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Code Name Sonny
It’s 1942. Joe is representative of many young American men of his generation: America and its Allies are at war with the Germans and the Japanese, and this New Hampshire teenager wants to be in the thick of it.
Joe got his wish in the spring of 1944.
In Code Name Sonny, a first novel by author Ken Pottie and editor Freda Danzig, the writers take readers on a thrilling journey, zigzagging back and forth between Sonny’s World War II experiences and Jack’s modern day investigation into his dad’s war service, as the latter tries to unravel mysteries by tying together pieces of historical recollection with current news stories.
When the past and the present collide, Jack realizes too late the danger lurking close to home.
Joe got his wish in the spring of 1944.
In Code Name Sonny, a first novel by author Ken Pottie and editor Freda Danzig, the writers take readers on a thrilling journey, zigzagging back and forth between Sonny’s World War II experiences and Jack’s modern day investigation into his dad’s war service, as the latter tries to unravel mysteries by tying together pieces of historical recollection with current news stories.
When the past and the present collide, Jack realizes too late the danger lurking close to home.
198 pages, Paperback
First published January 13, 2012
About the author
Author K.E. Pottie
4 books6 followersKen is the award-winning author of The Code Name Series of books. The series is based on his father’s experiences behind enemy lines in World War II. The books have won awards in the Readers’ Favorite contest, The NABE Pinnacle Awards in Military Fiction, and Hollywood, Paris, and New York Book Festivals.
His feature movie scripts, for Code Name Sonny, have won awards in the L.A. Neo Noir Novel, Film & Script Online Festival, Cambridge Script Festival, Boston Screenplay Awards, and Miami Screenplay Awards contests.
He graduated from Norwich University in Vermont in 1980 and spent 13 years in military service in the Army, leaving at the rank of Major. During this time, he served as a company commander during Desert Shield and Desert Storm, earning the Bronze Star, Kuwait Liberation Medal and Combat Air Medal.
His series of books, starting with Code Name Sonny are spy novels starting from WWII, continuing the characters through the cold war.
Copyright 2024 K.E. Pottie© All ri
His feature movie scripts, for Code Name Sonny, have won awards in the L.A. Neo Noir Novel, Film & Script Online Festival, Cambridge Script Festival, Boston Screenplay Awards, and Miami Screenplay Awards contests.
He graduated from Norwich University in Vermont in 1980 and spent 13 years in military service in the Army, leaving at the rank of Major. During this time, he served as a company commander during Desert Shield and Desert Storm, earning the Bronze Star, Kuwait Liberation Medal and Combat Air Medal.
His series of books, starting with Code Name Sonny are spy novels starting from WWII, continuing the characters through the cold war.
Copyright 2024 K.E. Pottie© All ri
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
September 13, 2012
Realities and their permutations through time
CODE NAME SONNY is a movie waiting to be made. It is difficult to believe that this is a first book by K.E. 'Ken' Pottie because it so successfully captures the reader's interest from the first page to the last. It is told in two tracks - the factual events in 1942 - 1944 and the modern day year 2000 fictional events of the aftermath of the lead character of the book. And in a note from the author it is made clear that 'code name Sonny' was not the real code name for the author's father (Joe) but instead Sonny was the nickname the author's grandfather used for Joe (the true code name remains a secret to this day). It is this mixture of a true story about the author's father concerning events that happened in WW II brought up to date to the year 2000 in a way that allows the reader to feel involved in the depth of secrecy of the underground forces and offers a resolution of sorts to a life long puzzle. The author basically alters chapters between the war and the present and in doing so he creates fully developed characters with whom we all can relate.
