Title: Northern Wolf (Northern Wolf Series Book 1)
Author: Daniel Greene
Genre: Military Historical Fiction
Book Blurb:
A broken man will be forged in the flames of war... It is late 1862, and the United States has been ripped apart by civil war for over a year with no end in sight. The war is a distant thought to Johannes Wolf, a young German immigrant with a crippled leg keeping him off the muster lists. Desperately dredging the gutters for recruits, Wolf cons his way into the depleted, demoralized, and poorly run Union army, and is promptly placed in the undesirable F Company of the 13th Michigan Cavalry. Wolf's company find themselves riding with Custer and the Michigan Brigade on a collision course with master horseman J.E.B. Stuart and the Army of Northern Virginia in a small town in Pennsylvania, called Gettysburg. Will they stand tall against the knights of the South and prove themselves worthy? Or will they fall beneath screaming bullets and sweeping blades, becoming more bloody fodder for a lost cause? Northern Wolf is a thrilling, historical page-turner packed with detailed passages of battle, the horrors of war, and the struggle to discover oneself. Fans of Bernard Cornwell, Jeff Shaara, Simon Scarrow, and Steven Pressfield will be captivated by this powerful new series. Start the adventure today!
Excerpt:
The wind tugged at the standard of F Company of the 13th Michigan. Roughly thirty-two inches high, seventy inches long, and a dove of thirty-one inches to staff. The red was blood-vibrant over the field of pitch black. The golden wolf head snarled fiercely against the ebony cloth. It said nothing else. There were no crossed sabers, as designated cavalry guidons were supposed to bear, nor numbers and letters of their unit and company. Only a golden wolf baring its teeth at the enemy. Today, the first sergeant had carried it, and he’d been butchered in their last charge. Now, it was Wolf’s turn to bear the company colors. Let them take it if they can.
The ground churned beneath their horses. It was a race to reach the Southerners first, each trooper trying to gain strides on the general that charged so blindly into harm’s way ahead of the rest.
Billy’s chest heaved beneath Wolf as he galloped, his muscle flexing with each step of the horse’s stride. The animal must be tired after the first charge and now Wolf was asking the horse to repeat his performance. Without a horse, Wolf would be ridden down. A crippled man with little future in the infantry. Billy was his lifeblood to war, and he led him again into the Confederate swell surging over the pastures, knowing this could be their last ride.
Rebel yells turned to demon screams as the collision between the cavalrymen became a guarantee. It was normal to protect one’s horse, but all the men knew what was at stake and fully committed to the charge.
Wolf found himself bellowing like a wild banshee, the wind whipping his flag and his clothes. The other men picked up the cheer, forcing it back upon the encroaching rebels. It was the only way a man sometimes could steel himself before putting his terrestrial body in death’s harrowing sights. It gave him the courage to fight and kill another man, and if need be die with his head held high. And the opposing men braced for impact.
There was a fraction of a second before the two forces met that everything slipped into slow-motion. It was as if time and space stopped. The fierce, defiant screams of men, the quake of hooves, sabers outstretched suspending in the air, all captured Wolf’s mind, holding it hostage. The man’s eyes across from him were an almost sky blue. His teeth mostly white. His cheeks covered with a short, blond beard. The young rebel’s saber veered downward and he closed his eyes at the last second as if it could protect him from the violence.
Wolf did the opposite. His eyes stared into the oncoming madness as the front ranks of mounted men slammed into one another with a mighty crack that was heard in the heavens. It sounded like a hundred-foot wave crashing into the shore or a line of timber falling to the earth. The opposing men were a struggle of oil and water, with only one rising to the surface. The rebel across from Wolf blurred by.
Horses toppled, men were thrown to the ground and sabers flashed as riders moved past one another. The second and third rows of men pushed into the front, but they had slowed down to avoid fallen men and mounts alike.
Like a fist to the gut, the Union horsemen punched into the Confederate line, folding them to the flanks. The 1st Michigan continued through the lines of rebels, cutting them, but the rookie 7th and 13th stalled within the rank and file of rebel horsemen absorbing the forceful impact of the Union soldiers.
A rebel in a butternut coat took a swing at Wolf with a saber, the blade splitting the air. He parried the saber strike with the flagpole, the enemy’s sword shaving a piece free. He yanked Billy’s reins to the side, away from the man. Another rebel in an open red shirt wrapped a hand around the flagpole in an attempt to steal the colors. Fire barked from Wolf’s Colt as he shot into the center of the rebel’s crimson chest.
The rebel flinched, but didn’t release the staff as darker crimson stained his shirt. The horseman dropped his gun and used both hands on the guidon. Growling into the man’s face, Wolf spurred Billy away, and together they dragged the man out of his saddle. The Red Shirt fell to the earth and disappeared into the bloody grass and dust.
Frantic seconds passed as Wolf scanned for members of his unit. Blue- and gray-clad men seethed in the chaos of war and the scintillate swipes of sabers. The 1st Michigan had reengaged the rebels on a flank. The booming of cannon ripped into the rebel rear, driving the horsemen deeper into the mass of Federal cavalry.
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Readers’ opinions:
“I honestly think this work will be able to sit comfortably on a book shelf next to WEB Griffin's Brotherhood of War.”
“Being a Civil War buff and a one-time reenactor, I found this book to be very intriguing and a quick read... It centers primarily around the battle of Gettysburg and the engagements surrounding the battlefield which determined the final outcome of the bloodiest battle in American history. Well written and RECOMMENDED.”
“Northern Wolf brings to vivid life what too many consider a "side show" of the battle of Gettysburg, the crucial cavalry battle east of town on July 3, with lead up engagements in Hunterstown on July 2, and Hanover a few days earlier. His portrayal of both officers and troopers is detailed and plausible. I'm reminded of John Keegan's "The Face of Battle" as Greene delved into the inner psychology of men in deadly struggle. So for me it's on to the sequel "Northern Hunt".
Start the multi-award-winning military historical fiction series today, and an embark on an immigrant soldier’s journey through the Civil War beginning with the famous battle of Gettysburg.
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Author Biography:
Daniel is the award-winning author of The End Time Saga and the historical fiction Northern Wolf Series. Whether it’s a saber charge in the American Civil War or a gun battle between two rival bands surviving a hellish landscape, he is known for his ability to embed every page with fast-paced action, thrilling suspense, and gritty realism. He is an avid traveler and physical fitness enthusiast with a deep passion for history. The works of George R.R. Martin, Steven Pressfield, Bernard Cornwell, Robert Jordan, and George Romero have inspired his work. Although he is a Midwesterner for life, he's lived in Virginia long enough to consider it home. He is a proud member of the Horror Writers Association, the Historical Novel Society, and the Military Writers Society of America.
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