Hold Strong

by Robert Dugoni, Jeff Langholz, Chris Crabtree

From Robert Dugoni, Jeff Langholz, and Chris Crabtree comes an epic and inspiring novel—based on true events—about love, heroism, and resilience during the darkest chapters of World War II.

Sam Carlson is a projectionist in small-town Minnesota, where fantasies unspool in glorious black and white—for him and for his sweetheart, college-bound math whiz Sarah Haber. When the Japanese bomb Pearl Harbor, Sam is sent to the Philippines and captured as a POW. Brutalized but unbroken by the Bataan Death March and POW camps, Sam is one of 1,800 starved and weakened prisoners herded into the cargo hold of a barbaric hell ship called the Arisan Maru, his survival doubtful.

Determined to use her math skills on the home front, Sarah is recruited to Washington, DC, into the covert field of code breaking. When Sarah intercepts a message about a Japanese convoy, the US Navy’s mission is sink the Arisan Maru and send it to the bottom of the South China Sea. Now, the lives of the two young lovers are about to inadvertently collide in one of the most shocking acts of World War II.

Anchored in an extraordinary true story and breathlessly recreated, Hold Strong is a one-of-a-kind novel that explores faith, courage, survival, and coming home against insurmountable odds.

Genres: Historical Fiction, Fiction, Historical, War, Audiobook, Romance, World War II

555 pages, Paperback

First published January 28, 2025

About the author

Robert Dugoni is the critically acclaimed New York Times, and #1 Amazon bestselling author of the Tracy Crosswhite police series set in Seattle, which has sold more than 11 million books worldwide. He is also the author of The Charles Jenkins espionage series, the David Sloane legal thriller series, and The Keera Duggan legal thriller series. He has written several stand-alone novels including the historical novels A Killing on the Hill and Hold Strong, as well as the suspense novel The 7th Canon, and Damage Control. He has written the literary novels, The Extraordinary Life of Sam Hell - one of Newsweek Magazine's Best Books of All-Time and Suspense Magazine’s 2018 Book of the Year, for which Dugoni’s narration won an AudioFile Earphones Award. He has also written the critically acclaimed novel, The World Played Chess; as well as the nonfiction exposé The Cyanide Canary, a Washington Post Best Book of the Year. His novels have been optioned for movies and television series. Dugoni is the recipient of the Nancy Pearl Award for Fiction and a four-time winner of the Friends of Mystery Spotted Owl Award for best novel set in the Pacific Northwest. He has also been a finalist for many other awards including the International Thriller Award, the Harper Lee Prize for Legal Fiction, the Silver Falchion Award for mystery, and the Mystery Writers of America Edgar Award.

Robert Dugoni’s books are sold in more than thirty-five countries and have been translated into more than thirty languages.

Visit his website at www.robertdugoni.com, and follow him on twitter @robertdugoni and on Facebook at www.facebook.com/AuthorRobertDugoni

Reviews

[JD · Rating 5 out of 5]

Hold Strong is a love story set during World War 2, not just the romance love, but also the brotherly and sisterly love that lifts us up and gets us all through hard times. It follows Sam and Sarah from small town Minnesota and their respective journeys through World War 2, Sam as POW of the Japanese after his capture on Bataan and Sarah as a code breaker in the WAVES.

I was completely taken by this book, and the story telling is brilliant. I have also read quite a bit of non-fiction about the POW treatment by the Japanese, the 194th Tank Battalion in the Philippines and the hell ships like the Arisan Maru. Dugoni's historical accuracy is spot on, with a few minor tweaks here and there which he admits to. Some of the scenes will be hard to read for readers not used to the facts of the atrocities committed by the Japanese against Allied POW's. He also highlights the strenght and perseverance of the human spirit as in the other books I have read of him, and it is very uplifting to read. that was yet again filled with brilliant characters that surprised at times.

Dugoni really did his research well into this amazing book, and it is one of those books that will stay with you for a long time. It is also a book where it would not have mattered what the ending was, but it was the core and the message of this book that made it so brilliant. Highly recommended book and will be one of my top books for 2025, if not the best.

[Debra · Rating 4 out of 5]

Heartbreaking, gripping, thought provoking, and tense, Hold Strong is based on real events which occurred during WWII. This book shows not only the horrors of war, but it also shows bravery, courage, and sacrifice. I struggled initially with this book initially but by the 50% mark, I was fully invested, moved, and in awe at the amount of research that went into the writing of Hold Strong. I love books that are about real events and show ordinary people placed in extraordinary situations. I also love books that not only teach me something new but evoke emotion and Hold Strong did that and then some.

Sam Carlson and Sarah Haber were high school sweethearts. After Japan bombed Pearl Harbor, Sam was sent to the Philippines and captured as a POW. While Sarah is recruited to Washington where her math skills will be used in code breaking. Sam is brutalized and beaten yet survives the Bataan Death March and becomes one of the men who became prisoners on the Japanese ship Arisan Maru.

