At Some Disputed Barricade: A Novel (World War I) (Hardcover)

by Anne Perry (Author)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly
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). (Mar.)
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From Booklist
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. Joanne Wilkinson
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 320 pages
• Publisher: Ballantine Books (March 13, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0345456580
• ISBN-13: 978-0345456588
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 6.3 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 15.2 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars See all reviews (28 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #475,168 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

14 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The best of the series, March 21, 2007

By	ellen "ellen in atlanta" (Atlanta, Georgia USA) - See all my reviews (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)

This book continues to follow the Reavleys - Matthew, Judith, and Joseph. They are all involved in WWI - Matthew in Military Intelligence, Judith is an ambulance driver at the front, and Joseph is the chaplain for the troops also at the front. Their parents were murdered before the war, because they found a treaty that would make an alliance between England and Germany, creating a major world power from a mastermind called The Peacemaker, a man high up in the government.The first half of the book is a bit slow, but it has to, to explain the enormity of the war and the horror and slaughter. The story revolves around some troops who try to get their inept division leader who is causing more death and injury to his troops to stop. In an attempt to scare him into reality, these men hold a kangaroo court, but something goes awry. It is up to Joseph to find answers and get the men back to a semblance of normalcy.
BUT the 2nd half of the book sparkles!! While Mrs. Perry show the horror on the front, the filth and death and mustard gas, but she has yet to say anything about the flying aces of WWI - She vividly shows us dogfights and even has Joseph take part in one - he even crosses paths with the Red Baron! The brilliance of writing takes us there on the front and we feel the pain of war. There is one more book to this series, and although I am a fan of the Monk and Pitt series, I will miss this series -Perry creates a vivid picture of war.

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Lest We Forget, March 18, 2007

By	L. Rogers "MissLue "Gma"" (New Orleans, LA USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Britain fought "The Great War" long before the U.S. entered the fight. Ms. Perry graphically shows the horrors of trench warfare. As an English and history teacher, I wish I had had a book like this available to enable me to awake in my students an interest in this part of the early 20th century. The author puts you right there with the soldiers and captures the attitudes -- the glue -- that held that country together. World War I was the tough-to-endure preparation that gave English men and women the stamina to withstand the continual bombings of World War II. You may feel that aspects of the book are romanticized, but no one who reads this book will fail to learn more about how the first 20 years of the last century shaped the 80 years that followed -- and continues even today. This series has been an education for me. Some may find parts of it slow moving, but I have relished every word.

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A riveting, but heartbreaking tale., March 30, 2007

By	S. Schwartz "romonko" (alberta canada) - See all my reviews (TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

This fourth book in Perry's World War I series is just as good as the three previous. In it we continue to follow the lives of the Reavely family. Matthew is still on the trail of the "Peacemaker", and still finds that he cannot trust anyone. Joseph is still in Flanders with his troops. But Joseph finds himself far out of his comfort zone as he actually goes behind enemy lines to bring some English deserters back to face a court-martial. Judith is still driving her ambulance. The characters in this series are so very strong, as are the plots. I know that I have learned a lot about this appalling war by reading this series. The book is set in the summer of 1917, and the troops have been fighting a war that has gone on for three long years. And the death tolls for all people in this war were staggering. This is a totally unforgettable series with a totally unforgettable family in the centre of all this war to end all wars. We see war, death, love, intrigue, loyalty and, not only these things, but a really good story that will keep your interest until the end of the series which is to be the next book. I think that looking back on it from this point in time, it has made me realize how very tragic this war was, and how little it really solved.