Book review: Harper's Rescue by Sean K. Gabhann

Harper's Rescue is book 2 in the Shiloh Trilogy. Click here to see my review on book 1, Harper's Donelson. 

Blurb:

Disgraced Federal officer James Harper must redeem his honor and face down his enemies if he intends to stay in the Union Army and avoid his scheduled court martial. Recruited by General Grant’s spymaster, Harper must prove that whore monger Franklin Bosley is a Confederate conspirator—a man who has no scruples, and will do anything it takes to see to his own “cause” above all else.

Harper realizes that Bosley and his men are a threat to the Union Army—but that’s not all. Maggie, the woman who has broken through Harper’s emotional walls, is also in immediate danger. Harper has to act fast or there will be more deaths on his conscience—and Maggie’s is one he couldn’t bear.

Meanwhile, indentured saloon girl Katie Malloy must find her own way to escape Bosley—or die. Finding solace in the arms of one of Harper’s men whom she has come to love, she realizes in one terrible moment that she cannot depend on him to rescue her—she must do that herself, even if it means murder.

Once at odds with Lieutenant Harper, Corporal Gustav Magnusson begins to understand that Harper will see this mission through or die trying. He’s going to need Magnusson’s help—but who can they trust? There may be just one way out alive—if they can both survive long enough to put their daring plan into action for HARPER’S RESCUE…

My review:

Picking up right where Harper's Donelson, book 1, left off, we find Harper and his men figuring out how to fill their time being stuck in Paducah KY while they wait to be able to get back to active duty. Gus starts to realize the burden of leading men, making decisions, and learning who he is to become. Katie, the saloon girl, is still trying to find her place while she struggles with protecting herself.

While there are still some rough and tough moments, and some spy-games at play, I think this 2nd part of the trilogy is my favorite (well, so far, seeing there's only book 1 and 2 out). Seeing how everyone's stories intertwine and everyone acts and reacts to events... you find yourself mixed up between cheering the characters on, and on edge wondering what's going to happen next and who might find a little reprieve from their trials.... and just how twisted evil can be.

This is a great continuation of Harper's Donelson and I'm looking forward to an amazing (I have faith!!) conclusion with the last part of the trilogy.

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Book review: Harper's Donelson by Sean K. Gabhann

Blurb:

The first book of this Civil War trilogy begins in the winter of 1862, as the nation is being ripped apart, with both Federals and Rebels seeing no end in sight and hoping for victory.

Lieutenant James Harper, a junior officer in the Union army, aspires to command a company—but faces his dismal future at the hands of an officer who will vindictively do whatever he must to keep Harper at the bottom of the heap.

Katie Malloy, a young girl who has been sold by her father to the wily owner of a whorehouse, has settled into her new life as a saloon-girl—for the time being. She’s got big plans to get herself out of this predicament, and vows one day she’ll be more than the soldiers’ whore.

Corporal Gustav Magnusson, a young Quaker in Harper’s company, butts heads with Harper from the very beginning. But capture by the enemy forces them to work together to protect their men from sadistic Rebel Captain Bell—who wants nothing more than to see his Yankee prisoners dead.

Will General Grant’s campaign against Fort Donelson open the door for an ex-Federal Marshal, a Quaker farmer, and a soiled dove from Iowa to make their mark in the world—if they live through it?

Three lives intertwine against the backdrop of the battle which made Ulysses S. Grant’s reputation—a living hell where everything familiar fades, and the only thing that matters is surviving—however they can.


My Review:

When you crack open this book, you're immediately sucked back into a living and breathing history lesson.

This book takes you on a journey following several characters as they live and survive through the Civil War - and as it's part one of a trilogy, I'm definitely hooked and excited to see what happens next.

James Harper wants so desperately to prove he's leadership material, but ego-driven superiors and some questionable decisions lead to more struggles and trials to prove himself capable.  He isn't the "perfect" hero in that he does make mistakes, or he seems more "real" or "regular" - we can identify with him more.  But at the same time, his sense of honor and determination shines through when it's needed most, and you can respect that.  He also can back up what he says (as far as skills and gumption to proceed).  He definitely got into more scrapes and situations that what I think I could put up with! ha!

