The Sherman Letter

Lenny Palmer's book, "The Sherman Letter", is outstanding in its ability to both tell a story and paint a picture of what is happening. There have been many stories which have gone back and forth between the past and present day, but Lenny is very creative in the way he takes the two time periods and works them together. The reader is treated to two separate stories that, although many years apart, come together perfectly. In one story, we are provided with a tale of how the outcome of the Civil War could have been entirely different if certain circumstances occurred. To illustrate these circumstances, Palmer artfully crafts a situation involving a soldier who discovers letters written by General Sherman which, if allowed to be discovered, could alter the course of the war. Instead of just treating the reader to only what was contained in the letters, Palmer creates a storyline involving the soldier that is very intriguing and works beautifully into what is happening in the present. That present time period has the reader follow an old "throwback" type of reporter who is trying to find answers about himself as well as those involving the death of a local historian. The story presents several candidates as to who could have committed the murder and Palmer very keenly presents plausible motives and situations that keep the reader wondering who did it. What also makes this read a good one is Palmer's ability to describe the characters and scenes so vividly that they come right off the page. Palmer manages to clearly paint a picture in the reader's mind of what is going on. His descriptive words put one right in the middle of a scene. His flashbacks are extremely effective and never does the story come off track as it marches back and forth in time. This is an excellent read and makes me very interested in reading more from this author.