"A fast-paced, well-researched...irresistible" (USA TODAY) World War
II aviation account of friendship, heroism, and sacrifice that reads
like Unbroken meets The Dirty Dozen from the authors of the #1 New
York Times bestselling The Heart of Everything That Is.
It's 1942, just after the blow to Pearl Harbor and the Japanese invasion
of the Philippines, and the United States is reeling. A group of raw US
Army Airmen travels to the embattled American Air Base of Port Moresby
at Papua, New Guinea. Their mission: to protect Australia, to disrupt
the Japanese supply lines, and to fly perilous reconnaissance runs over
the enemy-held strongholds. Among the men are pilot Captain Jay Zeamer
and bombardier Sergeant Raymond Joseph "Joe" Sarnoski, a pair of
swashbuckling screw-ups whose antics prevent them from being assigned to
a regular bombing crew. Instead, they rebuild a broken-down B-17 bomber
from spare parts and christen the plane Old 666.
One day in June 1943, a request is circulated: volunteers are needed for
a reconnaissance flight into the heart of the Japanese empire. Zeamer
and Sarnoski see it as a shot at redemption and cobble together a crew
and depart in Old 666 under cover of darkness. Five hours later,
dozens of Japanese Zeros riddle the plane with bullets. Bloody and
half-conscious, Zeamer and Sarnoski keep the plane in the air, winning
what will go down as the longest dogfight in history and maneuvering an
emergency landing in the jungle. Only one of them will make it home
alive.
With unprecedented access to the Old 666 crew's family and letters, as
well as newly released transcripts from the Imperial Air Force's
official accounts of the battle, Lucky 666 is perhaps the last untold
"great war story" (Kirkus Reviews) from the war in the Pacific. It's
an unforgettable tale of friendship, bravery, and sacrifice--and "highly
recommended for WWII and aviation history buffs alike" (BookPage).
