Death on the River

by John Wilson

Set during the last year of the American Civil War, Death on the River portrays the grim brutality of war through the eyes of a young soldier.

After the older brother he worshipped is killed in battle, young Jake Clay joins the Union Army in the spring of 1864, determined to make his parents proud and honor his brother's death. His dreams of glory vanish, however, when he is wounded and taken prisoner in his first battle at Cold Harbor, Virginia, and confined to the Confederate prison camp at Andersonville, where 30,000 soldiers face violence, disease and starvation. Frightened and disillusioned, Jake takes up with Billy Sharp, an unscrupulous opportunist who shows him how to survive, no matter what the cost.

By the war's end Jake's sleep is haunted by the ghosts of those who have died so he could live. When the camp is liberated, Jake and Billy head north on the Mississippi riverboat Sultana , overcrowded far beyond its capacity. Unknown to Jake, the fateful journey up river will come closer to killing him than Andersonville did, but it will also provide him with his one chance at redemption.

Genres: Young Adult, War, Historical, Civil War, Survival

193 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2009

About the author

John Wilson, an ex-geologist and frustrated historian, is the award-winning author of fifty novels and non-fiction books for adults and teens. His passion for history informs everything he writes, from the recreated journal of an officer on Sir John Franklin’s doomed Arctic expedition to young soldiers experiencing the horrors of the First and Second World Wars and a memoir of his own history. John researches and writes in Lantzville on Vancouver Island. There are many more details in his memoir, Lands of Lost Content, https://www.amazon.com/Lands-Lost-Con...

Reviews

[Eric Mclean · Rating 5 out of 5]

The novel Death On the River by John Wilson is a story that takes the reader back into the days of the civil war. With a so-called “addiction to history” Wilson describes the life of a young soldier named Jake Clay in great detail. In Wilson’s short biography in the back of the book, he admits that even the worst horrors that are told in the story are true accounts. That being said, this book is still written with diction that most closely relates to the reading level of a juvenile, and more often than not would appeal more to boys than to girls.
I would highly recommend this book to any reader who can tolerate the occasional gruesomeness. Jake Clay is a young soldier who joins the army to prove to his family that he was just as good as his brother and ends up in a prison camp called Andersonville. There he makes a friend by the name of Billy Sharp who shows Jake how to stay alive. After Jake has been released, he attempts to make his way north by a boat called the Sultana. This trip will bring him even closer to death than the prison camp, but it also provides Jake with his one chance to do something good. The book is extremely stimulating. The details throughout the story are both vivid and sometimes rather horrifying, but both do an excellent job of engaging the reader’s imagination.
The target audience consists of juveniles. The diction flows very carefully to be very interesting and simple to read to high-level readers, and yet is simple enough for lower level readers to grasp and enjoy. With the details contained in the story the target audience is also fairly masculine. There are several instances in the story where a certain percentage of women would not find the story amusing. The book is also more enjoyable to those that feel like they have accomplished something by reading more chapters. The chapters in this story are very short, as in each chapter is a maximum of 15 pages. Personally, I enjoy the shorter chapters and bigger words. It allows for more story development in a shorter number of pages. The book reaches a high point of intensity very fast, and maintains the high level of intensity throughout.
Over all I think that the consistent amount of violence, the use of words, and the short chapters lend them self to making the target audience younger boys. Being a 17-year-old boy, I would highly recommend the book to anybody that has time to read it.

[Brendan Folk · Rating 3 out of 5]

Could you imagine living in a place that is nicknamed “Hell”? Andersonville is called this because of the awful living conditions, harsh diseases, and the lack of quality food that is given to the captured there. Jake Clay, the main character, is having a tough time coping with the things that he has seen and that he could not prevent.
The main character of this book is Jake Clay. The book takes place in the deep south of the Confederate States, Andersonville, Georgia. Jake struggles to live in the camp that he was taken to be held as a prisoner of the Confederate Army during the Civil War. During the book, he struggles to look past what has happened in his life previously. Jake has nightmares and sees the people that were killed that he could have helped but chose not to because he wanted to save his own life. Jake has a chance to help a little girl and forget about what has happened to him in the past. The question is whether he will get the job done or will he have to live with the past forever?. Along the way, Jake learns that he should help the people that are less fortunate than he is. Sometimes in life, it is better to stick to your beliefs than to give in to keep your own life safe.
I wanted to read this book because I am really into history and any insight on past events helps me stay into a book. This book reminds me of my own life because the book shows that you have to be willing to sacrifice for others. I would like to think I would do anything for others. This book was a pretty good book but I admit that I expected it to be a lot better than what it was.
You should read this book because it gives you a little look at what life was like as a soldier in the Civil War. This book is a quick read, and it isn’t too bad of a book either. This book is aimed at young adults who are interested in history, but anyone who is into books about adventure would enjoy this book for sure. If you aren’t in to the horrors of war this book is not for you.

