Shades of Death
This second book in Bailey’s Gauntlet Runner series follows the lives of Jacob and Maggie Murray, who have been torn apart by the ravages of the French and Indian War. The plot is excellent, the historical details accurate, the terrain well-described, the pace adequate, and the blatant stupidity of the British military well-portrayed.
Some of the frustrations of the first volume continue in the second: e.g., a series of events the author has gradually and nicely developed over many pages is often disrupted by the insertion of a totally inappropriate bit of dialogue or some behaviour that would be unbelievable as performed by its particular character. The less readers are familiar with the specific logistics of backwoods warfare and survival, the more likely they’ll be to enjoy those aspects of this book.