1942: Joe and his friend Raymond live in New England in a town where all of the able men are off in the military. They are close friends but Joe longs for action: his two older brothers are already serving in the military and his mother forbids him to enlist. Because of Joe's fluency in French (his mother is French Canadian) and his knowledge of radio workings he gains the attention of the National Guard and is offered a secret mission to help the war effort. Joe accepts the opportunity, telling his parents that he is only going to a camp, but soon it is made clear that a larger assignment is in mind. Joe is soon off on a secret mission to England and then France, assigned a code name (Sonny) and with a French girl 'Marie' and a Spaniard 'Sergio' the triad is trained by Major Smythe to transmit and intercept radio messages to confuse the way in which the Germans make plans for the Allied invasion of France. The three young people are introduced to the French Resistance, trained by Henri, sheltered, and secretly pass radio parts to the French resistance. Of course the ever present Nazis discover the plot, terrible war crimes ensue, Sonny becomes close friends with Charlene, a child left without parents who are murdered by the Nazis in front of her, and the underground operations of Sonny, Marie, and Sergio make strange mutations. Something happens that Sonny will retain as a secret forever - almost.
Meanwhile in the year 2000, Jack, the son of Joe/Sonny, discovers some facts about his father's war efforts at an Elk's Club party, facts that are based on the secret his father has always harbored. Some inexplicable murders occur, a traveling woman speaker passes through town and it is from this point that the tension builds to a level that connects all the dots of the secret with the people from the past and the present. It is this transition between fact and fiction that makes the book a fascinating read.
Pottie's narrative abilities are excellent. He is unafraid to use French phrases when needed without translation, a bow to the dignity of the reader. He keeps the dialog embedded in the narration of the story in a manner that aids the flow of the unraveling sequences, and he successfully creates a contemporary situation based on his own life experiences that serve as the author's way of explaining the secrets that war tattoos on the minds of veterans. Few writers have described the French underground resistance is so real a manner. This is a strong book and one that hopefully will become a film.
Grady Harp
CODE NAME SONNY is a movie waiting to be made. It is difficult to believe that this is a first book by K.E. 'Ken' Pottie because it so successfully captures the reader's interest from the first page to the last. It is told in two tracks - the factual events in 1942 - 1944 and the modern day year 2000 fictional events of the aftermath of the lead character of the book. And in a note from the author it is made clear that 'code name Sonny' was not the real code name for the author's father (Joe) but instead Sonny was the nickname the author's grandfather used for Joe (the true code name remains a secret to this day). It is this mixture of a true story about the author's father concerning events that happened in WW II brought up to date to the year 2000 in a way that allows the reader to feel involved in the depth of secrecy of the underground forces and offers a resolution of sorts to a life long puzzle. The author basically alters chapters between the war and the present and in doing so he creates fully developed characters with whom we all can relate.
1942: Joe and his friend Raymond live in New England in a town where all of the able men are off in the military. They are close friends but Joe longs for action: his two older brothers are already serving in the military and his mother forbids him to enlist. Because of Joe's fluency in French (his mother is French Canadian) and his knowledge of radio workings he gains the attention of the National Guard and is offered a secret mission to help the war effort. Joe accepts the opportunity, telling his parents that he is only going to a camp, but soon it is made clear that a larger assignment is in mind. Joe is soon off on a secret mission to England and then France, assigned a code name (Sonny) and with a French girl 'Marie' and a Spaniard 'Sergio' the triad is trained by Major Smythe to transmit and intercept radio messages to confuse the way in which the Germans make plans for the Allied invasion of France. The three young people are introduced to the French Resistance, trained by Henri, sheltered, and secretly pass radio parts to the French resistance. Of course the ever present Nazis discover the plot, terrible war crimes ensue, Sonny becomes close friends with Charlene, a child left without parents who are murdered by the Nazis in front of her, and the underground operations of Sonny, Marie, and Sergio make strange mutations. Something happens that Sonny will retain as a secret forever - almost.
Meanwhile in the year 2000, Jack, the son of Joe/Sonny, discovers some facts about his father's war efforts at an Elk's Club party, facts that are based on the secret his father has always harbored. Some inexplicable murders occur, a traveling woman speaker passes through town and it is from this point that the tension builds to a level that connects all the dots of the secret with the people from the past and the present. It is this transition between fact and fiction that makes the book a fascinating read.
Pottie's narrative abilities are excellent. He is unafraid to use French phrases when needed without translation, a bow to the dignity of the reader. He keeps the dialog embedded in the narration of the story in a manner that aids the flow of the unraveling sequences, and he successfully creates a contemporary situation based on his own life experiences that serve as the author's way of explaining the secrets that war tattoos on the minds of veterans. Few writers have described the French underground resistance is so real a manner. This is a strong book and one that hopefully will become a film.