[Sarah · Rating 3 out of 5]

If this book had a different cover, I'd be able to sell it more at my high school. Unfortunately, the cover is horrible and cheesey. The story, however, is pretty darn good. I could see this being used on an American History reading list pretty easily.

Jake Clay joins the Union Army after his brother dies fighting. Why? For revenge? to escape his grieving family? Either way, he is thrust into fighting in the South and is taken to Andersonville after being captured. And, wow, of course the conditions are horrible. I knew that. But he's also taken into a dark world of stealing, murdering, and surviving, and Jake isn't sure that's where he belongs. He knows it's wrong, but he wants to live. When the war ends, Jake has to decide between loyalty to the men who kept him alive in prison or his own sense of right and wrong.

The title and cover is misleading. Really, Death on the River only refers to the last quarter of the book. To me, the most interesting part was the prison setting, not the riverboat. The design of the paperback is cute, too--very Civil War-esque.

[Jim · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a Young Adult book, more for high school than a lower level I think. But I found it to be a very gripping story which I read very fast, almost in just one sitting ( it's 193 pages). It's a story set in the Civil War and covers the POW experience of the war ( which has been covered before) but it's also about the worst maritime disaster of US history--the sinking of the steamboat SULTANA ( which is certainly not a well-known event). The main character is a young Union soldier named Jake Clay who is captured in 1864 and sent to the Confederate POW camp called Andersonville in Georgia. Jake learns how to survive in the inhuman conditions of the camp by doing things that he doesn't feel good about later. Jake's situation certainly raises the question: how far would you go to survive? The war ends and Jake and other POWs are freed and taken to Vicksburg to be sent upriver by steamboat to return to the North. However, Jake finds himself on the overcrowded SULTANA which has a terrible boiler explosion and fire onboard. Once again, the young Jake faces death-but also has a last chance at redeeming himself. A book for kids? Yes, but I think adults can be stirred by this story of a young man at war as I was. I'll be looking for other books by John Wilson!

[Valerie McEnroe · Rating 4 out of 5]

If you can get past the ugly cover art, misleading title, and cheesy "Gone with the Wind" font, you'll have a really good Civil War story to read. There aren't many kids' books that cover Andersonville Prison in any kind of detail. It was a horrible place. Overcrowded. Filthy. Lice-infested. Food was so scarce the men were little more than skeletons if they survived. When Jake arrives at Andersonville, he is faced with a moral dilemma. Steal and kill to save your own skin or retain your humanity and gamble with death. Jake survives Andersonville with the help of his immoral, criminally-minded friend, Billy. When it's all over, Jake must face the fact that he stood by while Billy committed murder to save his own skin.

The "death on the river" refers to the overloaded Mississippi Riverboat that caught fire, sending hundreds of people to their death. Many of the people on board were soldiers returning north after the war ended. It's misleading to name the book after that incident when Andersonville prison is the main focus of the story. Again, a really good Civil War book, but no one is going to read it with that cover. A shame.

[Ronin Roddy · Rating 4 out of 5]

this book is great if you are into civil war or just history in general.

[Estella Nelson · Rating 3 out of 5]

It's a good book but it's is harder to get through

[Nikki in Niagara · Rating 4 out of 5]

Reason for Reading: John Wilson is a Canadian author whom I have read a few books of and enjoyed. I also enjoy reading Civil War historical fiction.

This is a dark, merciless book which shows one side of war, its heinous toll on life, the bloody injured victims and those people whose characters will let them take advantage of the less fortunate in any situation. The story is that of a just turned 18 year-old, Jake Clay, who joins the Union Army because his brother whom he looked up to was killed in the war. Fresh in uniform he is involved in a battle in which he is taken POW and sent to the Confederate prison camp at Andersonville, one of the worst in history. Thus the story goes on to tell the tale of the prison inmates and daily life, through the eyes of young Jake, as he is taken under wing of an immoral Billy Sharp who knows how to survive at any cost.