Whew! I found myself thinking about this book long after I finished it. There is so much about WWII that I was not taught in school; the Japanese prisoner hell ships being one of the things about the war I did not know. I learned even more by reading the author's note at the end. DO NOT MISS THIS SECTION - it is a must read!

This book shows the horrors of war, the barbaric treatment of POW's and the triumph of the human spirit. I could not help but feel for the characters, the situations in which they were in, the decisions that they had to make, and the suffering that many endured.

Wonderfully written, heartbreaking, vividly detailed, well thought out, and inspired by true events.

*A Witches Words Buddy read

Thank you to Lake Union Publishing and NetGalley who provided me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. All the thoughts and opinions are my own.

Read more of my reviews at www.openbookposts.com 📖

[Mark Porton · Rating 4 out of 5]

Hold Strong by Robert Dugoni is a WWII Historical Fiction, where we follow the protagonist, Sam, on his horrifying journey through the Pacific Theatre of WWII. After the bombing of Pearl Harbour, Sam is sent to the Philippines where he is captured as a POW. This is where the true horror begins.

Having endured the brutality of the Japanese prison guards in various POW camps and the Bataan Death March he ends up on one of the notorious Japanese Hell Ship, the Arisan Maru. Locked in the hold of this floating prison, conditions were atrocious. Thousands of POWs had to endure, brutality, torture, hunger, water deprivation, bombing from the allies, heat, and even unthinkable cruelty between their fellow prisoners.



The Japanese ‘Hell Ship,’ Arisan Maru

There is much more to the story after this, and you will need to read this book to find out more. Interestingly, The Rape of Nanking is mentioned, this, perhaps the most horrific Japanese atrocity of WWII, committed in China during this time.

Concurrently, we follow Sam’s hometown girlfriend, Sarah, who is blessed with outstanding talents in mathematics. A gift that enables Sarah to contribute to the allied war effort. They both wish to re-unite at the conclusion of the war.

I did not care as much for the personal relationship between Sam and Sarah as I did for the historical aspects of this story which were based on fact. Indeed, the author treats the reader to an afterward, notes and a bibliography – detailing the sources used to write this story. For me, this was the most fascinating part of the book.

3.5 stars for the fictional/romance story.
4.5 stars for the historical aspects.

A very convincing and solid 4 Stars from me.

Many thanks to NetGalley for providing me with a copy of this book in exchange for my review.

[Angela · Rating 5 out of 5]

Hold Strong by Robert Dugoni, Jeff Langholz and Chris Crabtree

Synopsis /

Sam Carlson is a projectionist in small-town Minnesota, where fantasies unspool in glorious black and white—for him and for his sweetheart, college-bound math whiz Sarah Haber. When the Japanese bomb Pearl Harbor, Sam is sent to the Philippines and captured as a POW. Brutalized but unbroken by the Bataan Death March and POW camps, Sam is one of 1,800 starved and weakened prisoners herded into the cargo hold of a barbaric hell ship called the Arisan Maru, his survival doubtful.

Determined to use her math skills on the home front, Sarah is recruited to Washington, DC, into the covert field of code breaking. When Sarah intercepts a message about a Japanese convoy, the US Navy’s mission is sink the Arisan Maru and send it to the bottom of the South China Sea. Now, the lives of the two young lovers are about to inadvertently collide in one of the most shocking acts of World War II.


My Thoughts /

First and foremost, a huge THANK YOU to NetGalley, Lake Union Publishing, and authors Robert Dugoni; Jeff Langholz and Chris Crabtree, for providing me with a copy of this publication, which allows me to provide you with an unbiased review. Publication date is currently set for January 28, 2025.

Any truly inspiring historical tale always has a kernel of truth, and this story has it in spades.

Familiar with some of this author’s (Dugoni) work through his Tracy Crosswhite and Keera Duggan series of crime novels, I was expecting something similar. So going in blind to Hold Strong I was (pleasantly) surprised to realise that this was a standalone novel – but not crime genre, this was historical fiction.

So the first thing I want to emphasize is – if, as a reader, you’ve never read anything by Dugoni and want to start – this would be a terrific introduction.

The second is, I don’t think I’ve ever read an historical novel that has a more comprehensive Afterword/Bibliography/Notes section than Hold Strong. The list is exhaustive and is a testament to the authors’ meticulous attention to detail and thorough research.

Third – is the setting – the Philippines, 1942 - when the Japanese Imperial Army invades with lightning speed and devastating results. As part of the Clark Field and Pearl Harbour attacks, the Japanese also struck other sites across the Pacific. They immediately followed their Pearl Harbor assault with attacks against US and British bases in the Philippines, Guam, Midway Island, Wake Island, Malaya, and Hong Kong and within days, were the masters of the Pacific.

