Hawaii
and Doctorow's
Ragtime
. An absolute must.”

—
Publishers Weekly

“This intelligently written novel, full of colorful characters, moves swiftly along, vividly resurrecting the America of the 1890's. Quite simply,
Homeland
is John Jakes's best work.”

—
The Philadelphia Inquirer

“A powerful tour de force, a rich, sweeping story of America as only Jakes can tell it…
Homeland
, interspersed with real characters such as Teddy Roosevelt, Black Jack Pershing, and Jane Addams, is a marvelous blend of fact and fiction, the stuff of great historical novels. Another winner from an old pro.”

—Nelson DeMille

American Dreams

“Jakes has a grand old time spinning his yarns…. He mixes his fictional offspring with the likes of Charlie Chaplin and Mary Pickford, making us feel as if we too have brushed our shoulders with celebrity.”

—
The Blade
(Toledo)

“Realistic detail and period color galore keep this swift-moving story grounded…as the automobile and WWI arrive to shake the republic out of its golden idyll.”

—
Kirkus Reviews

“Historical fiction at its finest, as only John Jakes can tell it.”

—
Wheaton Gazette

“A worthy successor to
Homeland
.”

—
Columbia State
(SC)

North and South

“In the history of U.S. book publishing, there's never been a success story quite like that of John Jakes.”

—
The New York Times

“A panoramic, populous…lusty trek through the pages of American history…thick as a brick with period detail drawn from extensive research.”

—
San Francisco Chronicle

Love and War

“A feisty assortment of fictional heroes and heroines.”

—
People

“Massive, lusty, highly readable…. In delicious detail are the wicked and tawdry doings of a memorable cast of characters…. A graphic, fast-paced amalgam of good, evil, love, lust, war, violence, and Americana.”

—
The Washington Post Book World

Heaven and Hell

“Remarkably vivid.”

—
Los Angeles Times

“He shows you George Armstrong Custer, Andrew Johnson, Buffalo Bill Cody, and a vast array of historical figures whose contending ambitions control the events…but he also shows you what people wore, what they read, and what they drank and ate…. What you get is the feeling that this is life. That's art.”

—
Chicago Sun-Times

A SIGNET BOOK

SIGNET
Published by New American Library, a division of
Penguin Putnam Inc., 375 Hudson Street,
New York, New York 10014, U.S.A.
Penguin Books Ltd, 27 Wrights Lane,
London W8 5TZ, England
Penguin Books Australia Ltd, Ringwood,
Victoria, Australia
Penguin Books Canada Ltd, 10 Alcorn Avenue,
Toronto, Ontario, Canada M4V 3B2
Penguin Books (N.Z.) Ltd, 182–190 Wairau Road,
Auckland 10, New Zealand

Penguin Books Ltd, Registered Offices:
Harmondsworth, Middlesex, England

Published by Signet, an imprint of New American Library,
a division of Penguin Putnam Inc.
Previously published in a Dutton edition.

Copyright © John Jakes, 2000
All rights reserved

ISBN: 978-1-1012-0934-9

     
REGISTERED TRADEMARK
—
MARCA REGISTRADA

Printed in the United States of America

Without limiting the rights under copyright reserved above, no part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in or introduced into a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form, or by any means (electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise), without the prior written permission of both the copyright owner and the above publisher of this book.

PUBLISHER'S NOTE
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of the author's imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events, or locales, is entirely coincidental.

BOOKS ARE AVAILABLE AT QUANTITY DISCOUNTS WHEN USED TO PROMOTE PRODUCTS OR SERVICES. FOR INFORMATION PLEASE WRITE TO PREMIUM MARKETING DIVISION, PENGUIN PUTNAM INC
., 375
HUDSON STREET, NEW YORK, NEW YORK
10014.

This is for
my friend and colleague
Evan Hunter