A page-turning story and almost too horrible to believe it is based on truth. The author pulls no punches and there are many brutal, disturbing scenes. Though the author does write them in a stark matter-of-fact way without becoming needlessly gruesome in the details. They are true to life and there is one scene in particular that I don't think I'll ever forget. Jake is a realistic character and one who not only suffers physically but also suffers with his morals and that he cannot always remain humane in an inhumane world.

Certainly a unique Civil War story for teens, told through the eyes of a POW. The publisher's recommended age is 12+, however I don't agree with that. I think the book is more appropriate for older teens. Along with all the violence I've mentioned, the protagonist is 18 years old, and the language includes continuous use of the sh- word, along with every conceivable rendition of taking the Lord's name in vain I ever thought possible. For older teens and grown-ups who like to read YA, I heartily recommend the book for an eye-opening look into a nasty piece of US history.

[Jennifer Wardrip · Rating 5 out of 5]

Reviewed by Kira M for TeensReadToo.com

When Jake's brother is killed in battle during the Civil War, he decides to join up with the Yankee Army in order to honor his brother's memory.

Taken down in a bloody battle, he's sent off to Andersonville, Georgia, one of the worst prison camps in recorded history. When a soldier without any moral sense befriends Jake, he's flattered, and desperation drives him to turn a blind eye when the man murders, lies, and steals to survive.

When the end of the war grants the prisoners release, Jake is boarded onto an overloaded riverboat going up the Mississippi River. When an engine blows up and everyone is pitched into the river, Jake will have to choose: morality or survival?

Will Jake be able to survive the journey, help others, and save his soul from going down the same dangerous path as that of the Andersonville soldier?

This book does a great job of depicting the horrors of war. There is a fair amount of language and the violence can be disturbing for younger readers. However, the accuracy of the story is amazing, the characters are well-developed, and the plot is engaging.

Readers who like historical fiction, war stories, and survival books will all enjoy reading DEATH ON THE RIVER.

[Martha Schwalbe · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read this book right after Alive in the Killing Fields so it might not get a fair shake from me. I liked the story itself, the Civil War experience with prison gangs and being in a prisoner of war camp.
Since finishing the book I've been thinking about how I would group or introduce it to my students. I decided to tie it in with other gang related books because so many of the students I teach think that gangs are new. While they are contemporary, they are certainly not new. Another area that I think the average person thinks is new is terrorism, yet people of color, and particularly Blacks have experienced terrorism since the Civil War. Women of all colors and nationalities may also experience terrorism at the hands of a man.
I would recommend this book to students who are interested in the Civil War.

[Kris · Rating 3 out of 5]

Recommended for gr. 6-9. Mild expletives, war imagery. The story opens with Jake about to leave a hospital to return home at the end of the Civil War. The reader learns about his story in flashbacks. The war that Jake experiences is not glorious and heroic, it is full of death and unfairness. The story may appeal to boys who like blood-and-guts war stories, although much of the story takes place at the Andersonville prison camp and very little during actual fighting. It would have been nice to have had a historical note - the descriptions of Andersonville and the ship Sultana are accurate according to Wikipedia :-).

[Ricki · Rating 3 out of 5]

Jake Clay lies about his age to become a soldier in the Civil War. He is captured and held prisoner in a Confederate prison camp. To ensure his survival, Jake quickly joins a gang and befriends another soldier who has no problem killing other fellow soldiers to steal from them. This story may be uncomfortable for some readers, as Jake's actions aren't always honorable. The author clearly is an expert in this field of study, and the book is rich with historical information. I think this book would appeal to a small crowd of teenagers, however.

[Scott · Rating 5 out of 5]

I found it to be a well-written YA book about the experiences of a young Union Soldier who is caught, sent to the notorius Andersonville Prison and eventually regains his freedom. the young man joins the Union Army after his older brother is killed in battle. The book covers 3 years of his life, from the time he joins until he regains his freedom, shortly after Lincoln is assassinated.

[Tyler Brick]

This book Death on the River is a very good book. I would recommend it my friends. This is what happens. There is this man who is going to go home from the war and on a boat with other people and the hits something and the boat crashes and alot of people die except him. it is an action book and it keeps you on the edge of your seat.

[ava · Rating 4 out of 5]

captures the trauma of the civil war pretty good in my opinion and at least the characters don’t suck this is probably one of my favorite books honestly

[Collin Bohnenkamp · Rating 3 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this book. Jake clay joins the Yankee army to honor his brother who died in the war The horrors he gets put up against after hes put in a army camp is unavailable. He learns quickly he has to find a group of men to have his back. Because if he was alone he would die there. I thought it was interesting to know the ghosts that would haunt him during that. It gave me another look on war.