Grady Harp
February 26, 2014
Ken Pottie, in this amazing book, chose to give readers an insight into one of the really less written about subterfuges,which allowed the allies to overcome the all powerful German war machine during the 2nd World War. In this book he opens up the silent war fought behind enemy lines in France. The book describes how "Communication" using wireless sets delivered to the French Resistance by some very intrepid young men - the Unsung Heroes of the war - who risked their lives in the process, caused so much confusion among the Germans that the Allies were able to later successfully land in Normandy and finally win the war.
Ken Pottie uses great artistry to run the story in two parallel paths - alternating between the young heroes in France in 1940-42 and the same heroes now much older in the years 1999-2000, and Ken Pottie introduces tense action in both threads chapter by chapter, making this book a riveting one session read because he maintains live wire tension throughout - I read it at one go and am the happier for it.
The lessons that some stories or the consequences of our actions, continue to have unforeseen repercussions right up to our old age, is a fascinating undercurrent in this extraordinary book. Joe the young soldier in WWII meets his vicious nemesis in a vindictive murderess who is the daughter of one of the most vicious and murderous German Soldiers in WWII who had to be eliminated by Joe and other people from the French Resistance.
The story has a poignancy that seeps into the readers soul when it revolves to scenes of Jewish Parents being murdered by the SS- and a child saved by Joe and a brave french family who risked their lives to save her. Enough said - this is undoubtedly a 5 Star Book - and is already a Winner or the Prestigious 2013 Readers Favorite International Book Award Contest - so I not only recommend it for reading - but recommend that it be placed in the "Favorite Books Book shelf at home too". Well done Ken!
Deepak Menon (Author)
Ken Pottie uses great artistry to run the story in two parallel paths - alternating between the young heroes in France in 1940-42 and the same heroes now much older in the years 1999-2000, and Ken Pottie introduces tense action in both threads chapter by chapter, making this book a riveting one session read because he maintains live wire tension throughout - I read it at one go and am the happier for it.
The lessons that some stories or the consequences of our actions, continue to have unforeseen repercussions right up to our old age, is a fascinating undercurrent in this extraordinary book. Joe the young soldier in WWII meets his vicious nemesis in a vindictive murderess who is the daughter of one of the most vicious and murderous German Soldiers in WWII who had to be eliminated by Joe and other people from the French Resistance.
The story has a poignancy that seeps into the readers soul when it revolves to scenes of Jewish Parents being murdered by the SS- and a child saved by Joe and a brave french family who risked their lives to save her. Enough said - this is undoubtedly a 5 Star Book - and is already a Winner or the Prestigious 2013 Readers Favorite International Book Award Contest - so I not only recommend it for reading - but recommend that it be placed in the "Favorite Books Book shelf at home too". Well done Ken!
Deepak Menon (Author)
May 28, 2014
Highly recommend the first book in the Code Name Series. Code Name Sonny will pull you in and not let go. Continue the series by following with Mountains of Fire then 13th Cohort. K.E. Pottie is a skilled writer who knows how to tell the WWII stories as if he were there. You get to the know the characters as you follow the series and wonder just what they will get themselves into next!
July 11, 2017
A great read
Really enjoyed this book. Just bought the 2nd book by Mr. Pottie. Hard to believe this was his first book.
Really enjoyed this book. Just bought the 2nd book by Mr. Pottie. Hard to believe this was his first book.
April 17, 2014
The Continuing Saga of the Impact of World War II
K.E. `Ken' Pottie's spy novels THE CODE NAME SERIES are addicting. Having followed his stories since the inception in 2012 with CODE NAME SONNY and progressing through MOUNTAIN OF FIRE, it is with great expectations (and well met) that THE 13TH COHORT is greeted. As is well known by now from his awards, the series is based on his father's experiences behind enemy lines in World War II. He is young - graduating from Norwich University, Vermont in 1980. Where Pottie learned his skills as a writer is not evident from his resume: his knowledge of military history and the interstices of espionage within resistance groups is understandable in that spent 13 years in military service in the Army, leaving at the rank of Major. During that time, Ken served as a company commander during Desert Shield and Desert Storm, earned the Bronze Star, Kuwait Liberation Medal and Combat Air Medal. The rest comes naturally.
