A Single Spark

Judith McCoy Miller is one of the greats in my opinion.  Her Amana Colonies series is one of my favorites, but this differs greatly from that series.  A Single Spark takes place during the Civil War, when civilians are hired by and used by the armies to make their ammunition.  Clara McBride is one of the women who works at the laboratories and through her job she meets Lt. Joseph Brady.  He is wounded veteran for the Union and still in active duty, being assigned to the laboratory in Washington, DC.

During the course of his assignment, he is sent to the Allegheny Ammunition works in Pennsylvania.  While he is inspecting the works, there is an explosion because something sparks the gunpowder.  There were many casualties and quite a few fatalities.  Joseph has observed several safety issues there and returns to Washington with several recommendations for safety improvements. 

Judith has added several other characters to the mix, treasonists, society mavens, and other soldiers.  Each of the characters play their part perfectly to make the book so very hard to put down.  It's worth every minute it takes to read it. 

Five stars, two thumbs up, and an ammunition maker.

Bethany House and NetGalley.com provided the copy I read for this review.  All opinions expressed are my own.