VICTORY, VOL. III

This series of WWII novellas continues. BREAKTHROUGH ON BLOODY RIDGE details a battle on Guadalcanal from both American and Japanese points of view. It seems designed to please strategy aficionados, for there is little human interest. Instead, we hear the thinking of the leaders in charge of the troop movements and minute details about fighting and weaponry. The story is narrated with practically no inflection. In contrast, THE EAGLE AND THE CROSS, about an American pilot involved in the Battle of Stalingrad, is a suspense-packed thriller in the soldier-of-fortune vein, read with attention to its drama. Both narrators sound battle-hardened and masculine, but neither is particularly distinguished. Y.R.
(c) AudioFile 2004, Portland, Maine [Published: FEB/ MAR 04]