book cover of When Johnny Came Marching Home
 

When Johnny Came Marching Home

(2012)
A novel by

 
 
Trapped in a what appears to be an endless bloodbath--vividly presented with Heffernan's meticulous historical research--the boys gradually begin to change until their close-knit childhood ties are little more than a fractured memory. By war's end, one boy is dead, one returns a physically crippled and emotionally compromised man, and the third comes home as an unfeeling psychopath.

The novel turns on the subsequent murder of the psychopath, and the offer of redemption for the wounded young man who must investigate the crime. When Johnny Came Marching Home is a story about war and how it affects the lives of all who become a part of it, both directly and peripherally. Although set during the Civil War, this book casts shadows of what we endure today and the horrors to which young soldiers are subjected.

Genre: Historical Mystery

Praise for this book

"Sliding back and forth in time--before, during, and after the Civil War--William Heffernan creates a powerful, intriguing, and complex novel about the intricacies of friendship and the devastating effects of war." - Jonathan Santlofer


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