World War 1
5 total works
The war is coming to a close, with huge advances by the Allies. Joseph Reavley's regiment has suffered huge losses but all are living in hope that peace will soon be upon them, when a further, brutal tragedy strikes the front. Sarah Price, a young nurse, is savagely raped and murdered and Joseph, sickened by the crime, vows to find the person responsible. Matthew, Joseph's brother, is already at the front to meet a prisoner who claims to be able to identify the shadowy Peacemaker, when he becomes implicated in the nurse's death. If Matthew is to bring the prisoner to the office of the Prime Minister, he must work with Joseph to ensure that Sarah Price's killer is found, and soon. If Matthew is able to put a stop to the Peacemaker's schemes, there will be a chance for lasting peace; if he fails, then freedom and liberty could be all but a distant memory for future generations...
It is April 1915 and the world is the bloody throws of a war the soldiers had once hoped would be over by last Christmas. Now, in the rat-infested trenches on the Western Front at Ypres, nobody knows when the horror will end - and nine-tenths of the British Expeditionary Force are already dead. Back in England, meanwhile, spring is in the air and most civilians have little idea of what their soldiers at the Front are enduring. Seeking to broadcast the truth, a young war correspondent for The Times called Eldon Prentice is gathering material to write a series of shockingly candid pieces. But then he is found dead in no-man's land - and it seems that the Germans are not responsible. For Joseph Reavley, now acting as Chaplain at the Front, the event has uncomfortable echoes of his own parents' tragedy: the deaths are undeniably linked. Murder and censorship are the dark weapons being secretly employed behind the lines - but by whom, and what will the final cost be at this time of national crisis?
In the last idyllic summer of 1914, the battle lines are already drawn. In Cambridge, the golden June days seem timeless. But for Joseph Reavley the summer is shattered by his parents' deaths in a car accident. Bringing the terrible news, his brother reveals that their father, a retired MP, had been travelling to see him about a sinister plot he had discovered. Matthew's job in the secret service means that he would understand the mysterious document their father possessed, but now it is nowhere to be found. Returning after the funeral with their two sisters, Joseph and Matthew become convinced that their parents' house has been searched. As their suspicions grow, they visit the scene of the crash and find subtle evidence that their deaths may not have been accidental after all.
It's July 1917, and as the sun sets over No-man's-land so Joseph Reavley's heart sinks with it. As chaplain he must keep up the men's morale, but as rumours of mutiny grow stronger he is losing any chance of getting through to them. After the death of an officer, twelve soldiers are arrested, and it falls to Joseph to uncover the truth about their involvement. Joseph's brother Matthew, of the S.I.S, is also in pursuit of the truth, whilst struggling to come to terms with his part in the Peacemaker's death. Approached by a Junior Cabinet Minister who is being blackmailed, Matthew learns of a plot to destroy the only men who can bring about lasting peace. As he embarks on an investigation Matthew knows his own life is in danger but thinks it a small price to pay to secure the future of millions of people.
It's March 1916, and Joseph Reavley is on sick leave and finding recovery slow and hard. His sister Hannah is caring for him at home, and it's a delight to them both when Shanley Corcoran, an old friend, comes to visit. Corcoran confides in Joseph that he's come very close to completing an invention that will paralyse the deadly German U-boats. Soon afterwards, however, the leading scientist on that project is found murdered, and it's clear that someone has been betraying secrets to the enemy. Joseph's brother Matthew, of the S.I.S., comes down to investigate, and together the two men embark on a search that will solve the crime and lead them to the spy.