Battle Cry of Freedom Reviews
By Truthbeknown
I have read all of the Alphonso Clay series. I really enjoy the suspense and the characters. There are some dark moments in this series, especially concerning Clay and Duval. Those two are definitely flawed individuals and some readers may be turned off by some of the violence (it’s not explicit), but, after all, this is war and the preservation of our nation is at stake.
***
Jack Martin has done it again with the sequel to John Brown’s Body, Battle Cry of Freedom. He gets you hooked from the first sentence, as usual, and does not let you go till the last word. I just cannot get enough of Alphonso Clay. I could see Jude Law in this role. I am most definitely buying Marching Through Georgia.
- CJ Loiacono
***
By patricia
I was thrilled finding a new author, with an interesting story line which captures the Civil War Era. Writing is crisp, captures your attention and holds it. I have read all Jack Martin’s books, and look forward to many more from him.
***
Another masterfully written mystery
Alphonso Clay may be a bitter and angry man whose mental acuity frequently comes into question, but he’s also General Grant’s personal detective. All of which adds to the tension as Alphonso must uncover a traitor. I loved the author’s ability to bring to the reader fully developed characters from the pages of history and look forward to more of Mr. Martin’s books featuring Alphonso Clay.
***
By Sevard Jones
How rewarding to find an author who weaves so many historical facts into a fictional mystery.
I find this very refreshing that he keeps the actual facts of that era correct while interjecting the suspense of a great mystery.
Hope to see much more of his work!!!
***
By Tony
This book takes the reader to the South. To the blood, mud, suffering, struggle and death that were the daily reality of both soldiers and civilians caught up in the Civil War. The historical settings and events are vividly real and provide a thoroughly believable background for the people and events of this book.
Most of the main characters are a little crazy, and their individual strangeness plays well off of the others. The main character, Alphonso Clay, applies all his brilliance and skill to solve a murder and catch a spy before that spy’s information can be used to defeat General Grant’s army. Clay is assisted by Ambrose Bierce, a historical person with quirks of his own. A new player in this book is Teresa Duval, a homicidal agent for Jay Gould, whose interests do not lie with either the North or the South. Duval is the most frightening character in this book. She is a very intelligent woman with no conscience but with considerable skill at doing whatever is necessary to advance her interests. The only truly sane character is Clay’s cousin, Sergeant Lot, who helps to ground Clay in some of his wilder moments.
The characters who were real people are developed by the author with an excellent feel for how they would have behaved if confronted with the situations of this story. The concerns and outlooks of highly placed military officers are made clear and given substance in the context of both the war and the story.
Both “Northerners” and “Southerners” will enjoy this book.
***
Another success from Jack Martin
By T. Graziano
This second book in the Alphonso Clay series is even more mysterious than the first. General Grant learns there is a Confederate spy highly placed in his command structure, but the only man who can identify the spy is murdered.
A new character, Teresa Duval, is the agent of a party who doesn’t care who wins the war as long as his own financial and power goals are furthered. Duval is sent in pursuit of those goals, but her own interests figure prominently in her plans. Duval is a woman who is more ruthless than any character except Clay. She is a monster by choice, where Clay is what he is by breeding and manipulation.
While trying to defeat opposing factions, including his own nature, Clay must solve the murder before the Army of the Ohio is betrayed and destroyed. As in the first book, Clay’s ties to a secret society are both a strength and stumbling blocks for Clay as he pursues his version of redemption.
The historical characters are well-written and consistent with what is known of them. The fictional characters have personalities that add spice to a black time in America’s past. All the characters and scenes come alive brilliantly.
Mr. Martin, who has already shown himself to be an expert at weaving novel events into well-known history, has again demonstrated his skill and knowledge of the Civil War era of the United States.
Mr. Martin paints a vivid and historically accurate picture of the circumstances in the Army of the Ohio, which has been trapped and besieged by the Confederate Army, after its resounding defeat at Chicamauga. The main character, Alphonso Clay, is slightly strange and a bit frightening due to his being a product of a secret breeding program. The character of one of his most dangerous adversaries, a woman named Teresa Duval, is truly monstrous by her own choice. Each of the intricately interwoven events portrayed in this book build on the reality of the situations of the war and on the peculiar characteristics and abilities of Clay and his opponents to find a murderer and unravel the intrigues of a spy which could destroy the Army of the Ohio and possibly lead to the victory of the Confederacy.
In The Battle Cry of Freedom, Mr. Martin has created a suspenseful and believable tale of what might have been.
***
5.0 out of 5 stars The resiliance of Americans is fantastic.
