The War of Knives

Since reading No Quarter, the first book in Broos Campbell's Matty Graves series, I have had the time to read several novels and nonfiction books of a nautical vein. Some were good, a few were very good, and one or two was a struggle to read to completion. But after them all, I was very happy and relieved to pick up The War of the Knives, which not only met my expectations after reading No Quarter, it exceeded them by far. Campbell's writing, which was strong in Quarter, hits new heights in Knives. I was there every step of the way on Matty's hapless adventures, even when he was elbow deep in a putrid corpse or unselfconsciously taking the hat of a comrade who no longer had a head to wear it on. by Tom Knapp, the Rambles(dot)NET guy

In this sequel to Campbell's first novel, No Quarter, Matty Graves, now a lieutenant aboard the schooner USS Rattle-Snake, is given a mission ashore. Sent to assess the situation, he finds himself at the siege of Jacmel - the final stand of Haiti's mulattos under Alexandre Pétion who are battling freed slaves led by the legendary Toussaint L'Ouverture for control of the country. Both sides claim legitimacy; both sides claim to be champions of liberty; both sides commit unimaginable atrocities. Close-in fighting with machetes gave the War of Knives its name and Campbell describes this in detail, but battle scenes are only the beginning of the horror as Matty moves toward his own heart of darkness. Matty tries to make sense of the action and track down rumors of a plot against the United States, but nobody is what he seems. He becomes a pawn in games he doesn't understand as he struggles to sort friend from foe. I like this book a lot, although it may not appeal to readers who are looking for straightforward naval adventure. It is not a page-turner in the conventional sense of a book that you can't put down because of the engrossing action - more accurate to say that we are pulled along in awful fascination as Matty's journey of self-discovery unfolds. Campbell's humor takes a macabre turn in The War of Knives but, as in the earlier book, it is heavily based in language, and the interplay among English, French and Creole comes to play a pivotal role in the story. In a moment of enforced idleness, Matty's friend sets out to teach him Creole and we are treated to a page and a half of Creole grammar and syntax. I was delighted, but this may not be everyone's cup of tea. Still, you should read this book. Campbell does an impressive job of mining an obscure corner of history for elemental human drama. He probes deeply into the meaning of friendship, betrayal, survival, race and language in the context of unforgettable adventure.

If Huck Finn ran away to sea in the early days of the U. S. Navy, he might sound a lot like Matty Graves in Broos Campbell's bracing adventure series. In a mission ashore in revolutionary San Domingo (later Haiti) in 1800, Matty braves infighting between the forces of iconic former slave leader "Father" Toussaint L'Ouverture and his renegade mulatto general Pétion in search of absolution for his own demons. Plunging us into the heart of darkness of guerrilla warfare, Campbell serves up vivid characters and plenty of bloody action. But it's Matty's wry, increasingly acute observations on life, honor, justice, and war--undeclared, civil, righteous and otherwise--that gives the series its dark, sardonic kick.