For those who fell under the spell of CODE NAME SONNY and MOUNTAIN OF FIRE, be alerted that THE 13TH COHORT is every bit as good, and if those first books are still in your memory bank (which they doubtless are) then this novel has the same sense of watching a special series like HOMELAND or NEWSROOM on television. That may be a poor comparison for some - reading is always a better pastime than passively watching a TV drama - but the idea comes across. Pottie knows how to create and build suspense and thrills that makes the decision to put the book down once started a challenging one!
The story weaves in and out from the 1940s to the present - and for very good reason. We have passed through the Cold War of the second novel and now find a resurgence of a Neo-Nazi movement -the so-called 13th Cohort. There are elements of a spear that apparently has treacherous power - the Spear of Destiny (fraught with religious significance as the spear that pierced the side of Christ) - and if the elements of the spear can be found (supposedly hidden in the Castle Wewelsburg in Germany) then a new Hitler can be created to lead the Fourth Reich. Pottie weaves all the characters who have survived the first two novels of the series into the action of this third episode and there is the same mixture of intrigue, genetic connection, historical persistence, love, strange medical situations and Pottie keeps the dialog embedded in the narration of the story in a manner that aids the flow of the unraveling sequences, and he successfully creates a contemporary situation based on his own life experiences that serve as the author's way of explaining the secrets that war tattoos on the minds of veterans. Few writers have described the war and its permutations as well. Another fine story. Don't fear the length of 600 pages: the author and editor have wisely spaced the legible font at a near double spaced manner that allows the eyes to avoid fatigue to the very end. And now onto book 4, BLACK DAWN, out later this year.
K.E. `Ken' Pottie's spy novels THE CODE NAME SERIES are addicting. Having followed his stories since the inception in 2012 with CODE NAME SONNY and progressing through MOUNTAIN OF FIRE, it is with great expectations (and well met) that THE 13TH COHORT is greeted. As is well known by now from his awards, the series is based on his father's experiences behind enemy lines in World War II. He is young - graduating from Norwich University, Vermont in 1980. Where Pottie learned his skills as a writer is not evident from his resume: his knowledge of military history and the interstices of espionage within resistance groups is understandable in that spent 13 years in military service in the Army, leaving at the rank of Major. During that time, Ken served as a company commander during Desert Shield and Desert Storm, earned the Bronze Star, Kuwait Liberation Medal and Combat Air Medal. The rest comes naturally.
For those who fell under the spell of CODE NAME SONNY and MOUNTAIN OF FIRE, be alerted that THE 13TH COHORT is every bit as good, and if those first books are still in your memory bank (which they doubtless are) then this novel has the same sense of watching a special series like HOMELAND or NEWSROOM on television. That may be a poor comparison for some - reading is always a better pastime than passively watching a TV drama - but the idea comes across. Pottie knows how to create and build suspense and thrills that makes the decision to put the book down once started a challenging one!
The story weaves in and out from the 1940s to the present - and for very good reason. We have passed through the Cold War of the second novel and now find a resurgence of a Neo-Nazi movement -the so-called 13th Cohort. There are elements of a spear that apparently has treacherous power - the Spear of Destiny (fraught with religious significance as the spear that pierced the side of Christ) - and if the elements of the spear can be found (supposedly hidden in the Castle Wewelsburg in Germany) then a new Hitler can be created to lead the Fourth Reich. Pottie weaves all the characters who have survived the first two novels of the series into the action of this third episode and there is the same mixture of intrigue, genetic connection, historical persistence, love, strange medical situations and Pottie keeps the dialog embedded in the narration of the story in a manner that aids the flow of the unraveling sequences, and he successfully creates a contemporary situation based on his own life experiences that serve as the author's way of explaining the secrets that war tattoos on the minds of veterans. Few writers have described the war and its permutations as well. Another fine story. Don't fear the length of 600 pages: the author and editor have wisely spaced the legible font at a near double spaced manner that allows the eyes to avoid fatigue to the very end. And now onto book 4, BLACK DAWN, out later this year.
