Before Hutson’s ‘Sgt Rolf Kessler’ series came this cold and ruthless WWII story. As with the Kessler novels, here we have the story told from the perspective of soldiers within the German army during WWII. A different view than the majority of WWII pulp war stories, which invariably take the side opposing the Nazis.

Hutson doesn’t get too bogged down in the morality of the wider war but instead focuses on the individual struggles faced. Here we have a rough-and-ready sergeant, our principal protagonist Herzog, who we follow through the hardships of fighting the Russians.

Essentially, it’s pretty much akin to Bernard Cornwell’s ‘Sharpe’ series, only set in WWII and far, far more ruthless. We follow Herzog through the St Sarall atrocity, to military prison, then onto the Polish Eastern Front. For the first third of the tale (or so), we begin to get to know some of his platoon. The Austrian Reiner Steikel, ex-farmer Uli Erhardt, ex-policeman Bonhof, along with troops Karl Langer and Willi Feld.

Later on, when Herzog’s sent to the Eastern Front, we meet a whole new platoon of men. Once again, we only really start to get to know each one for a short time before they’re individually cut down.

However, it’s with Herzog who we get to know the best. His dirty uniform, smelling of sweat and blood. Stick grenades jammed into his belt beside his trusty P-38. The beginnings of a beard licking across his face, interrupted across his left cheek by a vicious crescent-shaped scar. In his downtime, Herzog is always munching on a bar of chocolate. His commands to his troops always considered, and always with his men as his main concern.

Of course, Herzog faces his fair share of vicious, arrogant and incompetent superiors. From his early clashes with General Rimfeldt, then the two SS men – Helst and Azon. After this we have Commandant Rivas with his riding-crop which he uses to punish prisoners at Hanover. Finally, and probably the worst of the lot – Captain Ritter.

For the most part we have the Germans traipsing across war-torn ground and commandeering villages, whilst the Russian forces gradually advance upon them. However, the immediate threat’s often from the French resistance rather than the Russians themselves. Or at least, you’d think so, considering how often the troops bitch and moan about the Partisans!

In many places, the novel includes some particularly cold and brutal scenes – often involving women or children becoming cruel victims to the war. Some of these scenes are really quite nasty. However, it’s the constant bleakness of the novel, the oppression of the commanding officers, and the hopelessness of fighting in a war you don’t believe in, that ultimately sinks deep into you.

The novel does, however, suffer from a few issues. As I said, we do form a connection with Herzog, however, the others the sergeant fights alongside are far less established, and in the most part just loosely sketched out soldiers. The novel also bounds from one situation to the next, with very little linking one to the other. Indeed, after each of Herzog’s twenty-strong platoon receives the Iron Cross, at the start of the next chapter we find they’ve all been pretty much killed off, without us going through these tragic losses.

There’s also more than a sprinkling of typos within the novel. A serious proofreading of the text would have definitely been in order.

The finale and indeed the final ending of the novel is however a mighty concluding piece. Absolute carnage, with bloodshed and brutality stretched across a magnificently portrayed final stand. Here we have the Russian Cossacks riding into battle, with their sabres slicing and dicing as they go, whilst the Russian tanks lay waste to any cover the German troops try to take. It’s an incredibly evocative final stance and does Herzog and the rest of the novel proud.

All in all, it’s a solid WWII pulp war story, reflecting the absolute brutality of war, and the harshness of fighting on both sides.

The novel runs for a total of 207 pages.