Hold Strong is a story which is based on real events, and Dugoni and his co-authors: Jeff Langholz and Chris Crabtree have taken these factual accounts and created a compelling and powerful fictional narrative about the Japanese invasion of the Philippines; the Battle of Bataan; and the POWs who were incarcerated by the Japanese soldiers into places like Camp O’Donnell in Luzon.

[History Lesson On 9 April 1942, in the face of overwhelming disadvantage caused by hunger and disease, Major Gen. Edward P. King, Jr. was forced to surrender the tens of thousands of USAFFE soldiers defending the Bataan Peninsula to the besieging Imperial Japanese Army. The Bataan Death March followed, as most of the Filipino and American prisoners of war were forced to walk under tortuous conditions for about 100 kilometres from Bataan to San Fernando Pampanga, where they then boarded tight box cars towards Capas, Tarlac. Around 10,000 American soldiers and an estimated 50,000 Filipino servicemen ended up in Capas, Tarlac in Central Luzon.]

Camp O’Donnell, originally a Philippine army training camp, was under construction when the war started, it had little shelter and no sanitary facilities, but the Japanese Imperial Army filled the camp with thousands of POWs (about 1,600 Americans and some 26,000 Filipinos). Some of the most horrific war crimes were committed here during this period of time – it’s not something to be proud of. Prisoners of war were forced to march through tropical conditions, enduring heat, humidity and rain without adequate medical care. They suffered from chronic starvation. Their physical surroundings were harsh. Prisoners were beaten, killed, and sometimes beheaded.

The narrative is told through the eyes of Sam Carlson. Sam lives in a small town in Minnesota with his family, and college sweetheart, Sarah Haber. When he finished school, Sam joined the National Guard – remember, this was before the war and he had no idea of what the future held. When war began, and America declared it was joining, the Government declared that members of the National Guard were to be requisitioned into service in the US Army. As a consequence, Sam was sent to the Philippines and was subsequently captured as a POW.

Sam, along with thousands of other enlisted men were sent to POW camps for the duration of the war. Many were transported off the island on what the prisoners called “hell ships” – these ships were requisitioned merchant vessels that the Japanese navy overloaded with POWs who were being relocated to internment on the Japanese Home Islands or elsewhere in the empire. The holds were floating dungeons, where inmates were denied air, space, light, bathroom facilities, and adequate food and water—especially water. Thirst and heat claimed many lives in the end, as did summary executions and beatings, yet the vast majority of deaths came as a result of so-called “friendly fire” from U.S. and Allied naval ships, submarines, and aircraft. As in the case of Sam’s ship, the Arisan Maru, which was torpedoed by a US submarine and sank. Out of the 1,800 POWs crammed into the hold of the ship, there was only one survivor – Sam Carlson.

Despite this book being a collaboration between three authors, the writing is absolutely seamless. I couldn’t put my finger on who wrote what and, despite its many horrendous chapters (and there are a few), I found myself being drawn back into the story as soon as I put it down. And that’s the reason this is going onto my favourites list.

To all those people who are presently serving or have served in the past, I thank you for your service, and it is my fervent hope that history doesn’t repeat.

With thanks to NetGalley and especially to Lake Union Publishing for the much appreciated arc in return for an honest review.

[Darryl Greer · Rating 5 out of 5]

Hold Strong by Robert Dugoni, Jeff Langholz and Chris Crabtree is a one-of-a-kind novel set in America and the Pacific during World War II. The two central characters are Sam Carlson and Sarah Haber. It is the post-Depression era and while the Allies, excluding the U.S., are fighting the Nazis in Europe, Sam and Sarah are living their poverty-stricken lives as best they can in a small Minnesota town. Sam is a projectionist at the local movie theatre while Sarah, a whiz at maths, is setting her heart on going to college. One day they plan to marry. Following the Japanese bombing of Pearl Harbour in 1941, Sam enlists and is sent to the Philippines. But he isn’t there long before he and many others are taken prisoner by the Japanese. Already emaciated and brutalised as a POW and being forced to take part in the infamous Bataan Death March, Sam is one of eighteen hundred fellow POWs who are crammed into the hold of a Japanese freighter, the Arisan Maru in an area meant to hold a fraction of their number. Sarah, meanwhile, also proposes to do her bit for the war effort. She decides to put her math skills to good use and is recruited to Washington D.C. into the covert field of code-breaking. When she comes across a message about a Japanese convoy which includes the Arisan Maru, she knows the Navy’s mission is to sink it. But does it contain POWs? If so, is Sam one of them?

