Shard

by James R. Benn

Private Ethan Shard is part of the US Army of Occupation in Japan, 1950, knee-deep in the black market, getting rich stealing from the Army and selling to Japanese gangs. All that changes when the North Koreans invade South Korea and overwhelm the defending forces. Ethan Shard is sent to war, along with his partner-in-crime Elliot “Skitter” Skinner, part of a hastily organized force in a desperate attempt to halt the North Korean advance. In their first skirmish, the two men are captured. It will take all of Shard’s strength to help survive the brutality of the climate, their captors, and their own natures in this novel of captivity, betrayal, and endurance.Praise for Korean War is often called the “forgotten war.” SHARD, James R. Benn’s exquisitely researched novel, brings that tragic era blazingly to life. After reading it, you will never forget that war, nor the men who fought it, again.—Martin Limón, author of War Women and other Sergeants Sueño and Bascom novels.Concise, well-researched, exciting, intensely personal and illuminating. SHARD, Benn’s fictional exploration of the Korean War—America’s “forgotten war”—is breathtaking in its detail and astounding in its emotional depth and breadth. An electrifying boots-on-the-ground look at the past that is especially pertinent today.—Stephen Mack Jones, author of the AUGUST SNOW thrillersPraise for the Billy Boyle wartime storytelling.—The New York Times Book ReviewAs is always the case with Benn's books, the painstaking research is evident, the story crackles with life, and the overlay of fictional characters onto very real historical events is seamless.—BookpageExceptional . . . Benn has never been better at integrating a whodunit plot line with a realistic depiction of life on or near the battlefield.—Publisher’s Weekly Starred reviewExtensive historical and military contextual detail, copious suspense, plenty of action, and the innate politics of power are distinctive traits of this acclaimed World War II–set series.—Library Journal

298 pages, Kindle Edition

First published October 11, 2021

About the author

James R. Benn is the author of Billy Boyle: A World War II Mystery, selected by Book Sense as one of the top five mysteries of 2006 and nominated for a Dilys Award. The First Wave was a Book Sense Notable title.
Benn is a librarian and lives in Hadlyme, Connecticut.

Reviews

[M.Z. Urlocker · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a gut-wrenching book about the Korean War. It's quite a departure from Benn's Billy Boyle series, which by comparison, seems light hearted. It describes the capture and imprisonment of two American POWs captured early in the war, and the depths they must suffer in order to survive. It's an unconventional novel in many ways. The mystery at the heart of the story reveals itself slowly. In the end, it's a story of betrayal and endurance. Well worth reading.

[Thomas Sharp]

Korean War prisoner-of-war camp life and death, and everything in between.

[Mike · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another outstanding work by James Benn.

[Sharon · Rating 5 out of 5]

Heartbreakingly honest, with characters as wonderfully fleshed out as all Mr
Benn's characters are, this is a much darker book than his others. The title character is definitely an antihero.