Beloved Enemy by Al Lacy

Beloved Enemy by Al Lacy is a fictional account of the spying carried on during the War Between the States.  Jenny Jordan is the daughter of well known Colonel Jeffery Jordan, who made a name for himself during the Mexican War.  Colonel Jordan was so well thought of by President Lincoln that even though he was from Virginia the President  named him to the Senate Military Committee as the military advisor.  The Colonel has pledged his allegence to the United States and the President has complete trust in him.  Mr. Lincoln also hired Jenny as his receptionist for the Senate Chamber at the Capitol.  Colonel Jordan knows that with the Civil War heating up that it would be favorable to the south for a inside member of the committee to be funneling information to them and devises the idea of a spy ring right within the very committe planning the war effort.  His plan is to use women for the information runners. 

Jenny, much to her father's dismay, falls in love with Buck who is an up and coming soldier in the Federal army.  Jenny is pulled between feeling devotion to the south and feeling the increasing love that she has for Buck.  Jenny is aware that if she told that her father was the leader of a spy ring that he would be killed by firing squad.  In addition to all that, the Colonel is pressuring her to assist the south by becoming a spy herself and carry information for him over the enemy lines.

I liked Beloved Enemy though the story lags occassionally with the details of war.  It is a story of war and Mr. Lacy does  a good job of telling both sides of the story so that the reader is aware that both south and north are good loving Christian people who are sure that God is on their side.  One of the saddest parts of the story is the story of the deaths of Private Mike Durbin and Pal, his dog.  I think that anyone would like reading Beloved Enemy, though it is story of love during war it is also a story of the Civil War and the pain that it caused between and within families.  Well worth the time to read.
I recieved this book from Multnomah Publishers for this review.