There is an old adage, a camel is a horse designed by a committee, so you would expect that when three people get together to write a fictional novel, the result would be a total disaster. Hold Strong is quite the opposite. It is a page-turner from the very first paragraph with crisp, intelligent prose and believable dialogue. Believable more so because of the mountain of research that has gone into producing this work. Almost everything, except the main characters, is based on fact and to prove it, the authors have included all their notes, interviews and bibliography in the last twenty percent of the book. This is war drama at its very best with a heart-warming love story thrown in for good measure. There are, of course, scenes which are vividly real and not for the faint-hearted. But the subject is war and the atrocities committed by the Japanese against their POWs so there is no way to accurately describe what was going on without drawing on countless testimonies and telling it like it was. It would be criminal if Hold Strong is not made into a movie. The background to the story needs to be told over and over – lest we forget. But meanwhile, be content just to read this cracker of a book.

[Marianne · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.5★s
Hold Strong is a stand-alone novel by Robert Dugoni, Jeff Langholz and Chris Crabtree. In 1938, the depression has hit his farming family hard, so seventeen-year-old Sam Carlson has been doing odd jobs around Eagle Grove to help out, but he can’t afford college, and he knows it’s not enough to support a wife. Still, on bended knee with his grandmother’s ring in hand, he asks. Sarah Haber says “not yet”.

Working as projectionist at Eagle Grove’s Paradise cinema has the added benefit of a private spot where he and Sarah can watch movies, and he could never have predicted how useful it would later be, but he needs to earn enough to help out his family, and for a future with Sarah: he decides to join the National Guard. He and Sarah will be apart, but they write, often.

Sarah, smart enough to win a scholarship, is off to Mankato State Teachers College, where her gift for mathematics, her intelligence and determination are noted: she’s offered a position in Communications Intelligence, with the US Navy, all very hush hush. Teaching in their small Minnesota town doesn’t provide quite the satisfaction she’d hoped for, so she contacts Navy Captain, Bill Russell, and is welcomed into their code-breaking unit with open arms. Turns out she’s good at it!

Sam’s hard work and diligence as a tank driver sees him promoted and he’s optimistic for the future. Then, Pearl Harbour, and suddenly, his National Guard Unit is subsumed by the Army: he’s training in Seattle, put onto a ship and sailing for the Philippines. How those tank units are let down when the Japanese attack Clark Field is utterly tragic. The lack of support, of defences, of means to repel the attacks: they are sitting ducks. They are not rescued, not evacuated: they are told to surrender to the Japanese.

As POWs of the Japanese, who don’t recognise the Geneva Convention, Sam and his unit face not just starvation, disease, torture, beatings and executions by their shockingly brutal captors, but the American-educated man in charge specialises in psychological cruelty and makes Sam his target. Captivity and hardship can bring out the best in people, and Sam has close friends who look out for him as he does for them. But it can also bring out the worst in people, and he finds himself in the sights of a large American bully.

Word from the Pacific Front is sparse, but when Sarah, by now a WAVES Ensign, learns that Sam is a POW, she insists her talent as a cryptanalyst be used in the Pacific, where she might just be able to help Sam, and men like him. She learns Japanese and begins intercepting important messages. When she decodes a message about a certain Japanese freighter that has 1800 American POWs on board, she faces an awful dilemma. Will her actions help Sam survive? That’s only half the story.

The fiction tale takes up not quite eighty per cent of this volume; the remainder is Afterword, which includes information about various aspects of the story , and citations of real examples of what occurs in the plot. These certainly add authenticity and may be of interest to readers. A moving, shocking and informative tale.
This unbiased review is from an uncorrected proof copy provided by NetGalley and Lake Union Publishing.

[Jessica (Odd and Bookish) · Rating 5 out of 5]

I received a copy of this book for free for promotional purposes.

What an incredible read!

I am a huge fan of historical fiction, especially of World War II. I’ve been particularly interested in reading books about WWII in the Philippines because it’s not talked about enough. I am half Filipino and had Filipino grandparents who lived through it so it hits close to home.

Like other books set in WWII Philippines, parts of this book is brutal. The treatment the soldiers received from the Japanese was horrendous and this book does not sugar coat any of it. Specifically, the scenes on the warship were the stuff of nightmares.



I liked that the story was told from the perspectives of the two main characters, Sam and Sarah. Sam’s war parts were tough to read at times, so reading about Sarah’s code breaking work balanced it out and offered a reprieve from the cruelty.

I also really liked the ending in regard to Sam and Sarah’s relationship. It felt very realistic and not rushed.

This book took over a decade to write and it was so evident. The amount of research that went into the story was obvious. The book features an extensive notes section as well as an afterword with more historical background. I highly recommend reading the notes concurrently with the story; it was so helpful. The story pulls heavily from real events and the notes provide transparency.

I would love to see this book turned into a movie or a television show. There is so much media about WWII, but very few about what happened in the Philippines. I am so glad this book is bringing awareness to it.

Overall, I cannot say enough good things about this book and I have a feeling it will be one of my top reads of the year.

[Shelby (catching up on 2025 reviews) · Rating 5 out of 5]

There's a reason this has a 4.74 star rating....