December 19, 2012
The Spirit of Sonny Prevails
For those who fell under the spell of CODE NAME SONNY be alerted to the fact that the second volume in this series, MOUNTAIN OF FIRE, is every bit as good, and if that first book is still in your memory back (which doubtless it is) then this novel has the same sense of watching a special series like HOMELAND or NEWSROOM on television. That may be a poor comparison for some - reading is always a better pastime than passively watching a TV drama - but the idea comes across. Author K.E. Pottie knows how to create and build suspense and thrills that makes the decision to put the book down once started a challenging one!
Where Pottie learned his skills as a writer is not evident from his resume: his knowledge of military history and the interstice of espionage within resistance groups is understandable in that spent 13 years in military service in the Army, leaving at the rank of Major. During that time, Ken served as a company commander during Desert Shield and Desert Storm, earned the Bronze Star, Kuwait Liberation Medal and Combat Air Medal. The rest comes naturally.
This book two of the Code Name Series takes off where Code Name Sonny left off. We are still in the midst of the WW II French resistance to Nazi occupation and many of the same characters we met in the last book are present. But now we go through D-Day and Henri who saved Sonny is the focal point character of the book's action. We meet new characters both American and French but the same extraordinary struggle of the resistance movement continues. But what makes the immediacy of the historical aspect of the novel so entertaining is Pottie's election to parallel the WW II activity with time travel forward to 2002 as Sonny's genetic imprint influences Jack in his somewhat reluctant but inevitable struggle with an updated situation much like the one faced in France in WW II. This is an equally involving tale of Jack Turner, son of Sonny, unites with the little girl Charlene whom his father favored who is now elderly but as committed to preventing the plotted Nazi terrorist plan to destroy New York as is Jack. The parallels are well drawn and provide a fascinating mode of story telling that seems to be Pottie's gift. Never straying into the territory of becoming absurd, this little novel is terse, concise, and spellbinding - a terrific follow-up to Code Name Sonny.
Grady Harp
For those who fell under the spell of CODE NAME SONNY be alerted to the fact that the second volume in this series, MOUNTAIN OF FIRE, is every bit as good, and if that first book is still in your memory back (which doubtless it is) then this novel has the same sense of watching a special series like HOMELAND or NEWSROOM on television. That may be a poor comparison for some - reading is always a better pastime than passively watching a TV drama - but the idea comes across. Author K.E. Pottie knows how to create and build suspense and thrills that makes the decision to put the book down once started a challenging one!
Where Pottie learned his skills as a writer is not evident from his resume: his knowledge of military history and the interstice of espionage within resistance groups is understandable in that spent 13 years in military service in the Army, leaving at the rank of Major. During that time, Ken served as a company commander during Desert Shield and Desert Storm, earned the Bronze Star, Kuwait Liberation Medal and Combat Air Medal. The rest comes naturally.
This book two of the Code Name Series takes off where Code Name Sonny left off. We are still in the midst of the WW II French resistance to Nazi occupation and many of the same characters we met in the last book are present. But now we go through D-Day and Henri who saved Sonny is the focal point character of the book's action. We meet new characters both American and French but the same extraordinary struggle of the resistance movement continues. But what makes the immediacy of the historical aspect of the novel so entertaining is Pottie's election to parallel the WW II activity with time travel forward to 2002 as Sonny's genetic imprint influences Jack in his somewhat reluctant but inevitable struggle with an updated situation much like the one faced in France in WW II. This is an equally involving tale of Jack Turner, son of Sonny, unites with the little girl Charlene whom his father favored who is now elderly but as committed to preventing the plotted Nazi terrorist plan to destroy New York as is Jack. The parallels are well drawn and provide a fascinating mode of story telling that seems to be Pottie's gift. Never straying into the territory of becoming absurd, this little novel is terse, concise, and spellbinding - a terrific follow-up to Code Name Sonny.
Grady Harp
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews