Another Review at MyShelf.Com

Publisher: Zumaya Publications
Release Date: July 2003
ISBN: 1894942442
Awards:
Format Reviewed: Paperback
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Genre: Historical Fiction [1755 Maryland]
Reviewed: 2004
Reviewer: Rachel A Hyde
Reviewer Notes: Some violence
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Massacre at the Forks
The Neophyte Warrior Series, No. 4 
By Richard Patton


     Regular visitors to this site who are reading this will probably have read my reviews of the first three novels in this series: His Majesty’s Envoy, The Reluctant Commander and The Lion’s Apprentice. This series is ostensibly about the early campaigns of George Washington, but there is a lot more packed into each book than just this (as if it isn’t enough). You don’t need to be an aficionado of military fiction to read these books; anybody who likes adventure, history and a jolly good story will find plenty to enjoy.

     As this book opens, George is very ill with dysentery, but there is a battle to be fought and he is determined to be part of it. The elderly and unremarkable Major General Edward Braddock, is still at the helm of the fighting force and things are going to come unstuck even with Washington as aide-de-camp. The Duke of Cumberland’s choice to lead the expedition has had no experience of what Patton terms “the endless forest” and the type of war waged by the French and their native allies. There is a massacre in the offing, and nothing Washington can do to prevent it.

     The Lion’s Apprentice showed how Patton can handle an interim novel between two battles without being boring, and this tale shows how he can write about a battle. It is stirring stuff, but beyond the action there is a wonderful description of the forests, the daily minutiae of life in the camp and even some humor. As ever, there is a multi-viewpoint look at events, and balancing out Washington’s exploits are those of the other protagonist Old Smoke and the Native American viewpoint. Old Smoke gives the reader a Native American hero, wise and resourceful yet seeming to stand back from the action and reflect upon it. Perhaps one of the stand-out scenes in this book that stays in the memory is the chapter devoted to the insane Stump Neck’s capturing of the eagle, which manages to be bloody and funny all at once, mirroring and yet giving a respite from the horrors of the massacre. Like a good soap opera the reader is left wondering how it will all work out…historical fiction at its entertaining, factual and fascinating best. Very highly recommended.