An admirable addition to World War II fiction that highlights the contributions of heavy-bombing crews.
This incisive World War II novel skillfully brings readers along on nerve-wracking bombing runs in German-held territory.
More importantly, Durham’s (Wade’s War, 2013, etc.) fourth WWII–based book introduces the men behind such daring raids—and the war’s effect on them. Based in Bassingbourn, England, the B-17 crews in the 91st Bomb Group of the 8th Air Force voluntarily fly into unknown, frequently terrifying situations to deliver their payloads and then pray they make it back to base. Lt. Bob Foster is the pilot of one such 10-member crew, until he suddenly isn’t any longer. That’s because, in a public-relations maneuver, Lt. Harmon Roberts III, son of a key U.S. senator, is appointed the pilot of Foster’s crew, with Foster reluctantly becoming the co-pilot. Naturally, Foster isn’t too thrilled with this development: “He’d stolen my crew, my airplane and now, my medal….I was getting the short end of the stick on this deal and I was sore about it.” Eventually, Foster comes around in his opinion of Roberts, which is the key to the narrative of this novel, as the pair will have to work together well to survive in the daunting months and years that follow. In his author’s note, Durham explains his motivation for writing: “I…have worked to present an accurate if fictional look at the conditions in which the brave crews flew and fought.” He’s met his goal; the research fueled by Durham’s passion shines through in the terrifying battle scenes that he brings alive for readers, successfully capturing the overwhelming attacks such bombers faced. Other than Foster and Roberts, Durham’s characters aren’t as well developed, but that doesn’t detract much from his story. The deliberate pacing of the novel’s action and the development of the friendship between the two main characters also sustain this enjoyable military thriller.
An admirable addition to World War II fiction that highlights the contributions of heavy-bombing crews.Pub Date: Sept. 30, 2014
ISBN: 978-1502524492
Page Count: -
Publisher: Dog Ear Publisher
Review Posted Online: Sept. 26, 2014
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
BOOK REVIEW
Heartfelt, yes, but pretty routine.
Life lessons.
Angie Malone, the youngest of a big, warm Italian-American family, returns to her Pacific Northwest hometown to wrestle with various midlife disappointments: her divorce, Papa’s death, a downturn in business at the family restaurant, and, above all, her childlessness. After several miscarriages, she, a successful ad exec, and husband Conlan, a reporter, befriended a pregnant young girl and planned to adopt her baby—and then the birth mother changed her mind. Angie and Conlan drifted apart and soon found they just didn’t love each other anymore. Metaphorically speaking, “her need for a child had been a high tide, an overwhelming force that drowned them. A year ago, she could have kicked to the surface but not now.” Sadder but wiser, Angie goes to work in the struggling family restaurant, bickering with Mama over updating the menu and replacing the ancient waitress. Soon, Angie befriends another young girl, Lauren Ribido, who’s eager to learn and desperately needs a job. Lauren’s family lives on the wrong side of the tracks, and her mother is a promiscuous alcoholic, but Angie knows nothing of this sad story and welcomes Lauren into the DeSaria family circle. The girl listens in, wide-eyed, as the sisters argue and make wisecracks and—gee-whiz—are actually nice to each other. Nothing at all like her relationship with her sluttish mother, who throws Lauren out when boyfriend David, en route to Stanford, gets her pregnant. Will Lauren, who’s just been accepted to USC, let Angie adopt her baby? Well, a bit of a twist at the end keeps things from becoming too predictable.
Heartfelt, yes, but pretty routine.Pub Date: July 1, 2004
ISBN: 0-345-46750-7
Page Count: 400
Publisher: Ballantine
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 15, 2004
More of the same: Sparks has his recipe, and not a bit of it is missing here. It’s the literary equivalent of high fructose...
Sparks (The Longest Ride, 2013, etc.) serves up another heaping helping of sentimental Southern bodice-rippage.
Gone are the blondes of yore, but otherwise the Sparks-ian formula is the same: a decent fellow from a good family who’s gone through some rough patches falls in love with a decent girl from a good family who’s gone through some rough patches—and is still suffering the consequences. The guy is innately intelligent but too quick to throw a punch, the girl beautiful and scary smart. If you hold a fatalistic worldview, then you’ll know that a love between them can end only in tears. If you hold a Sparks-ian one, then true love will prevail, though not without a fight. Voilà: plug in the character names, and off the story goes. In this case, Colin Hancock is the misunderstood lad who’s decided to reform his hard-knuckle ways but just can’t keep himself from connecting fist to face from time to time. Maria Sanchez is the dedicated lawyer in harm’s way—and not just because her boss is a masher. Simple enough. All Colin has to do is punch the partner’s lights out: “The sexual harassment was bad enough, but Ken was a bully as well, and Colin knew from his own experience that people like that didn’t stop abusing their power unless someone made them. Or put the fear of God into them.” No? No, because bound up in Maria’s story, wrinkled with the doings of an equally comely sister, there’s a stalker and a closet full of skeletons. Add Colin’s back story, and there’s a perfect couple in need of constant therapy, as well as a menacing cop. Get Colin and Maria to smooching, and the plot thickens as the storylines entangle. Forget about love—can they survive the evil that awaits them out in the kudzu-choked woods?
More of the same: Sparks has his recipe, and not a bit of it is missing here. It’s the literary equivalent of high fructose corn syrup, stickily sweet but irresistible.Pub Date: Oct. 13, 2015
ISBN: 978-1-4555-2061-9
Page Count: 304
Publisher: Grand Central Publishing
Review Posted Online: Sept. 30, 2015
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 15, 2015
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