Review - Lazarus, Home from the War by E. H. Lupton

Lazarus has returned home from the war in Southeast Asia and is trying to get used to civilian life. It isn’t easy, since he has what we now call post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). It gives him flashbacks that can result in blackouts. The episodes come at some of the most inconvenient times, like when he meets an interesting man in a convenience store. As a neurologist, Eli recognizes Laz’s condition. He knows he shouldn’t get involved with someone who probably needs his professional help, but Eli can’t help trying to get to know Laz better. He very quickly finds out that the Lenkov brothers seem to attract trouble.

This fourth book in the Wisconsin Gothic series shifts the focus to Lazarus. We met Ulysses’ brother in the previous book. Ulysses and Sam play key roles in this story as well, so you will need to have read all the previous books of the series to know what’s going on. The over-arching plot of the series, of a group using magic for nefarious purposes, seems almost forgotten in this book, but it’s still there, almost as an after-thought.

The storytelling alternates between Eli and Laz’s points of view. Eli hasn’t appeared in the series before. He and Laz meet in the first few chapters. Much of the story is the two men getting to know each other, in between magical adventures. Eli seems like a rather average guy. He hasn’t been exposed to magic like the rest of the people in Laz’s life. Eli is a doctor who believes in the very first principle of the Hippocratic oath: First, do no harm.

Lazarus remains a bit of a puzzle, with a few pieces missing. We get only a few vague clues about the traumatic events that happened to him in Southeast Asia, but Laz doesn’t want to talk about it, so we don’t know much about the details. Laz is, perhaps, the most heroic figure of the story. Yes, he’s flawed, but with Eli’s support, he sees the right course of action, rather than the easiest one.

Sam and Ulysses play important, if secondary, roles in this book. Seen through Eli’s fresh eyes, Ulysses doesn’t come off too well. We already know Ulysses is far from perfect. He is driven to triumph over demons attempting to take over this realm, but as Eli points out, Ulysses is all too often determined to win at any cost, even if innocent people get hurt.

As mentioned earlier, the plot that’s been running through this series barely gets a mention in this latest installment. That’s probably a good thing. Mysteries that run through three or four volumes, or more, tend to run out of steam because there’s no progress towards solving the central mystery. That’s what is starting to happen to this series. The saving grace in this case is that this installment has a strong story on its own.

See BookBub for all the online sources where you can get your own copy of “Lazarus, Home from the War.”