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Adventures of a Victorian Soldier #2
When Rivers Collide: Adventures of a Victorian Soldier - Book 2
They won’t leave this young soldier to his grief. Now they will suffer his wrath . . .
Ireland, 1856. Samuel Kingston can’t shake his guilt over his father’s death. Blindsided when his aristocratic enemies freeze his funds and steal incriminating papers, he becomes desperate for cash. To save the family estate, he makes a bold deal with Cornelius Vanderbilt to smuggle weapons to Costa Rica and arm the foes of the filibuster, William Walker.
Battling bandits and filibusters to complete his mission, Samuel despairs when his enemies strike again and take all that is dear to him. Now he must convince the Costa Ricans to assault Walker’s forts on the river, even if he’s sailing straight into a deathtrap.
Can Kingston survive a revenge plot and betrayal to save his new family?
When Rivers Collide is the second pulse-pounding book in the Adventures of a Victorian Soldier historical adventure series.
Ireland, 1856. Samuel Kingston can’t shake his guilt over his father’s death. Blindsided when his aristocratic enemies freeze his funds and steal incriminating papers, he becomes desperate for cash. To save the family estate, he makes a bold deal with Cornelius Vanderbilt to smuggle weapons to Costa Rica and arm the foes of the filibuster, William Walker.
Battling bandits and filibusters to complete his mission, Samuel despairs when his enemies strike again and take all that is dear to him. Now he must convince the Costa Ricans to assault Walker’s forts on the river, even if he’s sailing straight into a deathtrap.
Can Kingston survive a revenge plot and betrayal to save his new family?
When Rivers Collide is the second pulse-pounding book in the Adventures of a Victorian Soldier historical adventure series.
344 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 1, 2021
23 people are currently reading
22 people want to read
About the author
M.J. Twomey
4 books7 followersM. J. was born in Ireland and lived in the USA for many years before moving to Costa Rica. He wrote his first fiction when he was 21, before life thrust him onto another path. His adventures as an international yacht sailor and professional deep-sea diver provided the hair-rising experiences that allow him to share the raw emotions of fear and conflict with readers. He survived a yacht wreck in the Bay of Biscay and an accident underwater deep below an oil rig in the North Sea. Selling my company several years ago provided the time and financial security to write full time.
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
September 30, 2021
Very enjoyable series
I hate doing these because I do not feel qualified to critic an author’s hard work however I do know what I like and I love this series. Being an amateur historian I find the people and places are brilliantly incorporated into the books. I would recommend reading them
I hate doing these because I do not feel qualified to critic an author’s hard work however I do know what I like and I love this series. Being an amateur historian I find the people and places are brilliantly incorporated into the books. I would recommend reading them
March 4, 2021
Brilliant reading, just like the previous book
I could not stop myself reading, until I had to get ready to do other things. Looking forward to getting the next book.
I could not stop myself reading, until I had to get ready to do other things. Looking forward to getting the next book.
January 22, 2021
Please note, an advanced reader copy was provided by the author for an honest review.
This followup to Anything But Treason does well to tackle issues that were likely to have been prominent in Ireland in the 19th century, following the potato famine.
A theme that is subtly touched upon in Anything But Treason, and is explored in more detail here, is the conflict between the Protestant and Catholic faiths in Ireland. As we experience in book one, Samuel, a protestant, falls in love with Sofia, a Nicaraguan catholic. Throughout this book, we experience the conflict between Samuel's religious background and his love for his family, including his newborn son, John, named after his father.
Following the death of his father, Samuel is clearly suffering from survivor's guilt and depression. Twomey hints at Samuel suffering from PTSD, and even potentially agoraphobia at some points, though these are not explored further.
As we progress through the chapters, Samuel's guilt and grief becomes integral to the story, with Samuel's self-loathing coming and going in waves, as is common with somebody suffering from depression. At this point, the reader can empathise with him, especially if they have lost a parent themselves, and have carried the burden of the self-imposed blame.
The antagonist of the story, Fry, is similar to Samuel in one way: they care for their family and want to punish whomever they can blame for their suffering. For Fry, this is Samuel, after being convinced by Walker to blame him. This is explored through multiple POV instalments, allowing us to understand the antagonist's motivations in greater detail.
As we progress, we find Samuel and Padraig's relationship become stronger and explored more, with their disrespect for aristocrats becoming prevalent and consistently getting them in trouble. At times, their temperament seems to directly contradict what has been built in the first book, such as Samuel seemingly being willing to betray acquaintances that we meet throughout the book.
This story deals well with themes of: betrayal, the struggle to maintain humanity for soldiers, the struggles of a new parent who is struggling with mental health, loyalty, and religion. As a result, there are multiple threads that are pulled on to provide an engaging story that continues Samuel Kingston's story.
