FULLY booked

THIS MONTH, DAWN ANNANDALE HAS TUCKED INTO SOME HEAVYWEIGHT NUMBERS WHERE THE EFFECTS OF WAR SET THE STAGE FOR THRILLERS AND CHILLERS. BUT TO LIGHTEN THE LOAD, THERE'S A LOVELY-DOVEY FAIRY TALE AND A TOME THAT TEACHES YOU HOW TO ENTERTAIN BOHO STYLE

The Forgotten 500

By Gregory Freeman

Publisher: New American Library

Genre: Second World War

Romanian oil fields provided the German war machine the fuel that it needed to continue and, starting in 1942, the Allied attempted to interrupt production from the air. Inevitably, some of the bombers were fatally wounded in combat and their crews bailed over unfamiliar territories. Some of them ended up in northern Yugoslavia, where Dragoljub ‘Draza’ Mihailovic’s resistance group, the Chetniks, was active.

The Forgotten 500 recounts the harrowing stories of those downed airmen, their protection by the Chetniks, the daring Operation Halyard conducted by the Office of Strategic Services (OSS) to extricate the airmen, and how international politics vilified Mihailovic despite his stern anti-German stance and his followers’ sacrifices.

Freeman’s telling of the stories of the US airmen is blunt and presented in an exciting manner that kept me reading on. I felt Anthony Orsini’s genuine patriotism for his country and camaraderie for his crew through the pages, while George Vujnovich’s harrowing escape from war-torn Yugoslavia made my heart beat just a bit faster.

At the commencement of Operation Halyard, the landing of the first flight proceeded almost like a movie meant for entertainment under the author’s pen. In the latter part of the book, Freeman spent many pages on Mihailovic, whom he spoke of with favouring bias; stress was placed on his stern anti-Communist stance, his loyalty toward the Yugoslavian monarchy, and how he was abandoned by the Western Allies as the result of international politics, but the author also conveniently left out Mihailovic’s brutality against Croats and Muslims.

This book successfully achieves its goal of telling the story of a large rescue operation that was unjustifiably unknown and the gallantry of anonymous Serbs who played small but nevertheless important parts in the ultimate defeat of Germany.

Audio narration is available on Kindle with excellent characterisation.

EMILY WILDE’S ENCYCLOPEDIA OF FAERIES

By Heather Fawcett

Publisher: Orbit

Genre: Romance

This was recommended by a friend who absolutely insisted I read the book. I did so reluctantly because fantasy and romance and sentimental stuff are definitely my least favourite. This one is slightly predictable, but absolutely charming, so I may even voluntarily read the next in the series!