Review - A Thousand Shall Fall

 

A Thousand Shall Fall
by Andrea Boeshaar
Publisher: Kregel Publications
Pub. Date: November 27, 2015
ISBN: 978-0825443817
Pages: 256
Buy Link: http://bit.ly/1jbj37T
Blog Tour: http://litfusegroup.com/author/aboeshaar

Review:

I first became interested in the Civil War when I saw bits and pieces of the North and South miniseries during the mid 1980s when I was just a little kid (I believe I was 4 or 5 at the time). Since then, I've been a sucker for any film or book that is set during the Civil War, which explains why I was interested in reading the new novel A Thousand Shall Fall by Andrea Boeshaar.

Set in the fall of 1864, the novel centers on a Carrie Ann Bell, a strong-willed 19-year-old who must disguise herself as a Yankee solider in order to search for her runaway sister, Sarah Jane, near the Shenandoah Valley in Virginia. Unexpectedly, she falls into a skirmish near Front Royal and gets caught by the Union Army.

Luckily for her, she has an old childhood friend, Peyton Collier, who is now a colonel in the Union, and he quickly comes to her rescue. To find out, he's actually a Confederate spy and Carrie Ann must keep his secret in order to protect both of them. It isn't too long before the two start to fall for each other, but unfortunately the war might come between them.


While it might be difficult to believe that there were women that served in the Civil War, the truth is that there were some women that did disguise themselves as soldiers, either as a spy or to follow their fathers and brothers into war. That being said, the plot of Carrie Ann Bell disguising herself as a Yankee solider isn't that far fetched as it sounds. The heroine is extremely well-written here, and I instantly liked her from the get-go. While it was slightly cliched that Peyton Collier showed up in the nick of time to save her, it didn't bother me one bit. The chemistry between the two characters was believable. Overall, A Thousand Shall Fall is an intriguing romantic novel set during the Civil War.

Look out for book two in the series, Too Deep For Words, in November 2016.

*Disclaimer - I received a complimentary copy in exchange for my honest review. All opinions are my own.

About the Author:

Andrea Boeshaar is the cofounder of American Christian Fiction Writers and runs "The Writer's ER," a coaching service for writers. She is the author of thirty published works, including Threads of Faith, a finalist in the Inspirational Readers Choice Awards. Andrea is also the author of a popular devotional and regularly blogs on a number of sites.