Michael J. O’Neal Publishes Crazy Bett, a Novel about Civil War Espionage

May 2, 2009 - PRLog -- The shady world of Civil War espionage comes to life in Idaho author Michael J. O’Neal’s recently published novel, Crazy Bett. Based on historical events, it tells the story of Elizabeth Van Lew, who spied for the Union while living in the Confederate capital of Richmond, Virginia—and got away with it by posing as a madwoman, as “Crazy Bett.”

“The novel has something for everyone,” says O’Neal. “There’s spying, secret codes, intrigue, action, comedy, and a bit of a love story. Elizabeth Van Lew was a colorful woman of enormous courage and conviction. She and her underground network played a key role in bringing the Civil War to a close.”

Vital war intelligence flows into Crazy Bett’s Richmond mansion—and out in coded messages secreted in bodices or the boots of couriers. Aiding her are a clerk she’s placed in the brutal Libby Prison, where Union prisoners of war are held, and African American Union loyalists, including an ex-slave who works undercover as a servant in the Jefferson Davis White House.

Through the efforts of Crazy Bett and her network, Union prisoners make a dramatic escape to safety—but not before one, the rakish Captain Harry Howard, loses his footing to Josey Holmes, one of Crazy Bett’s associates. As the war descends into a street brawl, plots and counterplots threaten to ignite antiwar revolution in the North. Under Crazy Bett’s guiding hand, and despite her own grave doubts about the wisdom of her actions, characters adopt disguises or pose as double agents to thwart conspiracy—including a plot to kidnap Abraham Lincoln.

Michael J. O’Neal, a graduate of Bowling Green State University in Ohio, lives in Moscow, Idaho, where he writes a regular editorial column for the Moscow-Pullman Daily News and has published widely on historical topics. His inspiration for writing Crazy Bett was in part the life of his ancestor, “Rebel Rosie” O’Neal, a Confederate spy who operated out of Washington, D.C.

Readers can purchase the book at http://www.crazybett.com (or on Amazon). It can also be downloaded (or sampled) as an e-book at http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/609.

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A novel that takes the reader into the rollicking world of Civil War espionage, featuring intrigue, action, comedy, secret codes, and a bit of a love story.