VIP'S BOOK CLUB
BOOK REVIEW BY BRI JACKSON
When the Nazis took over Milan and much of northern Italy in 1943, seventeenyear-old Pino Lella was forced to abandon his family and beloved city for the safety of a Catholic camp in the Alps, Casa Alpina. It was there that he began his undercover resistance to the Germans by sneaking Jews out of Italy and into Switzerland through the hazardous Alps. After a year of dangerous missions leading Jews through the snowy mountains, he took on the perilous role of double agent serving as the personal driver to Gen. Hans Leyers, Hitler’s right-hand man in Italy, while also spying on him for the resistance. Pino Lella was able to break into Leyers' briefcase and personal papers and relay information regarding Germany’s armaments and war production in Italy to the Allies that they were able to disrupt with air raids and bombings thus weakening Germany’s position. A secret war hero at eighteen, Pino Lella risked his life and love and suffered greatly until the end of the war. The story is one of unspeakable heartache and impossible situations. As Pino surveyed the bomb ravaged countryside that he loved so dearly, he wondered if things could ever be the same again.
BENEATH A SCARLET SKY BY MARK SULLIVAN
Mark Sullivan is the acclaimed author of eighteen novels, including the #1 New York Times bestselling Private series, which he writes with James Patterson. Mark has received numerous awards for his writing, including the WHSmith Fresh Talent Award, and his works have been named a New York Times Notable Book and a Los Angeles Times Best Book of the Year.
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VIPMagSC.com
March 2022
“It all made Pino realize that the earth did not know war, that nature would go on no matter what horror one man might inflict on another. Nature didn’t care a bit about men and their need to kill and conquer.” Although the author Mark T. Sullivan has claimed that the story of Pino Lella is based on true events, the validity of his book and its characters have recently been called into question. Regardless of it being fact or fiction, the story remains riveting and is a quick and entertaining read. You can be the judge of whether its status as a true story or literary fraud affects your enjoyment of the book.
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