Excelent blend of real and “fantasy” of this portion of the Civil War, with just a “hint” of paranormal activity. I wonder if Clay’s maternal grandmother’s last name was “Talbot?’ The details are fantastic-you really feel like you are ther and can smell the gunpowder and hear the crys of the dying. Each twist and turn, revolving around the battle, keeps one highly interested and reluctant to put the book down until you finish “one more chapter.”
***
5.0 out of 5 stars Civil War as NOT told in history books.
The Battle Cry of Freedom is set during the Civil War. It is a fictional tale of conspiracy, murder, and espionage and yet with exacting details and precise descriptions that pull readers into that time and place. The conversation driven plot incorporates a mystery as well as war-time drama, procedures, travel, and communication. Underlying all is the human wreckage of war and the personal conflicts of the time that never make the pages of history books.
The story is told mostly from a Union point of view through the perspective of Captain Alphonso Clay, of General Grant’s staff. Characters are complex and detailed, reflecting society at this time of great political and social conflict. Actual figures from history are interspersed to add color and realism. Characters strive to save the Union, overcome trauma from the past, and deal with rifts in friendships caused by the war and its savagery. The plot also includes the beginnings of investigative processes and strategies such a finger prints and photography.
I am not a typical reader of historic war-time fiction, but I was drawn to The Battle Cry of Freedom because I recently visited Tennessee. I saw firsthand the Civil War battlefields, buildings with gaping holes caused by cannon fire, and the cannon balls themselves. I stood on wood floors with dark stains caused by the blood of soldiers who died there. It was thought provoking, and so is this book. The Battle Cry of Freedom is not a book to read casually. It is fiction, but the tone, the atmosphere, the destruction, and the horror of war is authentic.
***
PJ Colando, author of the award-winning ‘Faith, Family, Frenzy’ series
5.0 out of 5 stars The personal side of American History shared in sumptuous prose
I’m an American history buff, so I knew this, told as a footnote in history books. However, I didn’t know a wit about what occurred before, during, and after this siege among several in the Civil War. That war was the supreme test of the relatively new nation’s character as well as that of its President, Abraham Lincoln.
Mr. Martin’s significant research is evident, abundant, and appreciated. His descriptions of the period dress, mores, meals, and vagaries enriched this delightful (rather than dreadful, as war is) tale. His prose and details were/are worthy of a commander during the Civil War. He seems to have identified with Mr. Clay, the protagonist, infusing the man’s life with soul.
The human details of this crisis of conscience of men, women, and war nuanced the central depth of despair that divided families and land and good sense. Mr. Martin enriched my enthusiasm for humanity doing its best to survive and thrive despite a war.
You will easily immerse yourself in this book, I promise, despite its genre. Mr. Martin writes of heroes.
***
Even better than the first
By Tony
This book takes the reader to the South. To the blood, mud, suffering, struggle and death that were the daily reality of both soldiers and civilians caught up in the Civil War. The historical settings and events are vividly real and provide a thoroughly believable background for the people and events of this book.
Most of the main characters are a little crazy, and their individual strangeness plays well off of the others. The main character, Alphonso Clay, applies all his brilliance and skill to solve a murder and catch a spy before that spy’s information can be used to defeat General Grant’s army. Clay is assisted by Ambrose Bierce, a historical person with quirks of his own. A new player in this book is Teresa Duval, a homicidal agent for Jay Gould, whose interests do not lie with either the North or the South. Duval is the most frightening character in this book. She is a very intelligent woman with no conscience but with considerable skill at doing whatever is necessary to advance her interests. The only truly sane character is Clay’s cousin, Sergeant Lot, who helps to ground Clay in some of his wilder moments.
The characters who were real people are developed by the author with an excellent feel for how they would have behaved if confronted with the situations of this story. The concerns and outlooks of highly placed military officers are made clear and given substance in the context of both the war and the story.
Both “Northerners” and “Southerners” will enjoy this book.
***
Another success from Jack Martin
By T. Graziano
This second book in the Alphonso Clay series is even more mysterious than the first. General Grant learns there is a Confederate spy highly placed in his command structure, but the only man who can identify the spy is murdered.
A new character, Teresa Duval, is the agent of a party who doesn’t care who wins the war as long as his own financial and power goals are furthered. Duval is sent in pursuit of those goals, but her own interests figure prominently in her plans. Duval is a woman who is more ruthless than any character except Clay. She is a monster by choice, where Clay is what he is by breeding and manipulation.
While trying to defeat opposing factions, including his own nature, Clay must solve the murder before the Army of the Ohio is betrayed and destroyed. As in the first book, Clay’s ties to a secret society are both a strength and stumbling blocks for Clay as he pursues his version of redemption.
The historical characters are well-written and consistent with what is known of them. The fictional characters have personalities that add spice to a black time in America’s past. All the characters and scenes come alive brilliantly.