Von Ryan's Express

Excellent wartime thriller, based around a train. A beleagured bunch of Germans decide to try and take a group of allied prisoners with them. The allies of course, would prefer that the locomotive that they are travelling on goes somewhre mice nicer tha the home of the Third Reich. The cue for pretty cool military thiller. 3.5 out of 5

I haven't read many World War II novels so I don't have a lot to compare it to, but I really enjoyed this book. I thought the story was excting and was written at a brisk pace, no endless filler. The main character, Ryan, can be hard to root for at times, but in the end he has the best interests of the 1000 men he's leading at heart. I really liked the character of Colonel Fincham who is insubordinate to Ryan at every turn. The detail of what it was really like in a POW camp were excellent, and the same goes for later in the story when the men are herded like cattle into train cars. Von Ryan's Express is a quick read and tells a compelling story.

Great book, David Westhiemer is a very informative and interesting author. The detail and accuracy in the story are superb. It was almost as good as his other book, Song of the Young Sentry. The story catches you and won't let you go until you finish, then you drool for more.

Like other Westheimer, war type, novels he really hit it off on this one. Later moving on to the motion picture with Frank Sinatra, this was a well thought out novel. Too bad it's not in print anymore. I would have recommened it to many of my co workers