#AudioBook #Review: Beneath a Scarlet Sky by Mark Sullivan!! @MarkSullivanBks #WW2 #Hero #War #HistoricalFiction

Title: Beneath A Scarlet Sky
Author: Mark Sullivan
Genre: Historical Fiction, War, WW2
Length: 17 hours 43 minutes
Narrator: Will Damron
Publisher: Brilliance Audio
Publication Date: May 1, 2017
Source: Purchased
Purchase: Amazon, Book Depository

Book Description:

Based on the true story of a forgotten hero, Beneath a Scarlet Sky is the triumphant, epic tale of one young man’s incredible courage and resilience during one of history’s darkest hours.

Pino Lella wants nothing to do with the war or the Nazis. He’s a normal Italian teenager—obsessed with music, food, and girls—but his days of innocence are numbered. When his family home in Milan is destroyed by Allied bombs, Pino joins an underground railroad helping Jews escape over the Alps, and falls for Anna, a beautiful widow six years his senior.

In an attempt to protect him, Pino’s parents force him to enlist as a German soldier—a move they think will keep him out of combat. But after Pino is injured, he is recruited at the tender age of eighteen to become the personal driver for Adolf Hitler’s left hand in Italy, General Hans Leyers, one of the Third Reich’s most mysterious and powerful commanders.
Now, with the opportunity to spy for the Allies inside the German High Command, Pino endures the horrors of the war and the Nazi occupation by fighting in secret, his courage bolstered by his love for Anna and for the life he dreams they will one day share.

Fans of All the Light We Cannot See, The Nightingale, and Unbroken will enjoy this riveting saga of history, suspense, and love. 

My Opinion:
This was a brilliantly written, and brutally honest book of one man's life in WW2. He went from being a child to becoming a man, a spy, a friend, and a lover. This tale is so emotional and heart wrenching that you can't help but fall in love with every minute of this book. WOW, just WOW. I can't even imagine going and doing any of these things. This was so well written and the tale told so well and with such emotion, it left me speechless. I don't even know how to explain this book or give it the justice it deserves. I don't think I know the right words for it, but I will try my best.

This tale is about a boy of 17 years old that was helping jewish people escape the nazis during WW2. He would take them over the Alps and into Switzerland. These are death defining mountains that he took regular people like me and you through to survive. TO SURVIVE!!! He did this for many months and then came his time to enlist with the Nazis or to become a rebel (partisan) against them. With the help of his father and uncle he makes his choice and became a Nazis and then became a spy. His life was always in peril because of this and did not tell many what he was doing. He wasn't allowed to tell many including his brother for fear of anyone being tortured for it. 

The fighting, the plight of the slaves, the peril of being discovered. This book just emotionally has you hooked. It lacked all the gore, but not the depth of what he saw during his time as a soldier. Amazing tale of about 2  years of being a hero both in helping people escape through the Alps and being a spy in the Nazis army for the resistance. I cried several times during this tale. The fingers of the child, the starvation, the woman's plea, Anna, Carleto and for Pino himself. The firing squad. Oh, god..This book is just so amazing. AMAZING.

Just so you know I do not usually read biographies or WW2 books or war books at all. So, for this to have me enthralled and loving it, says something about this book. I feel in love with Pino and his family and Father Re. Wonderful book, brilliantly written and a must read book. Get it, you will not be disappointed!

I give this book 5 of 5 stars!

About the Author:
Mark T. Sullivan (b. 1958) is an author of thrillers. Born in a Boston suburb, he joined the Peace Corp after college, traveling to West Africa to live with a tribe of Saharan nomads. Upon returning to the United States, he took a job at Reuters, beginning a decade-long career in journalism that would eventually lead to a job as an investigative reporter for the San Diego Tribune.

Sullivan spent the winter of 1990 living with a group of skiers in Utah and Wyoming, and used the experience as the foundation for his first novel, The Fall Line (1994). In 1995 he published Hard News, a thriller based on his work as a reporter, and a year later he released The Purification Ceremony, which won the WH Smith Award for Best New Talent. His most recent work is Private Games (2012), which he co-authored with James Patterson. Sullivan lives with his family in Montana, where he skis, hunts, and practices martial arts.

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Disclaimer: I purchased this book on my own. No one sponsored or endorsed this post. All opinions are my own. All information on the book or author can be found at the authors website.