Call Each River Jordan
Third in Parry’s excellent series (after Shadows of Glory), this mystery will only serve to increase the author’s reputation as one of the best historical fiction writers today. Abel Jones is asked to investigate an atrocity that had taken place at Shiloh: forty escaped Negro slaves were slaughtered. General Grant needs to make sure that the responsible person is brought to justice before the newspapers get hold of the story. General Beauregard, on the Southern side, also must discover the killers before possible allies in Europe are made to believe that the South caused or countenanced the murders.
As usual, Parry’s descriptions of the battles, his depiction of the characters’ motivations and beliefs, and his unflinching descriptions of horrible actions are true to the time and place. Some of this makes for hard reading, but the character of the protagonist makes the exercise possible. Abel Jones is no saint, as his remembrances of his past actions in India make clear. He is now, however, a changed man whose strong faith and unswerving sense of duty ensure that justice will be served.
This book is highly recommended to all readers who have enjoyed the military fiction of Bernard Cornwell. However, this book can also be recommended to readers who are interested in the cultural and social background against which the American Civil War was fought.
