WWII: A B-17 bomber secretly crewed by American Negros called the “Nobodies” is limping back from an unofficial mission thinking they are home free when a seemingly unavoidable tragedy begins unfolding right inside their plane . . .
This short story was published with a lead-in to the Authors mystery thriller included.
Short stories are a great way to fill a few minutes of time when you don’t have enough time to get into something deeper, and this one filled that expectation to its full. At 21 pages in length, it is truly a short story, but a lot is packed into those pages.
The characters are all African American, and crew a B-17 during World War II. In the few pages allotted, the Author manages to transport the reader into their world, and actually make them care for his characters. The language the crewmen use is genuine, and if you are averse to swearing in your reads you may want to give this little book a miss, as there has been no sanitizing for the sensitive soul. The author, through his characters, did a wonderful job of conveying the emotions, from cowardice to heroism, that are felt by all those (My Husband included) who have been in the thick of combat.
The reader is made to feel as if they are on the B-17 through the Authors description of the scene; the smell of smoke and spent rounds, the fear that hangs in the air and the feel of the wind as it tears through the damage in the fuselage, it is very chilling and very real, giving an insight into the world of the Bomber crew.
Unfortunately though, there were quite a few typos and grammatical errors which should have been picked up in the proofreading and editing stages and, although they don’t detract from the story as a whole, it left me thinking that the Author didn’t care for his crew as much as he wanted his readers to. I also felt that this could have been published as a stand-alone short, and found the sample at the end a little misleading; instead of it being a segue into a follow on novel with the same characters; it introduces you to a whole new book that is completely unrelated.
Readers who like a good war story would probably enjoy this one, and I would also recommend it to any reader who is looking for a quick dip into something different.
Cate's Book Nut Hut 