Azzaro

by Roger Pullen, Ian Grindle (Illustrator)

February 1940. Britain faces catastrophe. Vital aircraft from America are flown across a forbidding N. Atlantic in winter, saving time into action. But few have crossed its cruel wastes before the war broke out. At home women volunteers deliver aircraft – all types from fighter to four-engine bomber – from Britain’s expanding factories to pressed squadrons. The job is demanding, dangerous and sometimes ends in tragedy. The women fly alone, unarmed and without radio. Across the Channel a homing Spitfire is downed. Its pilot bales- out; picked-up by the French Resistance. Hidden, boredom soon plagues him as he hopes for repatriation. Until, following a study of reconnaissance photos by WAAF interpreters, clandestine radio instructions from England order the capture of a new, secret German aircraft based on a unique 16th-century design – and flown to England. The young pilot and the striking female Resistance leader hatch an audacious scheme, managing to avoid German attention despite a close and unwelcome call for the young woman. Patience and raw courage are accepted as key ingredients for any chance of the scheme’s success. Close proximity and high-octane danger generates a concoction of spontaneous emotions that finally embraces Azzaro’s cast of characters. Book contains first chapter of Dividend – part three of trilogy.

495 pages, Kindle Edition

First published December 7, 2012