At Some Disputed Barricade

At Some Disputed Barricade by Anne Perry is the fourth book in her World War I series. The story features the Reavely siblings: Joseph, a chaplain with the troops in France; Matthew, working with Britain's Secret Service, Judith, an ambulance driver, and Hannah, a little mentioned wife of a navy captain. The first three siblings have been working for years to uncover the identity of the Peacemaker, a master manipulator who is trying to bring about peace at any cost and who killed the Reavely's parents at the beginning of the war. This not a series you can start reading in the middle and comprehend all of the twists and turns, but the series is fantastically written with a strong eye for detail and well-described characters. Perry does an elegant job of handling the pros and cons of war. Peacemaker's position is easy to sympathize with, but there is a cost to every war, and peace can have a heavier cost. Both Joseph and Judith struggle with weighty personal decisions and what true loyalty means. Joseph's faith has been wavering since the death of his wife, and the constant and senseless deaths of his men is shaking him to his core. Matthew's life is in danger as he comes closer to the identity of the Peacemaker. Perry's description of the French trenches is vivid and desparate; I can't imagine how a country could recover from such destruction. This series is a terrifically written study of what war does to individuals as well as countries. The last book in the series is coming out later this month.

This fourth book in Perry's World War I series is just as good as the three previous. In it we continue to follow the lives of the Reavely family. Matthew is still on the trail of the "Peacemaker", and still finds that he cannot trust anyone. Joseph is still in Flanders with his troops. But Joseph finds himself far out of his comfort zone as he actually goes behind enemy lines to bring some English deserters back to face a court-martial. Judith is still driving her ambulance. The characters in this series are so very strong, as are the plots. I know that I have learned a lot about this appalling war by reading this series. The book is set in the summer of 1917, and the troops have been fighting a war that has gone on for three long years. And the death tolls for all people in this war were staggering. This is a totally unforgettable series with a totally unforgettable family in the centre of all this war to end all wars. We see war, death, love, intrigue, loyalty and, not only these things, but a really good story that will keep your interest until the end of the series which is to be the next book. I think that looking back on it from this point in time, it has made me realize how very tragic this war was, and how little it really solved.

Whether men are hurtling over the ridge into battle or contemplating God's existence in a war-torn world, every page grabs you by the throat and doesn't let go. Eerily echoing today's world, the reader is thrown into the reality of war and the intrigue behind it and, at the same time, drawn into the characters' lives with almost embarassing clarity. What more can we ask from our fiction? Eleanor Sullivan, author of Assumed Dead.

This book continues to follow the Reavleys - Matthew, Judith, and Joseph. They are all involved in WWI - Matthew in Military Intelligence, Judith is an ambulance driver at the front, and Joseph is the chaplain for the troops also at the front. Their parents were murdered before the war, because they found a treaty that would make an alliance between England and Germany, creating a major world power from a mastermind called The Peacemaker, a man high up in the government.The first half of the book is a bit slow, but it has to, to explain the enormity of the war and the horror and slaughter. The story revolves around some troops who try to get their inept division leader who is causing more death and injury to his troops to stop. In an attempt to scare him into reality, these men hold a kangaroo court, but something goes awry. It is up to Joseph to find answers and get the men back to a semblance of normalcy. BUT the 2nd half of the book sparkles!! While Mrs. Perry show the horror on the front, the filth and death and mustard gas, but she has yet to say anything about the flying aces of WWI - She vividly shows us dogfights and even has Joseph take part in one - he even crosses paths with the Red Baron! The brilliance of writing takes us there on the front and we feel the pain of war. There is one more book to this series, and although I am a fan of the Monk and Pitt series, I will miss this series -Perry creates a vivid picture of war.

Britain fought "The Great War" long before the U.S. entered the fight. Ms. Perry graphically shows the horrors of trench warfare. As an English and history teacher, I wish I had had a book like this available to enable me to awake in my students an interest in this part of the early 20th century. The author puts you right there with the soldiers and captures the attitudes -- the glue -- that held that country together. World War I was the tough-to-endure preparation that gave English men and women the stamina to withstand the continual bombings of World War II. You may feel that aspects of the book are romanticized, but no one who reads this book will fail to learn more about how the first 20 years of the last century shaped the 80 years that followed -- and continues even today. This series has been an education for me. Some may find parts of it slow moving, but I have relished every word.