Beyond The Flag is a heartfelt story of faith, friendship and reaching across continents to bring strangers closer. Set in WWII in the South Pacific, Master Sergeant Nick Masters finds a hidden Japanese flag while on base; concerned about profiteers as well as what could have been catastrophic consequences should the flag have been booby-trapped, he keeps the flag secret for decades until he rediscovers it and begins the journey to find the flag's rightful owner.
A comically poignant narrative outlines the struggles of post-war veterans, clashing social environments and how cultures can be wildly different yet share the same core values.
Although fiction, Beyond the Flag was inspired by real-life events and is lovingly dedicated in memory of its main character.
I found the book on a free promo list. I read the author's blurb and it was intriguing enough for me to go to the next step of reading the book. I rarely read other reviewers' reviews of a book because their personal bias for/against a particular author or genre can have a major influence on their review.
I was able to finish the book in less than 24 hours. I had to stop for sleep and to take care of some stuff, but it was one of the fastest reads I have done in a while. I had not intended to read it in one setting. I was surprised when I get to the end of the book and it had only been a few hours reading time.
From the blurb, it's a fictional account of a true story. A story about a World War II veteran tends to get my attention even if the book is mostly about what happens much later in the veteran's life. I will try to avoid spoilers so I will leave out some key details.
I found some of the plot to be predictable, but there were enough times the plot wasn't predictable or a plot twist caught me by surprise that I was fine with the amount of predictability. I also liked the mix of non-action to action scenes. Too many writers go to one extreme or the other - too many action scenes or too many inaction scenes. This book had a good mix and spaced the actions scenes out enough to not wear me out.
I was expecting a key point to happen in a certain way and was pleasantly surprised when they throw a good curve ball in the mix. In many books, I read the last chapter first. It's a time saver as many books take a great story and botch it somewhere in the middle or end. For Beyond The Flag, I chose not to read the last chapter as I believe I had a good clue about how it should turn out if the book stayed somewhat true to the actual event.
This is a story, bringing different cultures and generations for a common cause, the return of a flag picked up as “spoils of war,” and later returned. It is based on true events and was a very good read.
Several times I almost quit this book. The writing is amateurish and although the typos are not abundant it could use another edit. I didn't quit because I loved the story. I hate to give it only two stars. 2.5 would be more accurate. I wish it was better written.
The story was really good. Loosely based on a true person made it even better! There were some funny moments and some sweet moments. It was a really great story.