Book Blurb:
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-fiance, 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?
Book Buy Link: https://geni.us/angelsandbandits
Author Bio:
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.
Editorial Review:
Angels and Bandits by Brodie Curtis is a suspenseful novel that fantastically mixes action and romance. This novel contains numerous aerial scenes about the inner workings of flying a plane that is packed with a huge amount of research that you could even taste it. Starting in 1936, the story follows Edouard “Eddy” Beane, a French-born man who lived with his Uncle Al and Aunt Maddy in England ever since his mother died. Eddy, was an honorable and focused man that had been accepted by the couple as their own and was helping them as a tailor on their business. He was thrown off his peaceful life when Commander Keith Park came to their store and gave a tempting offer that Eddy couldn't refuse, a chance to fly.
In his own words, Eddy said: “He couldn’t complain in the least about his life...Eddy found himself looking down at workmen’s cottages, laid out in straight narrow streets. Rows of houses that were so close together they reminded him of marks on a ruler’s edge. The streets ran together in triangles and quadrangles seamed with the tiny movements of automobiles…..It was a whole new way of looking at the city. From above…It’s the most exciting thing I’ve ever done, sir. I feel different—I’m not sure how to explain. I… I wish I could stay up here forever.”
This flight sets the course of the story of Eddy as a pilot, starting by helping Tiger, a flight instructor, as his ground man in exchange for flight lessons. From here, he met with Dudley Thane, a rich, arrogant young man that was described by one of the characters as follows, “A prize twit… He’s [Thane] quick on the controls, and he has a light touch, but his skull’s stuffed with shite. A Trinity man. Oh well, he pays, I suppose.” A brief encounter with a character that left a bitter taste in the mouth… at least for now, as the future character growth was one that is worth waiting for.
As Eddy started to give lessons, he took June Stephenson, a bubbly young heiress, as a student, which set the course of the cute romance subplot of the book. Commander Park came again with a secret mission, marking the beginning of the suspenseful part of the book where Eddy fights the Nazis. Starting flying by, taking photos, that had the fate of the national fate in his hands. On one of those missions, he went to a stop to fulfill his uncle’s wishes, saving an acquaintance’s daughter named Lotte. A marvelous scene that displays Eddy’s character and his first real brush with the Nazis. Lotte, a German, was saved from her brother, that had joined the Nazis. This character helped show that the Nazis doesn't represent Germany as a country, sending a message that Lotte herself said perfectly:
“Everyone here confuses Germans with Nazis. The soul of Germany is in the good people who work hard and raise their families. They don’t want war with Britain or France or any country. But the Nazis are in control there and they are evil—so our people must do what they are told—or else. Some day that will change.”
Eddy's desire started to grow the moment he heard of the craft named Spitfire. He decided to join the Royal Air Force (RAF), which gave him the means and training to fight the Nazis by the way he knew best, flying. But, before all that, his relationship with June Stephenson had blossomed into a passionate romance grew, as they struggled to gain her mother's acceptance. His journey in the RAF took place in the second part of the book, where the abundance of flying scenes came like a gold mine for those action-suspense and aviation lovers. This part of the book shows one of the horrors of war. We see how easy it is to lose someone in the midst of war, from the friends you stand side by side with or even bunkmates.
“They were powering down. A good first flight. Exhilarating, quickly over, but landing required the same attention to control and finesse that he’d needed for takeoff. Five thousand feet and dropping rapidly. He [Eddy] assessed the rush of wind along his canopy as he balanced the pull of gravity and the speed of his approach. An unfamiliar high-pitched wail broke his concentration. To his right, a Spitfire was diving steeply…He [Eddy] landed, parked, unstrapped and climbed down, and ran towards the outfield where the ruins of…plane lay burning. He stood helplessly next to Sergeant MacLeod. “
In the RAF he met again with Dudley Thane. Sparks of tension immediately come between them as they are connected by the same woman, June Stephenson. One as an ex-fiance, one as a current fiance. Thane’s character was still the arrogant prick that the others described him. Teamwork with Eddy seemed impossible, but as they fought together, and suffered losses together, their bond became one of the strongest friendships in the book.
For this reviewer, the characters' bonds and interactions are one of the strongest and most enjoyable parts of the book, aside from the action. As Eddy got injured after the fight with the Nazi’s 109, he and Dudley came to check on Eddy’s family, where he (Dudley) met with Lotte, starting a new seed of romance. After their triumphant final battle with the elusive no 34, Eddy was saved by Thane in the sea, and the culmination results in a satisfying ending for the reader. We should give our thanks to Brodie Curtis for giving us such a fun and suspenseful story that helped us gain more interest in aviation and World War II history.
*****
“Angels and Bandits” by Brodie Curtis receives four stars from The Historical Fiction Company