A Discovered Diamond review of: Duty and Dishonor by Shaun Ivory

Amazon UK £2.39 £6.99
Amazon US $3.09 $11.99
Amazon CA $15.99

Military / Espionage / Fictional Saga
US Civil War 1800s

Born on the voyage to America from Ireland, Conor O’Farrell is the protagonist in this first part of a series entitled America Made Me. At the age of sixteen - not being truthful about his age - Conor volunteers for the Union army and after some rudimentary training, soon finds himself seeing action. He becomes a hero, but wounded, he is to recuperate at a hospital where he meets President Abraham Lincoln. Things initially go well for Conor, but he is accused of spying by the sadistic Allan Pinkerton. Conor, now in his late teens, finds himself a fugitive…

This is a well told tale, with excellent characters and precise dialogue, I had one minor problem, however: usually, when one reads what are effectively memoirs of a totally fictional character, we are aware that the character will probably die eventually (although not necessarily, as this is pure fiction) but we do not normally know if, how or when. The author gives us these details in his prologue at the very start of Conor's adventures and I personally found this to be a  'spoiler'. I would much rather follow his adventures in this volume and the, quote, “several”, to follow without this prior knowledge, but apart from that small, personal niggle, a good novel and a thoroughly enjoyable read.

© Richard Tearle

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