SEVEN STONES TO STAND OR FALL – Diana Gabaldon
A Perfect 10
Delacourte  Press
ISBN: 978-0-399-59342-0
June 2017
Anthology

THE CUSTOM OF THE ARMY

Lord John Grey finds himself in a pickle when he encounters an electric eel; subsequent issues transpire, and he finds himself on a ship to Quebec to attend a court martial. He befriends a Native American, delivers a miniature portrait to a cousin, teaches him a lesson, and then is involved in a famous battle.

THE SPACE BETWEEN – 1778 Paris

Comte St. Germaine is looking for “the frog” thirty years after “dying” in the Star Chamber. He has questions to ask, and he has a secret.

Joan MacKimmie, Jamie Fraser's step-daughter, is soon to be a postulant in a Paris convent. She is escorted across the channel by Ian and Jennie Murray's son, Michael, a recent widower. Michael finds himself as a self-appointed protector of Joan, but what is he protecting her from?

A PLAGUE OF ZOMBIES - Jamaica, 1761

Lord John Grey is sent to Jamaica with a battalion of soldiers to deal with slave uprisings. His initial impression of the governor and others is that there is something very strange going on, but no one is willing to say what. When he is warned of zombies and attacked in his quarters by a strange apparition, Lord John knows there's more than meets the eye to his assignment.

A LEAF ON THE WIND OF ALL HALLOWS - World War II England

Jerry MacKenzie has been chosen to fly a modified Spitfire to Eastern Europe to do photo reconnaissance. While practicing over northern England, the plane goes down, and in his recovery mode, MacKenzie staggers away from the wreckage, and into another time. His wife, Dolly, and son, Roger, wait for him in London.

VIRGINS - France – 1740

Jamie Fraser has left Scotland with his godfather after his horrid flogging by the British. Murtagh left him with Jamie's oldest friend, Ian Murray, who had joined a band of mercenaries. Jamie's grief and guilt over his father's death, who witnessed the flogging and dropped dead, is overwhelming, but the work he and Ian are now doing will take his mind off of his troubles for a while.

The French group has been contracted to escort a young Jewish bride to her future husband. They also must guard her dowry – an invaluable Torah scroll. Along the journey both young men are attracted to the girl, and discuss whether either man has been with a woman. Danger follows them, though, and plenty of surprises abound.

A FUGITIVE GREEN - Paris and London, 1744

Minnie Rennie is on a mission for her father, a dealer in rare books, but also in letters never meant to be seen. She is to go to London and search out the new Duke of Pardloe, an anti-Jacobite soldier who may, or may not, have letters referring to his political leanings. What Minnie discovers quickly is that the duke, known by his real name of Harold Grey, has just been in a duel with his wife's lover, and that said wife immediately died in childbirth, along with her baby. Minnie gets caught up in the middle of this by being asked to retrieve love letters that the lover and Grey's wife exchanged. What she finds, and what ensues afterwards is intriguing and exciting.

BESIEGED - Jamaica and Cuba - 1762

In which Colonel Grey (aka Lord John) must rescue his mother and his cousin from Havana before the British invade and the family members become Spanish prisoners.

In Diana Gabaldon's usual detailed, beautifully researched way, SEVEN STONES TO STAND OR FALL is an enjoyable compilation of seven stories that are, in different ways, connected. Enjoy being reacquainted with Jamie Fraser, Lord John, and others from the Outlander series.

Jani Brooks