A Flight of Arrows by Lori Benton (The Path Finders Book 2)

My thoughts: As the second book in The Pathfinder Series opens the story picks up where The Woods Edge closes. During a time of war and unrest, war is waging between The Crown (England) and the Continentals (The Americans). Each side has large contingencies of native Indians from a variety of tribes fighting with them.

But this story is about two families in the midst of all the turmoil of 1776 and 1777. White and Indian. Mixed breeds. And stolen sons. The saga, for it is a lengthy telling of that period's history, shows the hearts - fears and hatreds - of each. It shows how God has impacted Indians and how they pursue the path of walking with their Creator God. Their faith is strong.

 Lori Benton has thoroughly researched this story and this period of history. She brings authenticity. I am impressed with her treatment of the Indians in the story as she doesn't stage them as savages. She tells a bit of their own civilization and their unique human existence.

This is a long book and the scenes and events are written in such detail that you want to take your time in the reading. Character development is thorough and exhaustive. You see their strengths and their weaknesses. You experience their joy and their sorrows. You understand their reticence and their exuberance.

While war and battles are indeed depicted, loyalties are tested all around, and yet the story is not so raw that the reading makes one ill.

Lori Benton is an author whose works I always look forward to reading.

Click here to download Chapter 1

About the book: Twenty years past, in 1757, a young Redcoat, Reginald Aubrey stole a newborn boy—the lighter-skinned of Oneida twins— during the devastating fall of Fort William Henry and raised him as his own.

No one connected to Reginald escaped unscathed from this crime. Not his adopted daughter Anna. Not Stone Thrower, the Native American father determined to get his son back. Not Two Hawks, William’s twin brother separated since birth, living in the shadow of his absence and hoping to build a future with Anna. Nor Lydia, who longs for Reginald to be free from his self-imposed emotional prison and embrace God’s forgiveness— and her love.

Now William, whose identity has been shattered after discovering the truth of his birth, hides in the ranks of an increasingly aggressive British army. The Redcoats prepare to attack frontier New York and the Continentals, aided by Oneida warriors including Two Hawks, rally to defend it. As the Revolutionary War penetrates the Mohawk Valley, two families separated by culture, united by love and faith, must find a way to reclaim the son marching toward them in the ranks of their enemies.

DISCLOSURE: I received a complimentary copy from Blogging for Books on behalf of WaterBrook Press and the author to facilitate this review. I was not compensated. Opinions are my own.