The Winter Soldiers

Sergeant Jack Crossman #4

by Garry Kilworth, Terry Wale (Voice)

After the Battle of Inkerman on 5 November 1854 the British Army faces a terrible winter. Provisions and clothing for the troops are hopelessly inadequate. In this grim season Sergeant "Fancy Jack" Crossman and his troop are billeted at Kadikoi village near Balaclava harbour - their official instructions are to blow up the magazine in the Russian Star Fort. But it transpires that Crossman's true, and infinitely more complex, mission is to spy on a British general suspected of corruption, and to bring about his downfall. Set against a bleak backdrop it is only the sheer grit and determination of Crossman and his men that allows them to survive against all odds in the field.

Genres: Historical Fiction, Fiction, Historical

Audio Cassette

First published January 1, 2002

About the author

Garry Douglas Kilworth is a historical novelist who also published sci-fi, fantasy, and juvenile fiction.

Kilworth is a graduate of King's College London. He was previously a science fiction author, having published one hundred twenty short stories and seventy novels.

Reviews

[Clemens Schoonderwoert · Rating 4 out of 5]

Read this book in 2006, and its the 4th volume of the very enjoyable "Fancy Jack" Crossman series.

Aristocratic "Fancy Jack" Crossman, and the British Army find themselves after the Battle of Inkerman, which was on the 5th November AD1854, facing a terrible winter.

Billeted in Kadikoi village, near the Balaclava harbour, Crossman and his men next target will be to blow up the magazine in the Russian Star Fort.

Apart from that mission Jack Crossman has an even more important task in spying out who the corrupt General is within their own Army, and bring about his downfall.

What is to follow is a engrossing tale in which Jack Crossman and his men must do everything they can to succeed in their mission, while "Fancy Jack" will need to be at his sharpest in mind and physically at his strongest to uncover and overcome this corrupt General, and all that will be produced by the author in a very lifelike and believable fashion.

Very much recommended, for this is another excellent addition to this great series, and that's why I like to call this episode: "A Very Exciting Crimean Spy Mission"!

[Sue Law · Rating 2 out of 5]

After the first three, I found this a terrible disappointment. There's no coherent story and no big climax. It's a collection of anecdotes good, bad and indifferent, tied together in chronological order. If it had been presented as a collection of short stories it might have been more palatable.
Oh, and the attack on Kertch Harbour is about 10 pages towards the end of the book.

[Stephen Fleet · Rating 2 out of 5]

Compared to the first three this seemed a let down.
Although gaps were filled as to Fancy Jacks personal life the fox hunts and battles seemed to be rushed.

[Thomas Marshall · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have read a lot in this genre but not of Kilworth's I started with this book, #4 in the series, which is the only one our library had. I was taken in by the characters and the descriptions and, since 1-3 in the series isn't available through interlibrary loan in my state, I went quickly on-line and bought them! Now, if you knew how much of a tight-wad I am, you would wonder why I didn't give it six stars!

[Neil · Rating 2 out of 5]

I didn't understand what was the point of the book. I found that it was a ramble of the Crimea war and what it was like in those times but there was no coherent story line - nothing that we could hold onto for a final conclusion. Very weird as the 3 previous books were a lot better. Lets hope it gets better in the following books.

[Tony · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoyed this, but did feel like a series of short stories and a bit rushed.
It will be interesting where the author goes next with this series?

[Mark Donald · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not quite as good as the books that came before as no major action scene just a couple of small skirmishes until the end few pages. Jack finally meets his dad and deals with him in this book.

[Richard · Rating 3 out of 5]

An enjoyable read but not the best in the series despite Crossman's identity and lineage now revealed.

[Alan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Fancy Jack's cover is blown when his father finds out that he is in Crimea as an enlisted man. The war starts winding down. Well written and a good learning experience as the Crimean War plays out.

[Alan · Rating 3 out of 5]

After having read a couple of Bernard Cornwell's Sharpe novels I wanted to try one of the Fancy Jack Crossman books set during the Crimean War. Unfortunately, where I believe Kilworth-Martin does a better job of characterization (Fancy Jack versus Sharpe), Cornwell is the better story teller.

I had read one Fancy Jack short a few years back, and frankly this book reads much more like a fix-up of several short stories than a novel. It is not impossible to link multiple events that happen over several months together into a coherent whole. Kilworth-Martin just does not do that very well.

Despite the above preceding paragraph, I am tempted to search out later novels in the series to see what befalls Fancy Jack, Jane, Lavina, Peterson and Ruppert.

The portrayal of how bad the conditions were for the British soldiers is well done. The action scenes are passable.

[Mark Luongo · Rating 2 out of 5]

The only thing that made this book enjoyable was a quote about the Bersaglieri:
"Lavinia brought up the subject of the Sardinian Bersaglieri and their distinctive headdress, with its black cock feathers."
They look so dashing, Jane. And their undress cap is red with a pretty blue corded tassel. From a distance it looks a little like a Turkish fez.
They are so gallant, the Sardinians. I had one sweep off his broad-brimmed hat the other day and tell me that he believed summer had arrived.
When I asked why, he said I had opened the door to it with my smile."
And despite being set during the Crimean War (referencing G.B. McClellan's appearance as an observer) it was otherwise a poor imitation of Bernard Cornwell's Sharpe series in many ways.

[Sho · Rating 3 out of 5]

possibly (probably) I'm completely spoiled by the Sharpe and Hornblower books - but these are somehow lacking in something. Action I think.

all the attacks and battles seem to be over within a page or two, and there's a lot of detail about hanging around etc etc.

So overall not bad (and since I'd read 3 of the 5 I had to finish it) but not down for a re-read.

[Pa · Rating 3 out of 5]

A rather ordinary story of military adventures during the Crimean War. Mostly of interest because I knew very little about this war (other than Florence Nightingale and the Charge of the Light Brigade (Not that Florence led the charge or anything, but she was involved in the war effort).