Adam Colclough lives and works in the West Midlands, he writes regularly for a number of websites, one day he will get round to writing a book for someone else to review.
Christmas Eve 1957 and a young RAF pilot wants to make it back home to spend the holidays with his family. The only thing that stands in his way is a sixty-six-minute flight over the North Sea from Germany to Lakenheath.
When his compass and radio both fail what seemed like a milk run turn into a desperate race to find somewhere to land before his fuel runs out. Lost, alone, and with no way of calling for help he faces the choice between a quick death in his mangled fighter or ejecting to face a slower one in the freezing sea below.
Then, out of nowhere salvation appears in the shape of a World War Two vintage Mosquito fighter bomber. Able only to communicate by hand signals the unknown pilot guides him down to the ground in a remarkable act of courage.
First published almost fifty years ago this story shows Forsyth at his very best, he has that magical gift of being able to ‘tell a yarn’, that grips his readers and is at the root of all storytelling. This is combined with a journalist’s eye for the little details that add power to a narrative and a pilot’s understanding of the exhilaration, fear, and loneliness of being alone in the air.
Penguin, and Disney through the recent television adaptation, have brought a hugely enjoyable tale by one of the great names in the thriller genre to a new, and sure to be appreciative audience.
