Baldacci, David - Primeiro Prémio - USA
Ruell, Patrick - Assassino a soldo - UK
Rice, Luanne - Sétimo Céu - USA

Not his best...insufferably boring...too much of the same schtick. ( )

[Flight of Eagles] - Jack Higgins **** ½

Two twin brothers, Max and Harry find themselves on opposite sides in the second world war.

Born to an American father and German mother loyalities are divided when the father is killed and the boys mother decides to head back to her native Germany to claim her heritage.

Max being the oldest by ten minutes becomes a Baron, while Harry stays with him grandfather, soon to be a senator. Both boys decide to follow in their fathers footsteps and become fighter pilots. At the break of war they both join the RAF and Luftwaffe respectively and soon become Ace's and work their way through the rankings.

At the heart of the tale is a stuffed bear called Tarquin, carried by their father as Macsot on every flight and handed down to Harry who does the same.

At the start of the novel, set in 1997, the bear is once again airborne and survives a crash into the channel. The lifeboat coxswain (now 85) picks up the survivors and recognises the bear and memorys come flooding back. With a little digging around the full tale is told.

This book is wriiten in very much the same style as The Eagle has landed. As usual, Higgins makes the pages fly by. I have read other reviews where historical inaccuracies have been made apparent, but unless your a total History geek, you won't even notice these. ( )

Well, the majority of this book is not about the extraordinary circumstances under which the brothers meet again. That takes up less than ¼ of the book itself. No, this book is about the war as seen by 2 brothers who consider themselves above all – fighter pilots. Neither one of them is particularly loyal to their side, they just want to fly. Max isn’t a Nazi and Harry isn’t an Air Force officer.

It was very readable and moved well but the characters were flat and two-dimensional. It was as though Higgins went back and filled in a couple of details about Harry so that Max would have something to make mistakes over when he is sent to England in Harry’s place after Harry is captured. Otherwise, Max could have robotically taken his brother’s place without a single slip-up.

After reading a couple of Jack Higgins "Sean Dillon" books, this was a nice read. The premise: identical twins who share a passion for flying are separated shortly before WWII. Max goes to Germany and Harry stays in the US. The two quickly rise to great fame in the airforce on opposite sides of the war.
This book reminds me of an old movie. The boys are exceptional pilots who seem to forget they are fighting a war. They just want to continue to do what they are good at: blowing the enemy out of the sky (with or without guns). They follow each other's careers with great interest and share a respect for one another that rises above their allegiance to their countries.

OK, so the book isn't deep. It certainty isn't Winds of War. I will say it kept me awake at night reading by my flickering nightlight.