Assassin of shadows : a novel
(Book)

After 4 p.m. on September 6, 1901, 28-year-old anarchist Leon Czolgosz pumps two shots into the chest and abdomen of President William McKinley. Czolgosz had been on a receiving line waiting to shake the president's hand, his revolver concealed in an oversized bandage covering his right hand and wrist. After he is apprehended, Czolgosz says simply, "I done my duty." Both law enforcement and the press insist Czolgosz is merely the tip of a vast and murderous conspiracy, likely instigated by the "high priestess of anarchy," Emma Goldman. To untangle its threads and bring the remaining conspirators to justice, the president's most senior advisors choose two Secret Service agents, Walter George and Harry Swayne. What they uncover will not only absolve the anarchists but also expose a plot which will threaten the foundations of American democracyand likely cost them their lives.