Orry had been in heavy fighting for nearly three hours and had thought himself numb to the sights of violent death. It was mid-afternoon, the twentieth of August. The concussion nearly knocked him over…To his left, a geyser shot up from the wet field, lifting cornstalks and bloody heads and limbs with it.

He cringed as he awaited the explosion of the shell. The Mexican gunners in the convent of San Mateo had found the range…Sword in his left hand, pistol in his right, Orry crouched in the marshy cornfield beside the road. “A shell whined in over the highroad to Churubusco. If you like historical novels, I highly recommend this book.ĭavid Putnam author of the Bruno Johnson novels. For me this is a true mark of a great story. The characters are so well drawn I find myself still thinking about them after I finished the book. That's how the Civil War started with hate and giving no quarter. How both sides are so polarized no one wants to take a step back, take a breath and even attempt to meet halfway. Oddly, I couldn't help but see some of the same things in politics happening today that happened back then. Both sides were well balanced without the author taking a position. What I found most intriguing about this story was the run up to the civil war and how I was given a large dose of history I was unaware of through the eyes of the characters, families on both sides of the conflict. The cover at the time did not depict the seriousness of the book. I think the cover might have had something to do with it. I don't know how I missed this book back when it came out. The style is third person omniscient which usually I don't prefer, but Jakes pulled it off. The length of this book though was like reading three other books and put me farther behind on my TBR pile. It might be that historical novels have a broader canvas and leaves more room for the author to make his/her mark on memory. That's not to say I don't read extensively in mystery/thriller because I do. Historical novels seem to be my favorite all time reads even though I write thrillers. I really enjoyed this book and already purchased the other two in the trilogy.

North and south novel john jakes