HOLD STRONG by Robert Dugoni, Jeff Langholz, and Chris Crabtree

Thank you @mbc_books, #lakeunionpublishing, and @brilliancepublishing for my gifted physical and audio copies.

📖 Inspired by true events, Hold Strong is a WWII historical fiction novel that follows Sam Carlson, a small-town theater projectionist turned soldier, and his girlfriend Sarah Haber, a college-bound math prodigy turned codebreaker. As Sam endures the brutality of the Bataan Death March and life as a POW, Sarah fights her own battles in Washington, D.C., until their journeys eventually intersect in unimaginable ways.

💭 Absolutely phenomenal!!! Despite being 555 pages and nearly 14 hours on audio, I binged this fast-paced, action-packed story in just two days. Equal parts heartbreaking and inspiring, the authors deliver a stunner of a novel, highlighting themes of resilience, sacrifice, and the enduring power of love. With its rich character development and emotionally charged storytelling, Hold Strong is a MUST READ for historical fiction lovers.

🎧 Will Damron solo narrates this behemoth and he's absolutely brilliant! I can't imagine a better narrator match. He nails it! Perfect performance! 🙌🏼

📌 Out today!

📌 Available on Kindle Unlimited as an ebook and audiobook.

[Jonathan K (Max Outlier) · Rating 3 out of 5]

Rating 3.60

As stated numerous times in past reviews, writing is art and individual tastes vary. With a personal preference for authors who are masters of unique plots, relatable/quirky characters, genre blending, meticulous pacing, along with sense of humor and wonder, this story met few if any of these characteristics. With a passion for film, I found the plot nearly identical to war movies of yesteryear.

A blend of literary fiction and historical facts, we're taken to the early 1940's where we meet Sam Carlson, a boy of principles and integrity, beloved son and high school student who works as the projectionist in small town in MI. Sarah Haber, a highly intelligent math whiz falls for him and as they near graduation, pledge their unrequited love for another with hopes for marriage.

When Japan attacks the US, Sam enlists in the armed forces and is shipped off to the Philippines, where in a matter of time, he's taken captive and sent to a POW camp with thousands of others. Here we witness the brutality, inhumane treatment by the Japanese POW camp whose commander is known as Yoshida. Meanwhile Sarah's unusual skills are discovered by military intelligence who offers her an opportunity to be involved in a highly secret operation to decipher Japanese codes. As her skills are honed, she's promoted and joins the WAVES in Honolulu where her code deciphering talent elevates.

The boy meets girl, both are inducted, boy becomes war hero; marriage results is the MOST frequently used plot in war stories. And while well written and paced, the predictability takes away from reader engagement. Where stories of war are concerned, books like The Curse of Pietro Houdini demonstrate an author's creativity

I realize that others may feel differently, but in my humble opinion, this pitch 'missed the plate' big time. If this type of story is of interest, add it to your list, otherwise its nothing special in my opinion. "...and that's all I'm gonna say about that...' ~ Forest Gump

[Adrian Dooley · Rating 5 out of 5]

A historical piece of fiction that is loosely based on true events, Hold Strong takes place at the beginning of and during World War Two. Unlike a lot of its contemporaries, this doesn’t focus on the war in Europe but the war with Japan.

It’s also a love story, the story of Sarah and Sam, young sweethearts from a small American town who both contribute hugely in their own way to winning the war.

If you like Dugoni as an author( he is one of my favourites) then you will love this. Despite it being a collaboration, it has Dugonis writing style and storytelling fingerprints all over it. There is also a huge amount of historical detail in the book which must have taken huge amounts of research, which I can only guess were the contributions of the two other authors.
When you finish the book, take the time to read the very sizeable notes section at the end. I hope you will be as amazed as I was how many of the events that happen in the book were actually real. It was a real eye opener for me. While I know a huge amount about the war in Europe I knew little beyond the dropping of the atomic bombs, of the war in the far east.

This, like all Dugoni books, is incredibly readable. It’s fantastically structured and plotted with some hugely vivid characters that will stay with me for a long time.

An easy five stars for me. The book is both harrowing and heartwarming. It’s a tour de force.

Many thanks to the author for the ARC through Netgalley.

[Cat · Rating 5 out of 5]

Riveting book! Couldn’t out it down! Absolutely incredible story of heroism and resilience! A story that needs to be told to the world! May we never forget our brave pows! This book will stay with me forever. I’ll always remember the soldiers and their bravery. Must read this book!

[Bam cooks the books · Rating 4 out of 5]

*4-4.5 stars

This is really quite some story about experiences during WWII, bringing to light especially Japanese hell ships on which POWs were loaded and kept under extremely inhumane conditions. The high death toll was just incredible!

The two main characters were very well written--so smart and brave, loyal and true. Sam Carlson and Sarah Haber were high school sweethearts in Eagle Grove, Minnesota in 1938, before the war effort swept them up and changed life as they knew it forever.