Katie has to learn how to adjust being sold to a whorehouse and just what it will take to survive and become more than what it seems life fated her with.  I enjoyed seeing her still cling to some innocence, and my heart ached with the hardships she faced.

There's several other characters you get to experience life through that make you think, or give you heartburn... Once you get settled in and have the setting grow around you and learn who all the characters are, you are hooked into seeing how everyone interacts and what will happen next.

I can't help but believe that if we as a society went back to a truth-filled story-telling way of passing down history, more people would be intrigued and want to discover more about our past, and maybe even learn some invaluable lessons.  Thank goodness for authors who have a story to tell and weave in historical events, breathing life into dry textbook narrative.

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The Model 1859 Sharps Rifle and Telescopic Sight Used in Harper's Donelson

When planning to write a series of historical novels set in the American Civil War (ACW) I needed to decide what would be the firearm of choice for the main character, James (Jamie) Harper.  Although he serves in an infantry unit, I wanted Harper and his battalion to carry a weapon other than the Springfield rifled muskets assigned to most of the Federal infantry regiments.

Sharps Rifle Model 1859

I needed a weapon which had distinctive properties and which had existed long enough prior to the war that Harper could have used it when he served as a U.S. Deputy Marshall in the Nebraska-Dakota territory.  It did not take long to settle on the Sharps rifle as Harper’s weapon of choice because of its relative uniqueness on the Civil war battlefield, the reputation of the weapon with the First and Second U.S. Sharpshooter regiments, and because they were produced in sufficient numbers that the purchase of six hundred rifles by a battalion benefactor was a plausible premise.

The Model 1859 was reported to have a maximum effective range of one thousand yards.  When I was writing the first drafts of the Shiloh Trilogy, I accepted this number at face value and had my characters, happily blazing away at hapless Confederates from ranges over half a mile.  That was until I moved into an office with a window.

One day while busily writing away, I happened to gaze out of the window and mentally go through a sniper’s checklist on a target on the other side of the freeway.  While doing so, it became obvious that trying to sight onto a target the size of a single man over that distance would be very difficult without a telescope.  The apparent target size is about the same height as the front sight of most rifles.  Out of curiosity, I checked Google Maps and discovered that the house across the freeway was only six hundred yards away!

So, if my hero was to earn his reputation as a marksman, either he would have to have supernatural eyesight, or he would need a telescope on his rifle.  This set me on a quest to discover whether a telescope had ever been used with the Model 1859 Sharps Rifle.  I checked the websites of the two companies currently manufacturing this model or its successor, the model 1862.  No, they did not manufacture telescopes for the rifles, nor did they provide any modifications which would allow a scope to be mounted and aligned on the weapon.

Next, I did a search of antique firearms dealers and contacted many of them via email or telephone.  All returned the same response: the Model 1859/1862 Sharps Rifle did not use a telescopic sight.  So, I resigned myself to rewriting those chapters where Harper takes on targets at extreme ranges.

Fortunately for Harper and his men, I did one final internet search, trying to prove that the Model 1859 could mount a telescope.

Voila!  The Horse Soldier, a military antiques dealer in Gettysburg Pennsylvania showed exactly the weapon of Harper’s dreams in their on-line catalogue: a Model 1859 Sharps Rifle with a telescopic sight manufactured by William Malcolm of Syracuse, NY.  The Horse Soldier description of the rifle included a serial number associated with those on the weapons issued to the USSS regiments.

Sharps Model 1859 with Malcolm Telescopic Sight

So now, I can show the documentation proving that such a combination could have existed at the time in which the Shiloh Trilogy takes place. Unfortunately, I did not have the $12,000 asking price for the weapon and even if I had, it sold the same day that I found it.

My thanks go out to the National Museum of American History for use of the photo with the open sights and to The Horse Soldier for allowing the use of their photograph with the Malcolm sight.  

 

 

 

Harper's Donelson is available from Amazon, Barnes and Noble On-Line, Smashwords, and Kobo.

 

Sean Kevin Gabhann is a Vietnam-era combat veteran of the US Navy.  He first became interested in American Civil War history during the centennial celebration and he owns an extensive library of primary and secondary material related to Civil War.  He especially wants to write about campaigns in the West because of a fascination with the careers of U.S Grant and W.T. Sherman.  Gabhann lives in San Diego, California.