On the Road by Jack Kerouac

On the Road by Jack Kerouac, 307 pages

"On the Road" is Jack Kerouac's autobiographical novel detailing the events of his travels across America in the 1940's.  The book reflects people and events from Kerouac's life with fictionalized names, most notably the author as Sal Paradise, Neal Cassady as Dean Moriarty, and Allen Ginsberg as Carlo Marx, along with other key figures from the Beat Generation.

For what it's worth, I enjoyed the book.

The Secret of Raven Point by Jennifer Vanderbes

The Secret of Raven Point by Jennifer Vanderbes - 306 pages

This novel opens in the months before World War II breaks out.  Juliet is a science nerd in high school with a close relationship with her older brother, Tuck whom enlists when he is first able.  The novel then fast forwards two years to when Tuck goes missing in action in Italy.  Juliet opts out of attending college, attends an accelerated nursing program, enlists in the Army Medical Corps, and ensures a posting to Italy to look for Tuck.  Once there, nothing goes as planned and medical care of the wounded in the field hospitals takes precedent.  Then one day they have a patient that comes in with a self-inflicted wound, prompting the appearance of Dr. Willard, a psychologist.  Juliet becomes his assistant and they work with Barnaby and it turns out the patient may hold the key to what happened to Tuck.

In all, the book was interesting to read.  However, it is not for the faint of heart.  The surgical descriptions are pretty gory.  At points the reader can feel Juliet's desperation to find her brother.  And the epilogue was masterfully written; it ties up all loose ends and elegantly tied together how Juliet and Willard lived out the rest of their semi-intertwined lives.

Rose Under Fire by Elizabeth Wein

Rose Under Fire by Elizabeth Wein - 368

This companion book to Code Name Verity tells the story of Rose Justice, an American serving as a British Air Transport Auxiliary pilot.  She comes to Britain in 1944, shorty after Code Name Verity ends and works with Maddie Brodartt.  Like Maddie and Julie, Rose finds herself forced down on a flight over continental Europe and, like Julie, she becomes a German prisoner.  She is sent to the Ravensbruck Concentration camp as a political prisoner.  While there, Rose faces many hardships but makes some new friends in the process.  Like with Code Name Verity, the main theme of the book is friendships and the relationships between people.  As for the descriptions of camp life, well, pick a non-fiction book for a full description; this just did not cut it compared to other titles I have read, both fiction and non-fiction.

Trapeze by Simon Mawer

Trapeze by Simon Mawer - 371 pages

Trapeze, originally titled The Girl Who Fell from the Sky, is a story about a young woman served as a resistance operative in France during World War II.  The story follows Marian Sutro's harrowing experiences from the moment she is offered the chance to train as an special operations operative through the harsh education and reality of life behind enemy lines.  We gain an understanding of the choices she made through depictions of her thoughts and conversations with first her brother and later an old family friend/former crush.

I liked that, based on related non-fiction I have read, historical accuracy was to the proverbial "T."  That surprised me as most historical fiction takes at least some liberties.  The novel was also, despite the details, very fast-paced and I could hardly put it down.

The Ariadne Objective: The Underground War to Rescue Crete from the Nazis by Wes Davis

The Ariadne Objective: The Underground War to Rescue Crete from the Nazis by Wes Davis - 352 pages

The Ariadne Objective details the guerrilla and special operations war in Crete during World War II.  The first half of the book introduces the British Special Operations Executive officers who coordinate the resistance and covers the early years of the German occupation and the establishment of the resistance operations, including sabotage and espionage.  The second half of the book details two major undercover operations conducted on Crete: one to extract an Italian  general and the planned abduction of a German general.  Key players (and archaeologists/authors/translators/) included John Pendlebury, Xan Fielding, Tom Dunbabin, Patrick Leigh Fermor, and Stanley William Moss.

What did I like about this title? The introductory material on the British officers established them as common people. I also liked how it balanced mission planning with the actual missions. If this was not enough, many of the SOE officer's outlandish plans were reminiscent of these seen on Hogan's Heroes and actually worked. The descriptions of the officer's off-duty time were almost exactly like those seen in M*A*S*H*. When all of this was combined, it made the Ariadne Objective the best history book I have read in years.

I received an advanced reader's copy of this title through Goodreads. The Ariadne Objective will be released on 11/12/13. If you would like to learn more about this book, check out this link.

Operatives, Spies, and Saboteurs: The Unknown History of the Men and Women of WWII's OSS by Patrick O'Donnell

Operatives, Spies, and Saboteurs:  The Unknown History of the Men and Women of WWII's OSS by Patrick O'Donnell - 365 pages

O'Donnell details the war behind the scenes of World War II.  Written as an agent-level history instead of an agency history, Operatives, Spies, and Saboteurs outlines the operations conducted by the Office of Strategic Services (OSS), the military intelligence organization formed during the beginning of World War II that was the precursor to the civilian CIA.  Because of the scope of the book, chapters initially on recruitment, training, and the various departments.  The majority of the chapters detail operations in different countries or regions in chronological order.

While I appreciated the broad overview, I also found the book helpful to identifying topics I would like to research further.  Also, long passages of text are excerpts from interviews and reports.