Like a thousand suns...: BOOK REVIEW!!! Angels and Bandits by Brodie Curtis #HistoricalFiction #WWII #BlogTour #CoffeePotBookClub @BrodieCurtis4 @maryanneyarde

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While I have read many books about the second world war, I have never read one about the RAF involvement, or the role of the pilots. This was a book I was very excited to read, not just because of the beautiful cover, although that was an important factor in my wanting to read this book, but also because I really wanted to find out more about the pilots of WW2.

Eddy didn’t have the start to flying that most of the RAF pilots did. He didn’t come from a wealthy family, and learn to fly for pleasure. He come to England from France when his mother died, to live with his aunt and uncle. It is when Commander Park comes to collect his clothes that he offers Eddy a chance to fly in a plane with him – the first time Eddy finds himself soaring through the air. He knows he absolutely has to learn how to fly, and so he works towards getting lessons and, eventually, owning his own plane.

This book has a little bit of everything. There is some romance, for once Eddy gets his teaching licence, he takes on a pupil whom he falls in love with, there is action, of course, and there is plenty of tension as Eddy flies in dangerous situations. I adored Eddy, he is an absolutely wonderful character. As he isn’t from a wealthy family, he doesn’t have the jumpstart into the ranks that some of the other RAF pilots do, because it doesn’t matter how good he is at flying, it is money that determines the rank. That is until everyone is up in the air together, and suddenly, money doesn’t matter, for it is skill in handling a Spitfire that will bring the pilots back to the ground safely.

I loved every second of reading this book. After looking up the author, I realised that there are some hints to another book he has written, which precedes this one, although they both stand alone. I would very much like to read that one as well, for now I know what this author has to offer, and I can safely say I would be happy to read anything he has written.

The Battle of Britain rages and two young RAF pilots from very different stations in life must somehow find common ground—and stay alive.

On the eve of World War II, working-class Eddy Beane is a flight instructor in London. He successfully completes dangerous espionage missions for Air Commodore Keith Park and takes on society-girl June Stephenson as a student. Her ex-fiancé, Dudley Thane, is also a flyer, but upper-class and Cambridge-educated. When the German Luftwaffe attacks England in 1940, Eddy and Dudley end up serving in the same Spitfire squadron. Aerial combat is intense, and both men show their skills and courage, but can they set aside jealousy and class differences to become fighting brothers for the defence of Britain?

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Raised in the Midwest, Brodie Curtis was educated as a lawyer and left the corporate world to embrace life in Colorado with his wife and two sons.

Curtis is the author of THE FOUR BELLS, a novel of The Great War, which is the product of extensive historical research, including long walks through the fields of Flanders, where much of the book's action is set. His second novel, ANGELS AND BANDITS, takes his protagonists into The Battle of Britain. Curtis is currently working on a novel set on a Mississippi Riverboat prior to the Civil War.

A lover of history, particularly American history and the World Wars, Curtis reviews historical fiction for the Historical Novels Review and more than 100 of his published reviews and short takes on historical novels can be found on his website: brodiecurtis.com.

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