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All Quiet Along the Potomac
1175 pages, Kindle Edition
Published July 3, 2026
About the author
Ryan McCarvill
3 books3 followersRyan McCarvill is an author and filmmaker from Prince Edward Island.
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Displaying 1 of 1 review
July 9, 2026
I really enjoyed Traitors & Patriots, so I was looking forward to seeing where McCarvill would take the story next. All Quiet Along the Potomac was a great follow up. Long book but really worth it.
What I liked about the first book was how it showed the slow collapse toward war. The politics, the arguments, and the personal divisions in the Roscoe family were all great. At the end, you definitely wanted more just as it felt like the story was getting started. This next book does a great job ratcheting up the drama. The characters are in the depths of the war and each of them faces various challenges that really test who they are. Overall I thought the character arcs were much stronger than the first book, which was maybe just to set the stage for this one.
The Roscoe family remains the heart of the story, but my favourite characters have to be Ben and Mae Jane Freeman. Just something about their voices feels really engaging. At first I didn't know where the Tom Roscoe thread was going, but it finished in a really interesting place and I was very invested. As a Civil War buff I might have wanted to see more of certain battles, but I get it since you can't cover everything for the story. That said, the Gettysburg scenes were really exciting and visceral and maybe my favourite part of the book.
McCarvill clearly knows the period well, but what makes All Quiet Along the Potomac work is the focus on the human side of the conflict. I was invested in these characters and the depictions of historical figures (there are a lot of them) are done in a way that you feel like the characters could have actually crossed paths at some point.
A strong second part in the trilogy. Looking forward to seeing how the story concludes with the final book.
What I liked about the first book was how it showed the slow collapse toward war. The politics, the arguments, and the personal divisions in the Roscoe family were all great. At the end, you definitely wanted more just as it felt like the story was getting started. This next book does a great job ratcheting up the drama. The characters are in the depths of the war and each of them faces various challenges that really test who they are. Overall I thought the character arcs were much stronger than the first book, which was maybe just to set the stage for this one.
The Roscoe family remains the heart of the story, but my favourite characters have to be Ben and Mae Jane Freeman. Just something about their voices feels really engaging. At first I didn't know where the Tom Roscoe thread was going, but it finished in a really interesting place and I was very invested. As a Civil War buff I might have wanted to see more of certain battles, but I get it since you can't cover everything for the story. That said, the Gettysburg scenes were really exciting and visceral and maybe my favourite part of the book.
McCarvill clearly knows the period well, but what makes All Quiet Along the Potomac work is the focus on the human side of the conflict. I was invested in these characters and the depictions of historical figures (there are a lot of them) are done in a way that you feel like the characters could have actually crossed paths at some point.
A strong second part in the trilogy. Looking forward to seeing how the story concludes with the final book.
Displaying 1 of 1 review