The Union Army wants former Confederate Army general Beau Kerry for alleged war crimes, but he’s hiding out where the Yankees least expect to find him: in the United States Cavalry. Beau is fighting Apaches out West and praying nobody recognizes his famous face.But Lieutenant Kerry’s luck changes when he runs into Sergeant Ike Jefferson and says, “The last time I saw you, I had you bent over a barrel and I was whipping you.” Ike is not only Beau’s best friend (or worst enemy, depending on the day), he’s Beau’s former slave — and Ike knows there’s a $5000 price on Beau’s head.
Caroline Dietrich has vengeance on her mind. Married to Colonel Wesley Dietrich, the Union fort commander, Caroline believes the best path to getting revenge against the Yankees, her husband included, is seducing her husband’s officers. Especially Beau.
From the killing fields of the Civil War, to the savagery of the Indian wars, the characters are also battling each other and searching for what it means to be human.
Stamp of Heaven – My Book Review
“Things never all one way. We never know what in men’s hearts. Why they do the things they do?”
I give a huge round of applause to author, Julia Robb, for creating a historical fiction novel that could, in fact, be a real story about war. I give another round of applause to her for creating an authentic historical story that is dialogue-driven. I give Robb another final round of applause for using the language of the time in her book, The Stamp of Heaven.
The Stamp of Heaven could be real on many accounts from recounting stories about slavery, the Civil War, to the war with the Native Americans. Parts of the story are told through a former slave’s words of Ike who was once owned by his now Lieutenant Kerry.
While the story revolves around Kerry and other Lieutenants and Colonels, it’s Ike’s story that caught my undivided attention. Ike’s slavery story is so genuinely told that you feel like you’re walking in the woods with him fighting those big mosquitoes and experiencing the almost never-ending hunger.
Robb has a gift for making transitions flow well between characters and chapters. What I even found more admirable was how she incorporated old medical terms within her story.
The Stamp of Heaven shows that most men are animals, war is harsh no matter the era, and that in the end we never know what’s in anyone’s hearts and why they do what they do.
Nature elements of including the sound of a barred owl to mosquitoes being as big as hogs (which are aptly known as gallinippers or Psorophora ciliata) were subtle touches that added authenticity to this story.
If you love historical fiction around war then please check out The Stamp of Heaven. It is a fast-paced story that will take you on an almost authentic ride of how men really lived, their disappointments, and in the end how some men surprise you at becoming heroes.
2nd Prize: Signed Copy or eBook Copy of The Stamp of Heaven
CHECK OUT THE OTHER GREAT BLOGS ON THE TOUR:
|
4/3/19
|
Character Interview
|
|
|
4/3/19
|
Excerpt
|
|
|
4/4/19
|
Review
|
|
|
4/5/19
|
Guest Post
|
|
|
4/5/19
|
Author Interview
|
|
|
4/6/19
|
Review
|
|
|
4/7/19
|
Review
|
|
|
4/8/19
|
Scrapbook
|
|
|
4/8/19
|
Playlist
|
|
|
4/9/19
|
Review
|
|
|
4/10/19
|
Author Video
|
|
|
4/10/19
|
Top 11 List
|
|
|
4/11/19
|
Review
|
|
|
4/12/19
|
Review
|
|
|
4/12/19
|
Review
|
Forgotten Winds 
You’re welcome, Kristine!
LikeLike
I love your perspective on what spoke to you in the book and the authenticity of it. Great review.
LikeLiked by 1 person