So many scenes of the novel are very hard to read, knowing that soldiers and civilians really went through these things and worse. Hard to imagine how the survivors could pick up the strings of their lives afterwards and carry on. I deducted maybe 1/2 a star for what I felt were way too many 'miracles,' stretching credulity. I kind of hoped for a more realistic ending.

Many thanks to the authors and publisher for providing me with an arc of this new novel. My review is voluntary and the opinions expressed are my own.

[Matt · Rating 4 out of 5]

First and foremost, a large thank you to NetGalley, Robert Dugoni, Jeff Langholz, Christian Crabtree, and Lake Union Publishing for providing me with a copy of this publication, which allows me to provide you with an unbiased review.

Robert Dugoni collaborates with Jeff Langholz and Chris Crabtree to bring readers this wartime thriller. The authors deliver a great account of two young people who are barely out of school, but whose determination and passion to help puts them in equally precarious positions. Sam Carlson and Sarah Haber are a young couple who are tested when war sweeps across the world and America is no longer able to stay neutral. While Sarah is sent to work at cracking codes, Sam finds himself in the Pacific Theatre, where countless events shape him in ways no one could predict. A great piece of writing that showcases many of the great skills all three of these authors possess.

Sam Carlson has worked as a movie projectionist to pass the time and save for his future. He hopes to find his future path while watching many a black and white movie late into the night. When his girlfriend and local math genius, Sarah Haber, has plans to go off to college, Sam hopes to find something that will not only pass the time, but provide for her when they marry. This leads him to answer a request to join the military, in hopes of serving his country while Europe is being torn apart. Writing Sarah while training at various locations across the country, Sam soon finds himself in the middle of the action after the Japanese bomb Pearl Harbor.

Sam is soon sent off to the Philippines, where he and those around him hope to battle the Japanese and help the war effort in the Pacific Theatre. This will not only keep him busy, but leaves Sam vulnerable to the sadistic ways of the Japanese. All the while, Sarah’s math abilities are noticed by some secret groups within the US government and she finds herself trying to crack the various codes used by the Japanese. Cryptologist by day, worried girlfriend by night, Sarah can only hope that Sam will return to her soon and in one piece.

After the Japanese capture Sam and many other Americans, brutalizing them and leaving them for dead, the stage is set for utter despair. As a POW, Sam can barely survive each day, but is determined to make it, if only to ensure he sees Sarah once again. Emaciated and broken, Sam soon finds himself on a boat with 1800 POWs, many of whom will not make it more than a day or two. His only hope is to focus on the future. While Sarah cracks codes and tries to ensure the Japanese will not pull the wool over the eyes of the Americans, she finds herself in the middle of a romantic triangle that could easily destroy the small-town plans that she and Sam made all those years ago. The authors deliver a chilling tale that pulls on real events, sure to impress the attentive reader.

I have long enjoyed the work of Robert Dugoni, both his legal thrillers and those of a more personal nature. This collaborative work alongside Jeff Langholz and Chris Crabtree adds a deeper connection to the story and impacts the reading experience greatly. The narrative flows well and provides an easy to comprehend story, though there are definite moments of despair and anguish that must be synthesised. The characters provide great flavour to the piece, no matter where they are from and hemp to add a needed depth to provide more impact for the reader. Plot twists are constant, set against the backdrop of historical happenings, which serves to provide the reader with some learning moments and keeps things edgy. Dugoni chose well with his collaborators, as they help develop a strong foundation on which the story can rest!

Kudos, Messrs. Dugoni, Langholz, and Crabtree, for this impactful novel!

Love/hate the review? An ever-growing collection of others appears at:
http://pecheyponderings.wordpress.com/

[Stephanie C · Rating 5 out of 5]

I wouldn’t believe this if it weren’t true, but HOW did 9 U.S. soldiers survive the Bataan death march in the Philippines during WWII?? Dugoni recounts how these men endured the most brutal, horrific conditions that defy human imagination when captured by the Japanese, put in horrific camps, imprisoned in the hulls of freighters, and being bombed by their own country to avoid a prolonged world war. Make no mistake, this book is hard to read, and yet it pales in comparison with what they experienced. Still, I wasn’t prepared for the gruesome torture that awaited me. There is evil abound, but so, too, are heroes that inspire and encourage us never to forget and repeat the atrocities of our shared history.

Dugoni was just tuning up with The World Played Chess (a novel of Vietnam) which, I believe, is still his best. This one, though, is on another plane altogether and equally as important and more historically accurate.

Women code breakers, too, are especially important and hold a grand role in the Pacific Theater for their skills and dedication to bringing our boys home, and their role cannot be overstated enough.

The Battling Bastards of Bataan - those rescued POWs - are thoroughly and rightfully honored in this book, and I am thankful to Dugoni for giving us their story with precision, exceptional research, and simply great storytelling.

