MWSA Review

I am really pleased with this recent review of ENEMIES by the Military Writers Society of America.

Title: ENEMIES
Author: Richard Whitten Barnes
Reviewer: Joe Epley
Category: Historical Fiction
ISBN-10: 1613098227
ISBN-13: 978-1613098226

"Enemies share similar perspectives of war, but with an interesting twist.
Vivid memories of the World War I trenches flooded Jurgen Stern as he glanced at drawings
found in an Ottawa hotel in 1968. Some of the scenes were from the battlefields where he fought
long ago. Stern traced the owner of the drawings to a former Canadian soldier, Brian MacLennan , now
like Stern, an old grandfather.
They fought against each other in the same battles, yet had not met. But one of the drawings
compelled Stern to track down MacLennan and solve a 50-year-old mystery that had caused the
German to hold on to a postcard size portrait sketched on the back of a map that he took from
Canadian soldier. The rendering was identical to one in MacLennan 's portfolio.
Enemies follows both men as teenagers who matured quickly in their first minutes of combat.
Through them, author Richard Whitten Barnes brings alive the fear, sounds, smells, and horrors of
trench warfare. The reader experiences the emotional and physical strains on the young soldiers as
they watch friends die and become maimed in horrific ways. They both pine for a special girl back
home as they try to sleep in water clogged craters. Through these up close and personal experiences,
which are written in a well-balanced narrative, the reader has a realistic view of the “War to end all
Wars” from the perspective of privates and junior NCOs.
Through all this is an intricately woven plot that comes to light as the two old veterans meet
for the first time and discuss the drawings. They quickly form a friendship that takes the story to a
surprising and heartwarming climax.
I recommend this fast-paced book."