"Two generations removed from Will Castor, the haunted veteran of the Civil War's Battle of Chickamauga, the Castors have become a prominent family in the mining town of Ishpeming, Michigan. When a conflict even greater than the War Between the States breaks out in Europe, two of the Castor boys answer the call: John, a shy, studious young man whom the other Marines call "Teach," and Matt, a charming rake who's popular with his fellow soldiers as well as with the farm girls of France.... "As in the previous novel..., the real war here is internal and lasts long after shots have ceased to ring out; it's fought in the minds of those lucky (or unlucky) enough to survive. With this story, however, Slaughter is able to expand beyond the effects of war on one person to explore their repercussions for an entire family-a clan that holds sacred its responsibility to protect its members from harm. "A sharp, immersive family drama played out against the ravages of war."