[Bill · Rating 5 out of 5]

The World Played Chess was one of my top reads a couple of years ago, so when this one came up, another wartime standalone by Robert Dugoni, I couldn't pass it by.

Hold Strong is a fictionalized account of real events in the Pacific Theatre of WWII. Given the abundance of historical novels centering around this war, it's odd that there are so few that take into account the American POWs held in Japanese camps in the Philippines.

To say this one was harrowing is an understatement. Dugoni pulls no punches in his descriptions of the torture and misery endured by soldiers inflicted by the evil Japanese commanders who scoffed at the Geneva Convention's rules for the treatment of prisoners.
The story follows two high school sweethearts finding their way as the effects of the Great Depression is still affecting their small town. Sam decides to join the National Guard to either make enough money to go to college, or learn a trade, and Sarah is a highly advanced math student who catches the attention of a highly secret war effort in need of her skills.

There were times in this novel I could not put it down. There were dilemmas at hand that were devastating. For this alone, I'm giving the novel five stars.

My only knock was the final part of the novel, in which the writing devolved into a simplistic style, with a lot of emotional territory told over and over again. At this point a lot of the suspense was over and I just wanted resolution done much quicker than he had done here.
But the good parts of this novel were so good that I won't dock a star for it. This was an excellent story.
Not for the squeamish, though. The worst things imaginable happen here and there are scenes I won't get out of my head for a while.
Those poor men.

[TheMysteryMO (Mike O) · Rating 4 out of 5]

First book by Robert Dugoni and when I saw Will Damron as narrator then it was an easy choice. This book is historical with mainly fictional characters that portray the groups of actual heroes and foes. Knowing how it was adapted into a story to really show what happened during WWII was impressive as it gave me additional perspective. I usually don’t read these types of books and it took some time to get interested but it really clicked for me at about the halfway point. I really liked the main female character in this story a lot.

I am interested to see how I feel about this author’s other books as I get an opportunity in the future!

Thank you to both Netgalley and the publisher for the opportunity in exchange for an honest review.

[Louis Muñoz · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.75=>4 stars. This was my second Robert Dugoni novel, and honestly, any subsequent books weren't going to quite measure up to "The Extraordinary Life of Sam Hell," which I loved. I did like "Hold Strong" a lot, although it sometimes felt a bit stilted, to be honest, both in terms of dialogue and plotting. The story is "based on true events," but it turns out to be VERY loosely based on true events; there are various real-life characters, large and small, in this work of historical fiction, but the main characters, Sam and Sarah, are meant to be "representations" of people of that time. That didn't take away from the story, which was quite engaging, but there were a wee bit too many coincidences for me to give this a five-star rating. In any event, another great story from Robert Dugoni, and I'm so looking forward to more from him.

Many thanks to NetGalley, the author, and the publishers for a digital ARC of this book in exchange for my honest opinions.

[Renée | apuzzledbooklover · Rating 4 out of 5]

Based on true events, this fictional story is both heartbreaking and gripping. It is set during World War II and focuses on the sinking of a ship called the Arisan Maru which housed POWs. 

Highlights | 
•Philippines & Minnesota settings
•horrors of war
•codebreaking
•love story sub-plot 

After a bit of a slow build beginning, I was engaged in the story. I loved Sam and Sarah’s bond. I ended up finishing the book on my kindle when the audio was returned while I was on vacation. While this book is at times challenging and emotional, it is well worth the read. 

⚠️ | Contains some difficult content pertaining to war. Mild language.

4.25/5 stars

[Lisa · Rating 5 out of 5]

Sam and Sarah are young sweethearts, thinking about marriage and the future.

Then WW2 hits. Sam is off to the Philippines, where he gets stuck and goes on the famous Bataan Death March. Then, it's POW camps and to the hold of a hell ship.

Meanwhile, due to her exceptional math skills, Sarah is serving her country as a codebreaker in Hawaii. Ironically, their worlds collide when she finds out more about the ship where Sam and 1800 others are being held.

Dugoni does it again. A super difficult read in some places, but 5 stars for sure.

[Olivia Drummond · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a great story! It has a little bit of everything: action, romance, tragedy all in balance and great characters and great writing. Also interesting that is based on true events so I even learned some things. It is a little outside my usual genres, but I’m glad it was recommended to me as it was a great book!

