Cannons of the Comstock by Brock and Bodie Thoene has been reviewed by Focus on the Family’s marriage and parenting magazine. It is the fifth book in the “Saga of the Sierras” series.
Cannons of the Comstock by Brock and Bodie Thoene has been reviewed by Focus on the Family’s marriage and parenting magazine. It is the fifth book in the “Saga of the Sierras” series.
In 1864, California is a mixture of Union supporters and Confederate sympathizers. Although Tom Dawson’s family is from Virginia, their sympathies are with the Union, and they are strongly opposed to slavery. After hearing of a Confederate secret society plot to seize control of California silver and gold mines, Tom infiltrates the group to supply information to the Union army.
As a spy, Tom is drawn into a dangerous game of deception that forces him to rely heavily on Mont James, a 9-year-old former slave. As Tom earns the trust of the leaders of the group and breaks up their plans to outfit a ship as a privateer, Mont is kidnapped and placed in an underground Chinese slavery ring. Later, after Mont escapes, he and Tom reunite to battle the Confederate sympathizers before someone escapes with the stolen gold shipments.
While the main thrust of the book is the intrigue over the Confederate secret society, the authors do provide background on how churches split over the Civil War, even to the point of trying to out-sing each other during worship services. They describe the bitter feelings that divided congregations and neighbors as Christians tried to practice their faith. While a biblical text supporting slavery is used, in each scene this viewpoint loses to the biblical quotes that do not support slavery.
None
Although white and Chinese slaveholders play an important role in the story, they are depicted as evil.
The word n-gger is used a few times. Fight scenes include detailed descriptions of the attacks but are tame compared to what viewers may see on television or in movies.
The story details a mild romance between characters, but there is no kissing. A woman who is clearly viewed as having a bad character and being a Confederate sympathizer attempts a seduction.
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Drugs: Opium and opium addicts are in some scenes, but the users are not portrayed in a positive light.
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