The Chinese Attack by John Bishop - A Review

I was asked to read and then review this book by a friend.  Here are my comments.

It is not what it seems at a first glance at the title. John Bishop has turned his knowledge of a major historical event into a full length novel. The early chapters give some insight into the layers that run through all the pages but there is some distraction to the reader in him doing this.

The story is set towards the end of The First World War and his account of it I found gripping, very interesting but depressing for the graphic detail of the conditions and the waste of human life emphasised it to a great degree. The past lives of some of the characters are intriguing, add tension and are regularly referred to which was fascinating although a little over done at times. I did think that some parts had been edited out causing me to wonder if I had missed something. There are amazing details included  as this story involves through various scenes and sub-plots. It moves rapidly through 400 pages but I did wonder if my interest would hold, and it did. The Chinese involvement was purely to act as labourers but there is more to it than that. I liked the dialogue as it moved the story on and the ‘snatches’ of songs added to the feeling of it all. 

There is regrets, guilt, self- blame, revenge and how life could be that cheap. You will find the arrogance shown by many to be disturbing and wicked. Of course, there is a romance which is indicated in early chapters but I will not spoil the end result for you. I was totally absorbed at times with this well written novel. Read it and see for yourself.