Under False Flags (Wendell Lett)
Forced into the Battle of the Bulge, two soldiers on opposing sides find the courage to desert when their honor is betrayed in this WWII thriller.
Belgium, 1944. For both American GI Wendell Lett and German seaman Holger Frings, the relentless bloodbath of World War II has become a prison and a curse. Just as Lett meets a Belgian woman who offers him deliverance from the toll of combat, he is pushed into a reckless false flag mission. At the same time, Frings is conscripted into a similar operation that takes him to the breaking point.
Their fates collide in the surprise Ardennes counteroffensive known as the Battle of the Bulge. As Lett tries to find his way back to his beloved Heloise, he and Frings team up to desert their savage overseers while the battle rages around them. In Under False Flags, the absurdity of war is brought to brutal light as each side attempts to disguise their cannon fodder in enemy uniform.
Under False Flags is the prequel to The Preserve, the second book featuring Wendell Lett.
"Under False Flags is a piece of raw meat cut out of real life. From its opening on we are thrust into the brutal, climactic front lines of WWII's Western Front. From Normandy to the Ardennes, we are there with the dogface GIs and their increasingly desperate adversaries ... Blastingly realistic, impeccably researched."
—John Enright, author of Fire Knife Dancing
"The author clearly brings forth the thoughts, fears, and hopes that run through a soldier’s mind. The dangers and horrors of being a soldier, a civilian living under occupation, or a resistance fighter are well-defined in this book. I liked how the GI narrative voice ... kept the realism alive."
—Historical Novels Review, Historical Novel Society
"The author has depicted war with all of the savagery and horror of duty on the front lines, not the mythologized John Wayne version." —Jim Chambers, Amazon Top 10 reviewer
The Preserve, set in post-WWII Hawaii, is the second book featuring troubled war veteran Wendell Lett.
My newsletter post “When Underdogs Refuse to Fight” explores why I had to write about WWII combat in Under False Flags.