No Certain Rest: A Novel

By Jim Lehrer

BONUS: This edition contains an excerpt from Jim Lehrer's Tension City.

On a ridge overlooking Burnside Bridge—the focus of the Battle of Antietam—souvenir hunters find the unmarked grave of an unknown Union officer.

Don Spaniel, an archeologist in the National Park Service, is called in to examine the remains. He soon discovers that the officer was murdered and that his identification disk could not possibly belong to him, since its rightful owner is buried elsewhere. So who was this officer? Where did he come from? And why was he killed?

Spaniel’ s obsessive investigation leads not only to his reliving the horrible carnage that occurred at Burnside Bridge over a century before, but to the true identity of the Union officer and the reason why another body resides in his grave in a small New England town.

In a swift narrative deftly combining the past with the present, Jim Lehrer has created an engrossing story that will appeal to a wide variety of readers.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Random House Publishing Group
• Release date: Aug 20, 2002
• ISBN: 9781588362636

Reviews for No Certain Rest

[featherby-1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Entertaining read--it's modern mystery with historical ties to the battle of Antietam. The family connections are a poorly devised plot tool (towards the end of the story), but it's still fun for a quick, mindless beach or traveling read.

[marthahuntley · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

This was a selection of a book discussion group I belong to, and from its reviews and ratings, I didn't think I would like it. But I actually enjoyed the read. True, Lehrer isn't a very good novelist, if this is a typical novel of his, but I enjoyed the history, the mystery, the CSI parts, and that it was about both the Civil War and how history resonates down the decades and centuries. The others in our book group liked it less than I did, and they liked neither the protagonist, National Park Service archeologist Don Spaniel, nor the ending. But I found the account of the work of government historians and archeologists very interesting.

[nyiper · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

I was finally curious to read one of his novels after watching The NewsHour for many years. I think this was a good place for me to start---he DOES have quite an imagination but he puts it in a context that he can thoroughly research. It was a good "story"---quite readable and with a good mystery quality. I need to try some more Jim Lehrer novels.

[booknutzz_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I liked this. It was short and could have been more fleshed out but interesting none the less. This was the first of Lehrer's I've read and I did enjoy it. It begins with the find of a Civil war grave complete with a full , unusual in itself. The author takes you through the process of finding out why and how this particular officer ending up buried there. It's also a journey by one particular Park Service archeologist who becomes almost obsessed in finding out all the why's and wherefores and whether the truth he finds be released or hidden again.

[mzonderm · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Now I know why Jim Lehrer hasn't quit his day job! Alas, I just wasn't impressed with this book, although I really wanted to be. The premise is that the skeleton of a Civil War soldier is found buried on previously unexplored land bordering the battlefield at Antietam. The National Park Service is called in, and the hunt begins to find the identity of the remains, and why they were buried in such a peculiar way (facedown) and so far from the rest of the carnage. Our sleuth is an archaeologist from NPS who becomes determined to find out the truth of what happens. A perfectly good premise, yes. Unfortunately, explanation of what happened at Antietam, or why a character cares so much about it was strained, maudlin, and heavy-handed. The inclusion of a "love interest" for the main character is completely forced, not to mention unnecessary, as are the various mentions of a debate over reenactment. Overall, a disappointing book, although true Civil War buffs will probably enjoy it.