Review of Rescuing General Patton

[marta baglioni]

[Following is a volunteer review of "Rescuing General Patton" by Curtis Stephen Burdick.]

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3 out of 4 stars

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The writer John Harding is signing copies of his last book when he's approached by a distinguished woman, Julia Patton Walton. She will introduce Harding to a different version of the facts regarding her grandfather's service in Italy.

Sicily, 1943. When General Patton, in charge of the Allied forces, is taken prisoner by the Nazis in an ambush, the leaders of the American Army do everything they can to keep it confidential, staging a scandal to justify his relieving of duty. His colleague and friend, General Bradley, arranges a secret rescue expedition to save Patton (in disguise as a lower officer) from the POW camp in Cosenza, Calabria. The newly promoted Major Pizzio and his Ranger company are entrusted with the mission, and they will face a highly dangerous journey in an Italy still in Nazi hands to complete it.

Rescuing General Patton by Curtis Stephen Burdick is a para-historical novel, revolving around a what-if story and the rumors that went on during the major change of power in the U.S. Army in one of the most delicate periods of the war.

The work of research done by the author on the background of the war, the strategies, the weapons, was impeccable. Fighting scenes are beautifully written and engaging. Characters are well-developed, each with his defined personality and way of speaking, and this is reflected by the high quality of dialogues. I think it is important this last point refers both to Americans, Italians, and Nazi, while the latter could easily have been a speck. Some scenes really manage to depict how ruthless, bloody and profoundly unjust WWII was.

Although detailed descriptions usually help in the depiction of the story, I feel like the details in this book are often excessive and redundant, distracting, and have, unfortunately, the effect of slowing the pace of the narration. Besides, italian sentences are mostly incorrect (e.g. "Nove chilometros" - p.149), so I would have liked a little more research on that front. Ultimately, Julia and John are interesting characters, but their story was so poorly explored that those chapters could have been easily cut: I would have loved to see more of the development of their relationship and of their historical reconstruction work across the book.

Both teenagers and adults interested in war stories might enjoy this book. Sex scenes are absent. Curse words are frequent but not unexpected in a military context, so I didn't find it disturbing.

It is evident the editing is professionally made: I could not find a single typo or grammatical error. It's a good book; it just didn't click for me. The story is really interesting, but my impression is it would have worked better as a film. Therefore, my final rating is 3 out of 4 stars.

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Rescuing General Patton
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[Anil G]

It seems that the author has done a good job in researching and writing the storylines, but it is too bad that the author has not developed the main characters of the book so well. Thanks for an honest review!

[Harty Muli]

I like that this book captures a war situation in a realistic way. Thanks for the great review.

[marta baglioni]

It seems that the author has done a good job in researching and writing the storylines, but it is too bad that the author has not developed the main characters of the book so well. Thanks for an honest review!

To be fair, Julia and John are not the main characters of the book, but of the frame story.
It's still a pretty good book, though. Thank you for dropping by!

[TheMazeRunner]

I think the character's development is the main point in every book. That could make this book even better. Great review!

[Miriam nkere]

What an interesting and intriguing book. Beautifully developed character. Good review

[marta baglioni]

What an interesting and intriguing book. Beautifully developed character. Good review

I think the character's development is the main point in every book. That could make this book even better. Great review!

Thank you for your comments!

[Jasy95]

I hope the author does some research and cleans up the Italian translations! It sounds like an interesting premise and a good book otherwise.

[Medhansh Bhardwaj]

This book has the potential to make it to the top, just some things holding it back. The author should really focus on character development, and his writing and translation should be improved. Thanks for the great review!