From Publishers Weekly
In this sequel to Kilworth's military historical The Winter Soldiers, Sgt. Jack Crossman is on the outskirts of 1855 Sebastopol, serving with the British forces ringing the city near the close of the Crimean War. He leads an irregular peloton, something of a 19th-century special forces prototype, tasked with harrying the czar's troops behind the Russian lines and wreaking havoc within their ranks. Crossman's soldiers are almost anachronistic freethinkers when it comes to military matters. They pinpoint Russian sharpshooters by providing them with honey and firing into the concentrations of fireflies that seek out the honey at night. When the peloton's own sharpshooter is captured on a nighttime foray into no-man's-land, Crossman handily avoids ambush and uses his command of Russian and his extensive knowledge of enemy culture to rescue her (sharpshooter Peterson is actually a woman masquerading as a man a documented occurrence in 19th-century warfare). The peloton next takes to the field with a new weapon put together with off-the-shelf technology, so to speak: a camel-mounted swivel cannon. Soon after the camel-gun action, Crossman is demoted to the status of a private when it's discovered he impersonated an officer to win back his luckless brother's fortunes from a notorious gambler, but soon he distinguishes himself in the final attack on the fortifications of Sebastopol. We're never in doubt that Crossman and company will win their way to glory in the end, and the episodic nature of the plot further diminishes the drama. But Kilworth is particularly good at evoking the pointlessness of the Crimean slaughter while keeping individual skirmishes exciting. Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc.


Book Description
In the sequel to The Winter Soldiers, "Fancy Jack" concludes his Crimean tour of duty amid the brutal clash of the British and Russian empires. The year is 1855, the port of Sebastopol is still under siege by the Allies, and the czar's troops are putting up a vigorous defense. Sergeant Jack Crossman and his hardy band of brothers make forays to harass the enemy in the hills and valleys around the troubled city. Russian sharpshooters disappear mysteriously as Crossman and his men chip away at the enemy's morale. But these foxhunts serve as a mere prelude to the British attack on the Redan, the massive fortification guarding Sebastopol itself. The British assault is as ill planned as it is ill advised, and it ends in a disaster as severe as the Charge of the Light Brigade. Crossman must witness the wholesale massacre of his fellow soldiers. And then-two months after this devastating failure, French and Sardinian forces foil a massive Russian counterattack to relieve their fortress. The Allies' final attack on the Redan will determine Sebastopol's fate, and the outcome of the first truly modern war.

FROM THE PUBLISHER

In the sequel to The Winter Soldiers, "Fancy Jack" concludes his Crimean tour of duty amid the brutal clash of the British and Russian empires. The year is 1855, the port of Sebastopol is still under siege by the Allies, and the czar's troops are putting up a vigorous defense. Sergeant Jack Crossman and his hardy band of brothers make forays to harass the enemy in the hills and valleys around the troubled city. Russian sharpshooters disappear mysteriously as Crossman and his men chip away at the enemy's morale. But these foxhunts serve as a mere prelude to the British attack on the Redan, the massive fortification guarding Sebastopol itself. The British assault is as ill planned as it is ill advised, and it ends in a disaster as severe as the Charge of the Light Brigade. Crossman must witness the wholesale massacre of his fellow soldiers. And then-two months after this devastating failure, French and Sardinian forces foil a massive Russian counterattack to relieve their fortress. The Allies' final attack on the Redan will determine Sebastopol's fate, and the outcome of the first truly modern war.

FROM THE CRITICS

Publishers Weekly

In this sequel to Kilworth's military historical The Winter Soldiers, Sgt. Jack Crossman is on the outskirts of 1855 Sebastopol, serving with the British forces ringing the city near the close of the Crimean War. He leads an irregular peloton, something of a 19th-century special forces prototype, tasked with harrying the czar's troops behind the Russian lines and wreaking havoc within their ranks. Crossman's soldiers are almost anachronistic freethinkers when it comes to military matters. They pinpoint Russian sharpshooters by providing them with honey and firing into the concentrations of fireflies that seek out the honey at night. When the peloton's own sharpshooter is captured on a nighttime foray into no-man's-land, Crossman handily avoids ambush and uses his command of Russian and his extensive knowledge of enemy culture to rescue her (sharpshooter Peterson is actually a woman masquerading as a man a documented occurrence in 19th-century warfare). The peloton next takes to the field with a new weapon put together with off-the-shelf technology, so to speak: a camel-mounted swivel cannon. Soon after the camel-gun action, Crossman is demoted to the status of a private when it's discovered he impersonated an officer to win back his luckless brother's fortunes from a notorious gambler, but soon he distinguishes himself in the final attack on the fortifications of Sebastopol. We're never in doubt that Crossman and company will win their way to glory in the end, and the episodic nature of the plot further diminishes the drama. But Kilworth is particularly good at evoking the pointlessness of the Crimean slaughter while keeping individual skirmishes exciting. (Oct.) Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information.

Kirkus Reviews