Anything but Treason

Adventures of a Victorian Soldier, Book 1

By: M. J. Twomey

Narrated by: Joel Daffurn

Grievously injured. Maliciously persecuted. Never defeated.

Crimea, 1854.

Facing court-martial for disobeying orders, Lieutenant Samuel Kingston despairs when avaricious aristocrats imprison his father for a crime born of Samuel’s clash with one of their own as a boy. The young Anglo-Irishman’s only hope of freeing both is accepting a commission assisting William Walker and his filibusters win Nicaragua’s bloody civil war.

Fighting through the freezing steppes of Crimea, the backstreets of Britain, and the scorching jungles of Central America, Samuel faces betrayal at every turn. And when he discovers Walker’s villainous post-war intentions, he must choose between doing what’s right and his father’s life.

Can this heroic officer make an impossible choice between family and justice?

First book in the Adventures of a Victorian Soldier series. Combat, deceit, and eye-opening portrayals of class structure abound in this tale of bravery and sacrifice.

©2020 Michael Twomey (P)2021 Michael Twomey

More than War

Before becoming Lieutenant, Samuel Kingston had to learn a valuable lesson – the aristocrats that are his neighbors, friends in school, and such are not fair or just men. Rather, he learns rather difficultly that they are vile men who care about none but themselves and their rank/stature/money. Kingston learns firsthand the difficulty of choosing between family and justice. Every step he takes, he is met with betrayal in one form or another and he learns firsthand the inequity of the class hierarchy – one he used to be blind to.

The author, M. J. Twomey, has taken historical facts and carefully woven a creative story that demonstrates the unfairness of the class system and war. Twomey carefully builds the story with details and rich characters. I will say, I was not looking forward to hearing this book on war or one about a soldier. However, Twomey’s skill in crafting a story made this book captivating and interesting. I was not lost in the war or military terminology, or the graphic, gory details of death. Twomey paints a picture with words, few and select words that communicate the story effectively. Each character was fully developed and folded into the story appropriately.

My favorite part, detail-wise, was the shortcut that Kingston with his friends and future wife took and the manner in which it was described, I could see it! The crumbling ground, the horse falling, the young man swinging slightly as he clung to the last few remaining vestiges of ground.

The narrator, Joel Daffurn, gave a wonderful performance. He spoke clearly and gave each character a unique voice that helped keep the story straight. He was wonderful at capturing the personality of the main characters and projecting this in the voice. I thought his cadence in narration was smooth and steady with just the correct amount of inflection.

There were no issues with the production or quality of this audiobook, it was professional sounding.

Disclaimer: This Audiobook was provided free of charge by the author, narrator, and/or publisher in exchange for a non-bias, honest review.