Twomey's strengths continue to show here: his depiction of raft-building, maritime warfare, and jungle warfare is, for me, beautifully immersive and intriguing, keeping the reader hooked and turning the page. The stakes are raised here from the very start, and continue to rise as we progress in an interesting parallel to the first book, where Samuel intends to protect his friends and family first and foremost.
Twomey subverts the readers expectations well, with foreshadowing being subtle and in the position I didn't expect. I appreciated the twists throughout this story, keeping the tension up as we progress.
I've given this book 4.5/5, only falling short because the teases of themes such as PTSD go unexplored, though that may not have been Twomey's intention. I'm thoroughly looking forward to Blatant Destiny when it is released, and the future instalments that may come.
This followup to Anything But Treason does well to tackle issues that were likely to have been prominent in Ireland in the 19th century, following the potato famine.
A theme that is subtly touched upon in Anything But Treason, and is explored in more detail here, is the conflict between the Protestant and Catholic faiths in Ireland. As we experience in book one, Samuel, a protestant, falls in love with Sofia, a Nicaraguan catholic. Throughout this book, we experience the conflict between Samuel's religious background and his love for his family, including his newborn son, John, named after his father.
Following the death of his father, Samuel is clearly suffering from survivor's guilt and depression. Twomey hints at Samuel suffering from PTSD, and even potentially agoraphobia at some points, though these are not explored further.
As we progress through the chapters, Samuel's guilt and grief becomes integral to the story, with Samuel's self-loathing coming and going in waves, as is common with somebody suffering from depression. At this point, the reader can empathise with him, especially if they have lost a parent themselves, and have carried the burden of the self-imposed blame.
The antagonist of the story, Fry, is similar to Samuel in one way: they care for their family and want to punish whomever they can blame for their suffering. For Fry, this is Samuel, after being convinced by Walker to blame him. This is explored through multiple POV instalments, allowing us to understand the antagonist's motivations in greater detail.
As we progress, we find Samuel and Padraig's relationship become stronger and explored more, with their disrespect for aristocrats becoming prevalent and consistently getting them in trouble. At times, their temperament seems to directly contradict what has been built in the first book, such as Samuel seemingly being willing to betray acquaintances that we meet throughout the book.
"Samuel hesitated: he didn't want to kill men in their sleep, but it was the only way."
"... he was sick of the killing and didn't want another death on his tally sheet..."
This story deals well with themes of: betrayal, the struggle to maintain humanity for soldiers, the struggles of a new parent who is struggling with mental health, loyalty, and religion. As a result, there are multiple threads that are pulled on to provide an engaging story that continues Samuel Kingston's story.
Twomey's strengths continue to show here: his depiction of raft-building, maritime warfare, and jungle warfare is, for me, beautifully immersive and intriguing, keeping the reader hooked and turning the page. The stakes are raised here from the very start, and continue to rise as we progress in an interesting parallel to the first book, where Samuel intends to protect his friends and family first and foremost.
Twomey subverts the readers expectations well, with foreshadowing being subtle and in the position I didn't expect. I appreciated the twists throughout this story, keeping the tension up as we progress.
I've given this book 4.5/5, only falling short because the teases of themes such as PTSD go unexplored, though that may not have been Twomey's intention. I'm thoroughly looking forward to Blatant Destiny when it is released, and the future instalments that may come.
January 17, 2021
A part of history usually ignored and one that created the world we live in today - a war that shaped the following centuries. Thrilling adventure of revenge and redemption that immerses you in the turmoil of Ireland’s Great Famine, the horror of the Crimean War, and the forgotten Filibuster War in Nicaragua. If you liked Bernard Cornwell's Sharpe series, you love these adventures. The Crimean War is largely forgotten about outside of academic circles and history enthusiasts. It is a war that laid the foundation for WWI and thus for WWII. To read a fictional piece set in the middle of it is a treat that an avid historical fiction reader can't pass up. I never heard of the Filibuster War in Central America before, this is a fascinating look at it. This is an extremely well-written tale that brings the readers into every scene so the feel the heat, it stimulates all of the senses without "literary heaviness". It is a modern tale written with depth.
The characters, rich and full of life, give the story color and direction. They were vivid. This is history bursting to life in a story that goes beyond just a plot. Fiction? Yes, but it is based on history and full of tantalizing scenes. War is not pretty, neither are the parties involved. I highly recommend this book. Give it a try. You won't regret it.
The characters, rich and full of life, give the story color and direction. They were vivid. This is history bursting to life in a story that goes beyond just a plot. Fiction? Yes, but it is based on history and full of tantalizing scenes. War is not pretty, neither are the parties involved. I highly recommend this book. Give it a try. You won't regret it.
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews