Reluctant Soldier, Reluctant Saint

by Tom Roulstone

With dreams of striking it rich in the American gold rush, James McCorkle never expected to be robbed on his first day in America. But when some thugs steal literally everything he owns, this young Irishman desperately joins the United States Army, only to discover that his troop is headed to the Utah Territory to quell a suspected Mormon rebellion. Conflicted about fighting a people he has never met, James must march to Utah to fulfill his duty. But along the way, he discovers something even more valuable than gold. Reluctant Soldier, Reluctant Saint is a surprising coming-of-age tale that reminds you that God's love can be found anywhere, even in desperate situations.

Genres: Historical Fiction, Lds Fiction

218 pages, Paperback

First published August 25, 1996

About the author

Tom Roulstone was born in Donegal, Ireland and lived for a time in Glasgow, Scotland. With his parents and two brothers he immigrated to Canada, landing at Halifax on his thirteenth birthday. He joined The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Toronto, Ontario when he was eighteen and served a mission in western Canada. He has a BA in history from Brigham Young University and MA in history from Utah State University. After teaching college history for almost a quarter of a century, Tom took early retirement to pursue a writing career. He and his late wife Betsy have six children. In 2005 Tom married Serenity Borrowman. They currently live in Qualicum Beach on Vancouver Island, British Columbia. Tom’s most recent novel,"Reluctant Soldier, Reluctant Saint,"is set during the Utah War and the building of Camp Floyd. He also has seven short Westerns on Amazon's Kindle website as well as his "Passage of Promise" series, published by Covenant communications.

Reviews

[Barbra · Rating 4 out of 5]

I won this book from Goodreads in August 2010. I am excited to get started reading as it takes place during the period in history that I love reading about. Our nation was experiencing birthing pains like never before and someone who was new to our country, yet fighting amongst people that he knows nothing about was more than an adventure.

James McCorkle was a simple man that trouble seemed to find. From the time he left Ireland and even after he disembarked the ship he had one bad mishap after another. He was forced to enlist in an army that he nothing of and became a reluctant soldier.

When the soldiers were ordered to clear Mormans from the lands in Utah, he knew he could never kill one of them. The more of them he knew, the more he saw that they were folks just like himself with similar beliefs in God. He then became a reluctant saint and was baptized into the Morman faith.

He found his love in Allie Bingham, the daughter of a Morman bishop. He found his true calling by following his faith. It was a good read and many thanks to Tom Roulstone for sharing.

[Diane · Rating 4 out of 5]

I just finished reading this book. Found it to be a easy read. A wonderful historical fiction that takes us into the history of a new Utah, and little known history of its church.
I found Roulstone to be a excillent writer and researcher.
The book took me on an amasing journy of James McCorkle and Irish imagrent. His journey is full of mishapes but the his faith and beliefs help many times.
Would recommed this for people that enjoy historical/fiction or are interested in the history of our country.

[Tausha · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5

I actually liked this one better than I thought I would when I started it. It was full of great history and really got me thinking. I felt it was slow in the middle but I was still anxious to read it and didn't get to bored. I really liked reading the story from James point of view, made it very interesting. I got so frustrated with Allie's father. I know he was just looking out for his daughter but he seemed so judgmental. I loved James' conversion story. The ending was very abrupt but overall it was an entertaining and enlightening read.

[Eleanor Jethro · Rating 4 out of 5]

What a great book - I was very pleased reading this. Easy reading. Great way of portraying the different ideals that James held and kept too. The choices he had to make were done based on his beliefs. I would recommend this book to anyone that wanted to read something different from romances and mysteries. Thank you for letting me received this book free from Goodreads Firstreads

[Jennie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Roulstone is an excellent researcher and this book, like his others, deals with a lesser known bit of Church history. It's worth reading just for the historical points, but his characters are kind of cardboardish and the plot is predictable.

[Susan · Rating 3 out of 5]

History-fiction. Not something I usually like but this was a very good mix. An emigrant, James McCorkle, arrives in America with big plans but gets robbed and finally joins the army to survive. He is sent West to put down the Mormon rebellion.

[Tom Ricks · Rating 5 out of 5]

This historical fiction is thought provoking and adventures. It paints an accurate picture of what Utah was like during this time period that was anything but easy. A definite good read from me!

[Shersta · Rating 4 out of 5]

A great new take on the strange but true story of the early LDS church in Utah.

[Susan · Rating 3 out of 5]

James McCorkle's service in the army will be his "growing up" period. The best of it will be with members of the Church, and accepting the truthfulness of the gospel.

[Michelle · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this book. Great LDS historical fiction.

[Lisa · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was pleasantly surprised!