Shadow on the Valley: A Civil War Thriller

Kirk Mitchell has written an interesting book here, a good group of major characters, both real and fictional, the settings are authentic, the battle scenes and massive marching columns of troops and wagons are well handled. The central character, Surgeon Colonel Simon Wolfe, is a unique since he is a one armed Union army officer who stumbles into a series of gruesome murders amid the massive destruction of the Shenandoah Valley campaign of General Phil Sheridan. As Wolfe endevors to solve the murders, it seems nearly everyone in the chain of command is suspect, even the egotistical George Custer, who appears through the novel. Custer is handled very well, a nice touch. There are plenty of surprises and suspect twists. There is a great female character, a Dunker woman, who adds much to this haunting tale. There is a terrific scene when the captured doctor is brought before the legendary Confederate raider, John Mosby, the Grey Ghost. Plenty of gun smoke, thundering musket fire, muddy marches, screaming wounded and a fresh look at the crude and ghastly medical practices of the day. I did find one major error, during one scene when the enraged, one-armed doctor is about to confront Sheridan as a prime suspect, the doctor suddenly seems to grow a new appendage for several paragraphs, he is gripping something in one coat pocket, then clutching something in the other and he is described as squeezing his fists. A major goof when trying to keep a rather detailed and lengthy and blood murder mystery going. But over all, a decent read. I also recommend his other Civil War novel, Fredericksburg. I did a reveiw on that one a few weeks back, check it out. I would like to see Hollywood grab this and give it to a good director and cast.