Surrection

by Will Martin

Overview

Surrection traces the moral evolution of Jabez Cooper, a young man from western Missouri, who is swept by circumstances beyond his control into the violent border war in the late 1850s between Missouri "border ruffians" and Kansas abolitionists. Strongly influenced by his father, he supports the ruffians. Later, during the Civil War, he joins a pro-Confederate guerrilla gang in Missouri along with his friends Frank and Jesse James. Jabez is torn between his loyalty to his outfit and his growing disgust for the brutal, terror tactics used by its leaders. He feels trapped and frozen in indecision. The woman he loves helps him come to know he must choose and not choosing is a choice. Jabez makes a fateful decision and takes a dramatic action.

The novel captures the fraught history of Western Missouri and eastern Kansas during the period from 1855-1864. In addition to its fictional characters, the story features a number of historical characters, including John Brown, Jesse and Frank James, William Quantrill, "Bloody" Bill Anderson, and Arch Clement.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9798985325805
Publisher:	Nearing Sky Press
Publication date:	01/13/2022
Pages:	274
Product dimensions:	5.50(w) x 8.25(h) x 0.58(d)

Editorial Reviews

03/14/2022

Martin’s debut historical fiction blends a coming-of-age story with Civil War drama. In 1856, fourteen-year-old Missouri-born Jabez Cooper learns two skills from his father: blacksmithing and a hatred for anti-slavery, pro-Union interlopers at the Kansas border. Once his father dies, Jabez joins the pro-Confederate Bushwhackers, a band of brutal men hellbent on destroying abolitionists, whether soldiers or just civilians. Over the course of nine years, Jabez witnesses massacres and now yearns to escape the violence, but the ruthless leader Bloody Bill Anderson kills anyone who dissents. After bonding with a thoughtful Union hostage soldier and aiding his escape, Jabez defects, only to live in hiding as Anderson tracks him down.

History buffs will appreciate Martin’s vivid accounts of notorious American antiheroes like John Brown, Jesse James, and William Quantrill. Poetic detail breathes life into the skirmishes: “Three men on horseback trailed bolts of calico behind them in a cascading stream of color as they raced through the main street.” As a character, Jabez’s role is to bear witness to violence, and save for his moral indecision he’s not especially compelling, especially as shifts in viewpoints over a half-dozen characters distance us from his plight. Nonetheless, these multiple perspectives and strong period dialogue paint a thorough picture of the secessionist struggle.

What this book does best is expose the depraved tactics of fighters on both the Union and Confederate sides: Bushwhackers dressed in Union uniforms earn a farmer’s trust before murdering him; men take part in revenge-driven ambushes; hostage-taking is rampant, and more. The Bushwhackers’ pro-Union counterparts, the antislavery Jayhawkers, may be on the right side of history but prove no more pure. Jabez’s story of being captive among sociopaths in a bloody war of attrition stirs sympathy for all involved, both victims and indoctrinated perpetrators. American history fiction fans will value Martin’s transporting look at an era of terror.

Takeaway: A vivid dramatization of the turbulent “Bleeding Kansas” period of American strife that will fascinate history buffs.

Great for fans of: Daniel Woodrell’s Ride with the Devil, Jim R. Woolard’s When the Missouri Ran Red.

Production grades Cover: N/A Design and typography: A Illustrations: N/A Editing: A Marketing copy: A

BookLife Review

N/A at this time.

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