|
[ Home ]
[ About | Reviews | Search | Submit ]
Kieran Selkirk is an American citizen in England training to be a soldier. He sees that there will be a coming war with England and he wants to be prepared. As he is at the docks ready to return to America, he is approached by a servant of Benjamin Franklin. Franklin wants Kieran to accomplish a special task for the American people. Kieran is to travel to Russia to convince the Queen or Tsarina, Catherine the Great to assist America in the coming war. As she currently supports England, this is a complicated task. In addition, Russia is full of hungry people, wide-open spaces and lots of snow. The wolves are starving so they are attacking travelers and the Cossacks are also attacking people and villages. Kieran must find a place for himself in this society in order to survive before he can press his country's plea. Along the way, he resumes a friendship with a fellow soldier and falls in love. Kieran's quest becomes a race against time as he must confront his betrayers, rescue the woman he loves, make America's request and escape the country with his life. LOVE AND HONOR has many of the typical traits of a war spy novel. While Kieran is not actually on the enemy front, he does face numerous challenges and enemies attempting to stop him. In addition, he is involved in several battles and is forced to deceive people in order to get the information he needs. Also as in war novels, people die. In addition, animals die. These deaths are taken as a matter of everyday life and ignored by the other characters for the most part. As an animal lover, this attitude is aggravating and all animal deaths are heartbreaking. The one element of this book that is the most disturbing for me is that Kieran seems mentally unstable. At times, he is almost upbeat and positive but at others he is cynical and bitter. He tries to fit in society but knows it is unimportant and is a lie. He tries to court a woman but sees the problems of his past standing in his way. While he does have symptoms of many different mental illnesses, he is most likely manic-depressive. Having a protagonist with a mental illness is not a bad thing, but it is difficult to determine Kieran's true self and true opinions. Because Kieran is flip-flopping between emotions and actions, I find it difficult to warm up to him or truly care what happens.
Reviewed by Sarah Dudley, November 2005
[ Top ]
QUICK SEARCH:
Contact: Yvonne Klein (ymk@reviewingtheevidence.com)
[ About | Reviews | Search | Submit ]
[ Home ]
| 
