Hell Above Earth
The Incredible True Story of an American WWII Bomber Commander and the Copilot Ordered to Kill Him
-
-
3.8 • 31 Ratings
-
-
- $11.99
-
- $11.99
Publisher Description
"After the twists and turns in Goering's many missions, Frater finishes with a stunning revelation . . . the author delivers an exciting read full of little-known facts about the war. A WWII thrill ride." - Kirkus Reviews
The U.S. air battle over Nazi Germany in WWII was hell above earth. For bomber crews, every day they flew was like D-Day, exacting a terrible physical and emotional toll. Twenty-year-old U.S. Captain Werner Goering, accepted this, even thrived on and welcomed the adrenaline rush. He was an exceptional pilot—and the nephew of Hermann Göring, leading member of the Nazi party and commander-in-chief of the Luftwaffe.
The FBI and the American military would not prevent Werner from serving his American homeland, but neither would they risk the propaganda coup that his desertion or capture would represent for Nazi Germany. J. Edgar Hoover issued a top-secret order that if Captain Goering's plane was downed for any reason over Nazi-occupied Europe, someone would be there in the cockpit to shoot Goering dead. FBI agents found a man capable of accomplishing the task in Jack Rencher, a tough, insular B-17 instructor who also happened to be one of the Army's best pistol shots. That Jack and Werner became unlikely friends is just one more twist in one of the most incredible untold tales of WWII.
Customer Reviews
Great Story, Bad Editing
I have to agree completely with the two previous reviews!
This is an amazing story worth the read, but when you have sentences that repeat on more than one occasion that is just horrible and it does almost ruin the book.
Just one example, there was a portion where the author quoted a source and then the very next line below the quote an entire sentence that had just been quoted was duplicated. Great story but very poor editing!
Hell Above Earth
This a very interesting tale with a twist at the end. I learned facts about the WWII air war that I did not know.
My only criticism is I think the author need a better editor. I found myself reading identical passages at more than one place in the book. The organization of the story could have been fine-tuned some more to make it an even smoother telling of a fascinating story which appears to have been well researched.
Its a mixed bag
The author has put together a really informative and engaging book here. I enjoyed his writing immensely, however, the editor of this edition should be dropped from a B-17 over a cold, grey European sky...there are numerous errors that very nearly ruined such a great read. I felt like this was a 1st draft rather than a finished product. There are sections and phrases that repeat over and over so many times it became annoying. I felt this book was just rushed out for print before any one of editing worth could clean it up.