Bill Bastrop

Bill Bastrop is a policeman in New Orleans who has recently returned from fighting for the United States in France. He lives in the Irish channel with his wife Masie. He begins the story haunted by his fear and the cowardice he showed on the front line. He loves Maze but tries to hide his past from her. He feels he cannot put his life back together, and when he faces Leonard Perl he is forced to truly acknowledge the events of the past—that he was partly responsible for the deaths of those he left behind when he escaped the collapsing dugout.

When his wife leaves, all his anxiety, and fear collapse into nothingness. He moves through life as if he were a ghost. He spends the last half of the book chasing after the Axman as he believes that he can earn Masie’s love...