Ordinary Heroes, by Scott Turow

Following his father's death, Stewart Dubinsky tries to find out the story of what he did in WW2. He has access to a collection of letters between his father and his father's then-fiancee, but when he attempts to get information from the war-office his requests are denied. His mother refuses to help, and so Steward has to dissemble somewhat when talking to the lawyer who remembers his father's court-martial, and can help fill in the gaps.

I didn't have a great experience with the other Turow book I read, but picked this up from the library because it was an MP3 and looked interesting, being based on WW2.

And it turned out to be pretty good. The story is predominantly focused on Stewart's father David, with smaller sections set in "the present" as Stewart tries to make progress with his investigation and reflects on the information he's uncovered.

David's story is a pretty good one, with loads of action: he was sent to Europe following the D-Day landings to act as a lawyer, working at military tribunals etc., but gets caught up in an operation to arrest a US officer, Robert Martin, who's meant to be working with the French resistance but who is suspected of being a spy. David is parachuted into enemy territory, finds Martin, but falls under Martin's charismatic spell and ends up going out on a mission with Martin to blow up a German ammo dump. Then, after losing track of Martin, David commands a unit of men who get caught up in the Battle of the Bulge. And more...

Alongside all the action is an underlying story which slowly emerges to explain why David had determined that his children should never know exactly what happened in WW2 - why he was court martialled, and why he was released.

Really enjoyed this.

Completed : 06-Sep-2013 (audiobook)

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