It is not possible for Robert Harris to write a bad novel, but this one falls into the second tier of his oeuvre. Set largely in New England during the second half of the 17th century, Act of Oblivion focuses on a manhunt for two Englishmen who took part in the execution of King Charles I. There is a lot of hiding and waiting, scrounging for food, then more hiding and waiting, together with a gloss of inquiry into the merits of the Cavaliers versus the Roundheads. Harris's Cicero trilogy was able to combine dramatic sweep with philosophical depth; this one has little of either.
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