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Paul didn't know whether they were in luck or not when he and the two soldiers under his command escaped the rain to take shelter in the humble home of Colette Auteuil in war-torn France. However, his leg wound needed treatment, and a dry bed was much better than sleeping on the soggy ground. As they ate the bread and drank the wine their hostess provided for them that night, little did they expect that events were being put in motion that would irrevocably alter not only their lives but also the lives of others connected to them a continent away.
The author begins his tragic tale with three main characters who find themselves in the military for very different reasons. Riley, a small-town boy from Southeast Texas, is drafted; Brendon, a Chicago native who occasionally walks on the wrong side of the law, takes a court-offered agreement to enter the army rather than face a charge of manslaughter for the death of a young girl; Paul, born into California affluence and being kept from the draft by his powerful father's influence, decides to chart his own course and enlist. This is also the story of the women two of the men leave behind, as well as some shady characters, a son seeking justice, and a shadowy figure determined to have his revenge on his unsuspecting victims. All will be caught up into a maelstrom of passion, murder, hatred, and ambition that will leave few standing in the end.
Kilgore has penned a well-written book with an almost Shakespearian feel to it. Filled with suspense, sacrifice, and subplots that interlock smoothly, the author's dark chronicle of lives bound together by fate is a solid addition to the World War II thriller genre.