[Sharyn · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is quite a harrowing tale, a WWII very accurate historical fiction. If you liked Unbroken you should read this. The depiction of the Bataan death march, POW camps, and a little known tale of Japanese Hell ships. The last 10%of the book is footnotes detailing actual Survivors memories.
This is also a book about resilience and the incredible desire to just stay alive.
The unremitting misery is broken up by Sam's life at home and the love of his life Sarah. They are from a small town and never imagined leaving.
After Sam is shipped off to the Philippines , Sarah goes to college and plans to return home to teach. She is a Math major and is recruited to come to Washington, but returns home to teach.
When Sam is declared missing, she realizes she must do something more, and heads off to DC to become a code breaker. These chapters are very interesting and depict the life of the women at home doing their part, trying to deal with misogyny at every turn.
The book is written by novelist Dugoni with the help of 2 historians. I asked for an ARC because I loved Dugoni's previous book, unaware of how difficult this book would be for me. I was a Japanese major in college and have been to Japan numerous times, so the Japanese inhumanity to POWs always strikes me hard.
Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for the the EARC. The opinions are mine alone.

[Judy Odom · Rating 5 out of 5]

Hold Strong is a well researched compelling read that is a powerful story that everyone should read.

My review can never do this book justice.

It is the story of Sam Carlson who at the beginning of the war is sent to the Philippines and his girlfriend Sarah Haber is recruited to be a code breaker

The Philippines fall to the Japanese and all the military personnel are made Prisoners of War.

Their story is inhumane, they courage is mind boggling and their tenacity is out of this world.

All they can do is Hold Strong.

Sarah is doing her part to shorten the war and knows her task is of the utmost importance that has deadly consequences and yet it is necessary.

Robert Dugoni, Jeff Langholz and Chris Crabtree have collaborated together to write a book based on history and they have told a story that is an eye opener .

It is a journey that you the reader wont forget nor should we.

Hold Strong will no doubt be several Book Club picks and I can not recommend this book highly enough.

Thanks to NetGalley and Lake Union Publishing for the privilege of reading and reviewing Hold Strong.

[Becca Loritz · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love historical fiction & this book did not disappoint. Immediately you will fall in love with the characters, and be rooting for them. The look at the Pacific theater is not something I think you read about often. I appreciate the opportunity to learn about what happened and what our soldiers went through. It was devastating to read about & the decisions made by those in power. I would recommend this book & thank NetGalley for the ARC!

[Peggy · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a poor attempt to tell a very important part of the history of pow's during WWII. I only hope that Robert Dugoni returns to his excellent writing. Actually, the best part of the book was the straightforward afterward which clarified what the book was about. I gave it a 3 because of the Afterward.

[Amy Payne · Rating 5 out of 5]

This incredible book deserves all the 🌟!
There is much to digest in learning about these true events of WW II.
I encourage you to look up the pictures that are referenced in the Afterword.

[Deborah Walker Richmond · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a difficult read. While this novel is fiction, its historical events are too heartbreaking to forget. I am grateful for the footnotes provided throughout. As sickened as I was by the vicious inhumanity of the treatment of our POW’s, I have only gained a greater respect for our nation’s military! Also, I am awed by the United States’ ability to form an alliance with Japan. That the two countries were able to not only form this bond but also encourage the descendants of those who were held on the Arisan Maru to visit with the descendants of those who wreaked such havoc on our soldiers speaks volumes for how history once faced can be confronted, and possibly, bridged.

We cannot bury the heroic nor heinous acts committed throughout history, as they inform us all! We ought not shield ourselves from truths. To deny the occurrences does not erase them. Acceptance may mean that we can, perhaps, avoid some of this in the future.

We must preserve our history!

[Maria V · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5 stars - This is a difficult book to review. It’s not a book I “enjoyed”, as it’s filled with torture and some of the most harrowing and disturbing scenes I’ve ever read. Much of this book is based on real life events and it’s hard to read about; not as hard as living through it, of course, but it’s still the kind of book that hurts your soul to read. Dugoni, as always, writes with sensitivity and honesty and it’s a writing miracle how he manages to balance the two. WWII was a complex war and this book shows what a global effect it had. It also shows how countries can grow and change and even reconcile with the past and their former enemies. This book isn’t for the weak, but it’s one everyone should read.

[Wendy A Koenig · Rating 5 out of 5]

I just finished reading this absolutely brilliant book!!! It was engrossing and amazing all at the same time.

Robert Dugoni is a master storyteller!!!! I cannot say enough about this book!!! I learned so much from reading it.

If you haven’t read it, please consider doing so.

[Kyle Dool · Rating 4 out of 5]

Bit of a classic WW2 historical nonfiction about some star-crossed lovers, but inspired by a more unknown part/event of the war that I personally was unaware of.

Wild what people were able to overcome, s/o the indomitable human spirit.

[Sandy Barrera · Rating 5 out of 5]

This historical fiction book is awesome! It is based on true events of WWII. From The Nightingale, I learned things about the war in France that no history book ever taught. In this book, I learned a ton about the war in the Philippines and China. So much research was put into this book. It follows the fictional love story of Sarah and Sam while giving us in depth detail of Sam's experience in the war. Sarah also got to contribute her talents to the war effort in a very worthy way. I love Robert Dugoni books. They are so well written and I have learned so much. Thanks to @NetGalley for the ARC of this book!