Dangers and Difficulties
Buy the Book
Product Details
Publisher: Roundel House
Release Date: December 16, 2024
Formats: Paperback, Ebook, Audiobook
ISBN: PB: 978-1-7353736-7-6; EB: 978-1-7353736-8-3; AB: 978-1-7353736-9-0
Trim: 6 x 9
Page Count: 306
A Novel of World War II (Breaking Point series, book 5)
John Rhodes
1944. The Allies prepare for the largest military operation of World War II: the invasion of Normandy. Two German armies stand ready to hurl them back into the sea. As D-Day approaches, the balance of power in Europe teeters on a knife’s edge.
After undergoing grueling special forces training in preparation for the mission, celebrated RAF pilot Johnnie Shaux arrives in Normandy—not in the sky, but on one of the first landing crafts, dispatched to call in air support for the embattled Allied soldiers as they storm the beaches. Meanwhile, tactical military analyst Eleanor Shaux follows the events from Eisenhower’s headquarters back in England, vividly aware of von Moltke’s dictum: “No plan survives first contact with the enemy.”
As the battered and bruised Allies fight their way toward Germany, Hitler unleashes his new tools of destruction—the V1 “buzzbomb” and the V2 rocket. While Johnnie joins the RAF’s risky efforts to paralyze Hitler’s weapons, the Allies launch the ill-fated airborne Operation Market Garden—against Eleanor’s advice—deep in enemy-held territory.
As 1944 draws to a close, the Nazis engage the Allied armies in a final desperate attempt to push them back in the Battle of the Bulge. And above the battlefield, Johnnie must contend with a game-changing, deadly threat: the world’s first operational jet fighter.
In the fifth book of the award-winning Breaking Point series, John Rhodes continues the story of fighter pilot Johnnie Shaux and military strategist Eleanor Shaux with another thrilling wartime military adventure.
About the Author
John Rhodes is the award-winning author of the World War II Breaking Point series, which follows his protagonists through the tumultuous years from the Battle of Britain to the Battle of the Bulge. A graduate of Cambridge University in history, his focus on World War II stems from his earliest memories of war-torn London where, he says, the shells of bombed-out buildings “served as our adventure playgrounds.”
Visit the author’s website at johnrhodesbooks.com
Reviews
“With striking, lived-in detail that will dazzle history buffs, the polished and compelling fifth installment of Rhodes’s Breaking Point Series opens on D-Day and ends shortly after the Battle of the Bulge, bringing life to these epochal events through the perspectives of Johnnie and Eleanor Shaux.” —BookLife Reviews, Editor’s Pick
Breaking Point Series Reviews
“The latest entry in the Breaking Point series by John Rhodes is a real page-turner and a must read for people who enjoy World War II historical fiction. The book . . . is tightly written and moves at a brisk, satisfying pace. Rhodes is a master of weaving fictional characters into the fabric of true historical events. His characters have depth and nuance.” —Robert Kofman, author of Ike’s Journey
“A smart and gripping portrait of the many facets of conflict . . . This is a clever novel that ably moves between the politics of Whitehall and the white-knuckle ride of aerial combat while also offering an unconventional love story. Rhodes’s enviable knowledge of military history successfully keeps the narrative moving.” —Kirkus Reviews
“His scholarship is impeccable, but he wears it lightly. His prose moves as fast as a Spitfire in pursuit, and his characters speak like real human beings. Imagine a Herman Wouk or a James Michener who didn't run on for seven hundred pages or more.”
—Ben Steelman, Star News Online