July 1917. Joseph Reavley, a chaplain, and his sister, Judith, an ambulance driver, are bone-weary as they approach the fourth year of the conflict; the peace of the English countryside seems a world away. On the Western Front, the Battle of Passchendaele has begun, and among the many fatalities from Joseph’s regiment is the trusted commanding officer, who is replaced by a young major whose pompous incompetence virtually guarantees that many good soldiers will die needlessly. But soon he, too, is dead–killed by his own men. Although Joseph would like to turn a blind eye, he knows that he must not. Judith, however, anguished at the prospect of courts-martial and executions for the twelve men arrested for the crime, has no such inhibitions and, risking of her own life, helps all but one of the prisoners to escape.
Back in England, Joseph and Judith’s brother, Matthew, continues his desperate pursuit to unmask the sinister figure known as the Peacemaker–an obsessed genius who has committed murder and treason in an attempt to stop Britain from winning the war. As Matthew trails the Peacemaker, Joseph tracks his comrades through Switzerland and into enemy territory. His search will lead to a reckoning pitting courage and honor against the blind machinery of military justice.
At Some Disputed Barricade is an Anne Perry masterpiece–brilliant, surprising, and unforgettable.
-
Creators
-
Series
-
Publisher
-
Awards
-
Release date
March 13, 2007 -
Formats
-
Kindle Book
-
OverDrive Read
- ISBN: 9780345497055
-
EPUB ebook
- ISBN: 9780345497055
- File size: 349 KB
-
-
Languages
- English
-
Reviews
-
Publisher's Weekly
January 29, 2007
Fans of the first three books in this WWI series from Perry, best known for her Victorian police procedurals, will eagerly pick up this fourth volume to learn more of the ongoing saga of the three Reavley siblings: Joseph, a chaplain working with soldiers on the front line in France; Matthew, a British intelligence officer; and Judith, an ambulance driver. (Newcomers may struggle to understand the backstory.) Matthew continues his search for the traitorous mastermind—the "Peacemaker"—plotting to align Britain with Germany to end the war, while Joseph is working on a smaller mystery: was British officer Howard Northrop killed by one of his own men? Exposition slows down the pace in places, but the author vividly captures the unspeakable horrors of the Great War. Readers won't have long to wait for the fifth and final entry in the series, We Shall Not Sleep
(Reviews, Feb. 5). -
Booklist
January 1, 2007
The fourth entry in Perry's World War I series finds chaplain Joseph Reavley three years into his service in the trenches of Ypres on the western front. The British army has suffered appalling losses, and the men are exhausted, hungry, and afraid. Now an incompetent officer, the son of a general, unwilling to take advice from more experienced soldiers, is sending his men to certain death by making wrongheaded, uninformed decisions. When the officer's body is discovered, it falls to Joseph to determine whether he was killed by his own men. The investigation is complicated when Joseph's sister, Judith, a fearless ambulance driver, is drawn into the dispute. Meanwhile, their brother, Matthew, who works for British intelligence, is seeing indications of the work of the Peacemaker, who, under the guise of seeking an end to the conflict, is sabotaging Britain's war effort. Perry explores the shifting nature of loyalty, conscience, and honor when set against the backdrop of a blood-soaked battlefield, and her grisly descriptions of that battlefield are heartrending.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2007, American Library Association.)
-
Formats
- Kindle Book
- OverDrive Read
- EPUB ebook
subjects
Languages
- English
Loading
Why is availability limited?
×Availability can change throughout the month based on the library's budget. You can still place a hold on the title, and your hold will be automatically filled as soon as the title is available again.
The Kindle Book format for this title is not supported on:
×Read-along ebook
×The OverDrive Read format of this ebook has professional narration that plays while you read in your browser. Learn more here.