Enemies

By Richard Whitten Barnes
Historical, 324 pages
Cover art by Trisha FitzGerald
Paperback ISBN 978-1-61309-822-6  $12.95 available from Amazon or CreateSpace
Ebooks available from Barnes and Noble, Smashwords, or Amazon

Review:
Jürgen Stern has come to Ottawa to negotiate a trade deal between Canada and Germany. He is in the hotel restaurant for breakfast and sees another man of his age. After a waiter draws his attention, he looks back to see the gentleman is gone, but has left behind a folder. Inside are drawings from a close up view of World War I. Recognition strikes Jürgen, also a veteran of the war. His determination to meet the artist leads to a momentous change for a total stranger.

Brian MacLennan knew he could not become a farmer, so he left his home on St. Joseph Island in 1916 to join the Canadian Expeditionary Force going to Europe to fight the Germans. Now, in 1968, as a successful business man, he doesn't believe his drawings of what he saw in France during the war have value, but his daughter wants him to give them to his son as a wedding gift. Only, he has left them behind.
   
Enemies exposes the viewpoints of two young men, boys really, who become soldiers, one German and one Canadian. The story gives the reader a unique view of the bravery, blood, devastation, fear and death of opposing sides. Jürgen and Brian meet again many years later, their meeting draws parallels between their differences during the appalling war, and exposes how much they were alike. As a December release, this story will certainly give readers the wish for peace.