Silver Wings, Iron Cross

This exciting WWII thriller from Young (The Hunters) follows the careers of two enemies, Lt. Karl Hagan, an American B-17 pilot, and Oberleutnant Wilhelm Albrecht, second in command of the German submarine U-351. Hagan, who’s of German heritage, is feeling tremendously conflicted about his last assigned mission, because it’s a bombing run over Bremen, Germany, where his aunt and uncle live, but of course he obeys orders. After Albrecht receives a suicide order for the U-351 and his men while the boat’s in dry dock in Bremen, he decides to desert during the B-17 raid on the city. Hagan’s plane is shot down, and he parachutes into Germany. In an unlikely twist, Hagan links up with Albrecht and the two of them go on the run together, but Young makes it work thanks to authentic detail and plenty of convincing background information on the two principals as well as on almost every one of the secondary characters. Genre fans will find a lot to like. Agent: Michael Carlisle, Inkwell Management. (June)