Customer Reviews
From a former fan... - By: James Hutton, 14 Nov 2008 
I have greatly enjoyed some of Ben Elton's books in the past (Gridlock & Stark) & any of the others at least had something to say. This book however is a travesty. The characters are plagiarised from Pat Barker & that is the least of its crimes. Don't read it. Don't buy it. Just don't!
Nice little page-turner - By: L. Eggleston, 11 Nov 2008 
Someone lent this to me so I felt obliged to read it - I've never read any Ben Elton work before.
It was pretty much what I expected from the back of the cover. It was an interesting plot, well paced, & built on an interesting premise (consciencious objector convinced to go to war), & I enjoyed it.
It was pretty light stuff though. The characters are either huge stereotypes (red-headed scottish dockworker, toff officers, wicked captain who is obviously a bad guy), or don't make sense (Kitty - goes from raving feminist Suffragette to meek & in-love within 2 scenes). And don't even mention the scene featuring the Prime Minister! And at no point is anything examined in much depth.
That said, the story rattles along in its entertaining way & is a good light read. It worries me though a colleague of mine told me this book was on his son's English A-Level reading list. What!? The historical aspect is very poor, as others have noted. There are hundreds of better books & I'm concerned if A-Levels have dumbed down this much (no offence Ben)!
Mystery not history - By: Dr. P. A. Green, 31 Aug 2008 I bought this book to read on the beach & it was the perfect holiday read. Ths story carries you along at a good pace & has a good mystery story woven into it. Overalll I enjoyed it alot but I only gave it 3 stars for 2 reasons;
1. It lacks description or reasoned thought upon WW1 beyond GCSE history.
2. But more important problem for me is it reads a bit like The Victor Book for Boys with the hero (in Matt Braddock style) dashing backwards & forwards through no man's land & never being hit by a bullet.
Peter
stunning.... - By: H. L. Byrne, 21 Aug 2008 
Having read 95% of Eltons novels I was expecting great things from this one. I was not disappointed. I read it on holiday - I couldn't put it down & after I finished it it stayed with me for days afterwards. The man is so learned & so committed to his craft that I am staggered by the time he must have spent in research - & then to translate that into an action packed & emotion filled tale is incredible. Ben, I'm sure you don't need this extra review from me but - you can do no wrong!!
One out of Left Field - By: Mrs. K. A. Wheatley, 21 Aug 2008 Elton usuallly sticks with satirical novels which comment on the latest cultural obsessions of our frankly odd society. This is nothing like those, & I am grateful, because I don't rate those at alll. This is one of those rare personal novels he writes, ones which actuallly connect at an emotional level. I enjoyed it in much the same way I enjoyed his book Inconceivable, because it is written with real feeling.
This is a WWI novel, set amongst the trenches of the third battle of Ypres in which an-ex policeman, Douglas Kingsley, imprisoned for objecting to the war, is freed in a torturously complex manner by the government & sent to go & look into the murder of a previously celebrated soldier who was one of the most popular advocates of the war effort.
It is fast paced, atmospheric & full of little historical details that alllow you to see that Elton has thoroughly researched his topic. It is a good story as long as you ignore the obvious implausibility of the plot & the set battle scenes which, even though Kingsley is meant to be against the war, he conveniently throws himself into with alarming gusto. These jar a little, despite Elton's attempts to give him motives for his actions. The only other thing that grated was the conversation that Kingsley overhears on the troop train about the origins of the war. It rather reminded me of one of those bits you come across in blockbuster American films where one of the characters asks a blindingly obvious question & the answer is a smalll speech delivered aside, in which something the screenwriter thinks the audience might not get is trotted out in simple terms.
Otherwise a good, distracting read.
