Cyndi J. (cyndij) reviewed The Shirt on His Back (Benjamin January, Bk 10) on + 1031 more book reviews
This is the tenth in the Benjamin January series. You could start here, but these are so good - start at the beginning. For some reason, I lost track of the series after this book, and it's so nice to know there are at least 7 more to go.
I loved having a new setting for Ben. For every book I say the same thing - Hambly does such a fabulous job setting the scene that you really feel you are there. Meticulously researched but not pedantic, all the characters are vibrantly alive. Historical characters show up to play a completely natural part. There were politics involved in sending out the trappers - so obvious but something I had never considered before. And in this book we learn a lot about the enigmatic Shaw, and it's a tragic story. I loved how Ben, fighting for his life out in the wilderness with the mountain men and Indians, manages to do deductions worth of Sherlock Holmes based on the clothes the murdered man wore. I liked how he called Shaw his brother, that for once he is not defined by others solely as a black man, and how even though Rose is not there, Hambly made her a part of the story as Ben brings her to mind. Another really gripping story from Hambly.
I loved having a new setting for Ben. For every book I say the same thing - Hambly does such a fabulous job setting the scene that you really feel you are there. Meticulously researched but not pedantic, all the characters are vibrantly alive. Historical characters show up to play a completely natural part. There were politics involved in sending out the trappers - so obvious but something I had never considered before. And in this book we learn a lot about the enigmatic Shaw, and it's a tragic story. I loved how Ben, fighting for his life out in the wilderness with the mountain men and Indians, manages to do deductions worth of Sherlock Holmes based on the clothes the murdered man wore. I liked how he called Shaw his brother, that for once he is not defined by others solely as a black man, and how even though Rose is not there, Hambly made her a part of the story as Ben brings her to mind. Another really gripping story from Hambly.
