Perish from the Earth

The Lincoln and Speed Mysteries, Book 2

By: Jonathan F. Putnam

Narrated by: Lloyd James

Newly minted trial lawyer Abraham Lincoln is riding the circuit, traveling by carriage with other lawyers and a judge to bring justice to the remote parts of Illinois. Meanwhile, Lincoln's close friend, Joshua Speed, is steaming up the Mississippi River, aboard a steamboat owned by Speed's father, when suddenly his journey is interrupted when a rigged card game aboard the ship turns to violence - and then murder.

When a young traveling artist is accused of the crime, Speed enlists Lincoln to defend him. Together, Lincoln and Speed work to find evidence of the artist's innocence. But soon they come to discover that more than just the card games are crooked aboard the Speed family's ship. As the day of judgment hurtles toward them, Lincoln and Speed must fight to save not only the life of Lincoln's client but also the merit of Speed's good name.

Meticulously research and deftly plotted, Jonathan F. Putnam's second Lincoln and Speed mystery, Perish from the Earth, is the superlative follow-up to These Honored Dead, praised by Pulitzer Prize winner Doris Kearns Goodwin as "splendid...one of the most enjoyable works of fiction I have read in a long time".

©2017 Jonathan F. Putnam (P)2017 Blackstone Audio, Inc.

Another good title in this series

I LOVE this series! I took one star away just because some of the subject matter/events were so vile and gross to me. It is true to the harsh realities of that time though that Abraham Lincoln saw and was hoping and working to eradicate from this country.

Lincoln as a young lawyer...fascinating read!

Gripping mystery and interesting to know it is based in historical fact. Enjoyed seeing Lincoln as a young man. A must read. Can’t wait to start the next book!
Putnam is a gifted writer weaving a story full of intricate details!
The Narrator does an excellent job as well.

Love me some Abe Lincoln

Jonathan Putnam does a great job bringing Honest Abe and Joshua Speed's history to Life. This is the second book of his that I've read, as this is Book Two in the series (These Honored Dead being the first), and this one was masterful in its historical background, but a little... I don't know if it was just harder to follow or if the storyline was a little more boring for me. Don't get me wrong. I sat a little longer in the car just to listen to this one, just like the first one, but I enjoyed this one a little less. Of the two, I prefer the first one. It gave me high hopes for this one and I was a little let down, I guess. This book was still WELL worth the credit to listen to it!

With that, here is my rehash of the story (no major spoilers).
Once again, Joshua Speed is the narrator of this story, and he's still a bedmate with Abe Lincoln, attorney at law. Sister Martha is also along for the ride. (Lloyd James is amazing at his ability to do various voices, though his women tend to all sound the same 😂, and occasionally he was confused about which character he was voicing) This murder takes place on a steamboat owned by Speed's father (family conflict!) after a rigged card game goes south. Speed gets Lincoln involved to save face for his father - and to save the captain of his father's steamboat, who is the accused, because a steamboat without a captain is of no use! Lincoln digs around and discovers the steamboat is being used to help slaves secretly escape to freedom. ACK! Now he's REALLY got to buckle down, because he's passionate about that, but others feel differently, so...CONFLICT.

Then there's the trial. By this time, Lincoln had been working the circuit and had much more trial work under his belt than in the first book. There is a huge surprise at the trial, then it all gets wrapped up with the

At the end of the book, all the true historical facts are given and we find out what we know really happened and what was added as filler to round the story out. It's super interesting that this murder trial was one of the BIG murder trials of the 1800s, a real infamous crime, and actually played a major part in the Civil War. I'm willing to bet that pretty much no one knows about it today.

Great story, great performance

I've never heard Lincoln speak but I imagine it must sound like this narrator! Great story! Well done!

Exceptional historical fiction!

Learned some fascinating history that I googled. Love the plot, characters, humor & splendid narration!!

Historical Fiction done well

The Narrator is great!
If you’re like me the inflection and tone of a narrator can stop a great book in its tracks if my ears don’t like what I hear. Which is a bummer if the book is a good tale! This thankfully was. It the case- the character voices are perfectly done and the narration is soothing.
Content was good although the storyline in the beginning was a bit slow and uninteresting, it’s still well written and important to the overall story. This is the second book in the series I’ve enjoyed- I did enjoy the first book a tad more though, as it was a bit more riveting.
The author has a talent for weaving in historical figures and events in a tactful way while holding true to historical accuracy. Good book. Great narration! So far, an exciting series!

Great Glimpse Into Lincoln the Man and the Lawyer

I listened to Perish from the Earth out of sequence, but its still excellent. It fleshes out the personality, determination and spirit of a simple man, Abraham Lincoln, who became our 16th president. His friend, Joshua Speed, is a great partner for the young Lincoln lawyer. Speed is trying to figure out why his father's steamboat which is hauling cargo up and down the Mississippi River is not making money. Aboard the ship, Speed witnesses a young man who loses all his money to a gambler. The story takes many twists and turns and gloriously describes the climate and difference of opinions held by the citizens of the day who either supported or adamantly abhored the buying, selling and owning of slaves. Its interesting to listen to the dialog, and hear the legal defenses used at the time. This tale begins slowly and ramps up more and more as it progresses. The conclusion was WAY better than I expected. Now I'm going to go back and listen to the other three in the series. BRAVO!

Great!

Great stories with lots of history. It's a period piece so references to slavery are pretty uncomfortable at times.

I really enjoy these books!

A bit slow but satisfying

As an attorney, I enjoyed this book. It got a bit cumbersome at points, maybe due to trying to stay believable. Main character development was good, but could have delved deeper, I think? Some plot twists at the end a bit contrived or predictable, but others very refreshing. A good read.

Good history

But twice in this book the author referred to “jeans” which I understood were not invented till quite a bit later. Still, a riveting story with much historical value.