A young boy goes in search of his father in the Civil War and finds him on the battlefield in Gettysburg. Very, very dark, almost mythological in scope, and beautifully written, but I had a few problems: 1) It was a bit too graphically violent for my taste. 2) The main character was way too philisophical for his age. I mean, he's 14 years old, and he reflects on things like he's 45. I found this annoying. And 3) Too many coincidences. The main character keeps running into the same people, no matter where he goes in Civil War Virginia. And even though he has no clue where his father is or how to get anywhere, he seems to have no problem finding him.

The book also reminded me a lot of "Cold Mountain," by Charles Frazier. Almost a bit too much.