Essex Dogs

Starred review from December 12, 2022
Journalist and historian Jones (The Plantagenets) makes his fiction debut with a rousing story of the Hundred Years War, the first in a projected trilogy. It’s 1346, and veteran trooper Loveday FitzTalbot leads his 10-man mercenary band, the Essex Dogs, onto the beaches at Normandy as part of the English invasion of France. Being on the vanguard of the 15,000-strong invasion force, the Dogs are first into the cities being sacked on the way to conquer Paris. During reprieves from stiff resistance, they loot churches and steal mood-elevating powders from apothecaries. Loveday and his men also find a secondary enemy in a rival warband of East Anglians, whose bloodthirsty men hound them at every turn. Finally, the heavily outnumbered English square off with the French at the battle of Crecy, with Loveday and the surviving Dogs in the thick of it. Vivid characterizations and a strain of black humor add to the pointed drama (at one point, a particularly odious fighter loses his nose on the battlefield, and all those around him are relieved when he finally faints and stops screaming). Brutal, graphic, and gory, the battle scenes viscerally hurl the reader into the heat of 14th-century combat. It’s good to know these Dogs will howl again.

Starred review from December 1, 2022

DEBUT Fraternal camaraderie and the gritty realities of war mix in historian Jones's (Powers and Thrones: A New History of the Middle Ages) fiction debut, which follows 10 soldiers in King Edward III's army as they fight their way through France during the Hundred Years' War. The novel, the first in a planned trilogy, culminates in the 1346 Battle of Cr�cy after taking the "Dogs" through several earlier smaller battles and skirmishes. Loveday, the grief-stricken leader of the group, discovers along the way that he's lost his taste for the harsher parts of war, while Romford, the newest and youngest member, struggles with his own personal demons, both past and present. An unpredictable priest, a temperamental Scotsman, and several archers help round out the group. Jones brings his trained historian's eye to his writing through detailed descriptions of armor, weaponry, and tactics, but never allows those details to bog down the thrilling, fast-paced story. Readers may hope that future books in the trilogy allow them to get to know some characters better, but Jones mostly succeeds in balancing his suspenseful action scenes with enough emotional weight to keep readers invested. VERDICT Highly recommended for fans of Bernard Cornwell or Ken Follett who are looking for a high-stakes, immersive war story.--Mara Bandy Fass

Copyright 2022 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

Starred review from December 1, 2022
A historical saga about a motley crew of English fighters making life miserable for the French during the early days of the Hundred Years' War. Ten strong when they land in Normandy in 1346, the Essex Dogs, as the crew is called, are led by Loveday FitzTalbot, a faded veteran struggling with deep personal losses. A colorful and contrary mix of English, Welsh, and Scots, the Dogs range from the temperamental Father, whose days of preaching were already long past when he suffered brain damage from a falling roof tile, to Romford, a young, cocksure archer who has a habit of getting in trouble. Their job in Normandy is to first find the enemy--not always easy considering "the ingenious French tactic of fleeing at the first sight of trouble"--and then rout them. When the English and French armies do meet, as in Caen, rivers of blood are spilled. Loveday, who must rely on his wits as much as his sword to survive, must also contend with his newly developing conscience. An impeccably researched "you are there" novel with a real-time approach, Jones' entertaining fiction debut (following nonfiction books including Crusaders, 2019) moves episodically from encounter to life-threatening encounter. For all its violence, the book hums with black humor. Jones is at his best when humor and violence come together: "The head flew off, tumbled once in the air and landed by Loveday's face, so that they were almost nose to nose. Its eyes seemed to widen hugely, then the eyelids fluttered closed." Retrieving three knights' publicly displayed skulls in Paris against all odds is an undertaking that's as much fun as a good heist scene. It will be hard to top those scenes in Jones' planned sequels. An enjoyable romp through the darkest of ages.

COPYRIGHT(2022) Kirkus Reviews, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.