Beneath a Scarlet Sky Audiobook A Novel [Free Download by Trial]

Beneath a Scarlet Sky: A Novel by Mark Sullivan

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Summary

Beneath a Scarlet Sky by Mark Sullivan audiobook is the story of Pino Lella, a regular Italian teenager who likes parties, food and girls, but soon his good days will come to an end thanks to the war. This occurs in Milan, when his family home is destroyed by Allied bombs and Pino joins an underground railroad, where he helps Jews scape over the Alps. There he falls in love with Anna, a beautiful widow who is six years older than him.

Thinking that they will protect him and keep him out of combat, his parents make Pino enlist as a German soldier, but he is injured and recruited to become the personal driver of General Hans Leyers, who is Adolf Hitler’s left hand in Italy and one the Third Reich’s most mysterious and powerful commanders.

Working as a driver he has the opportunity to spy for the Allies inside the German High Command and he decides to fight in secret while he suffers and witnesses the horrors of war and the Nazi occupation, but he remains steady thanks to his love for Anna, a girl he met outside a bakery, and for the life he dreams they will share after the war ends.

Published in May, 2017, written by Mark T. Sullivan, and “based on the true story of a forgotten hero, Beneath a Scarlet Sky is the triumphant, epic tale of one young man’s incredible courage and resilience during one of history’s darkest hours”.

Review

Beneath a Scarlet Sky by Mark Sullivan audiobook starts in 1943, with a teenager who is 17 years old and lives in Milan. Pino Lella is like any other teenager of the time: he likes dancing, eating out and meeting girls. One day he falls in love with a girl he meets outside a bakery called Ann and he invites her to go out. However, the innocent part of his life ends when an Allied bomb destroys the house of his family and is sent north to Casa Alpina. With this, his participation in war starts.

Pino will have two main roles in the war. First, he is the guide of an underground escape route that helps Jews go to Switzerland. After that, he becomes a German soldier but he is injured and ends up being the driver of General Leyers, Hitler’s left-hand-man in Italy. There he discovers that Ann works as a maid, and he takes advantage of the situation to work as a spy and to court Anna.

Reading this historical fiction novel will completely immerse you in the war. You will see the evolution of Pino, who goes from an innocent teenager to a much mature and strong person, after going through war. As readers, we can be surprised by certain events and we feel as bad as he feels. There are remarkable moments like the hours he spends guiding Jews to the Swiss border, the disapproval looks he gets from his family and friends for wearing the German uniform or the adoption of the role of a spy, by photographing important documents of the general.

The descriptions of the atmosphere are phenomenal, as we really feel in Switzerland or Italy, but the writing is light enough to avoid making the story boring or slow. There is a secret that Pino is keeping that will be revealed in the last part and that helps to join all the dots at the end. While reading, it is evident that the writer did his research about war and at the end we discover that most of the details are true, as the author recounts the lives post-story of most of the characters.

We highly recommend this audiobook as it is exciting, entertaining and educative at the same time. The movie of Beneath a Scarlet Sky will be made soon with Tom Holland as the main character, so go get the audiobook before it is released for you to compare and enjoy both of them.

Questions

What are some historical fiction/non-fiction books would you highly recommend to read?

Beneath a Scarlet Sky, by Mark Sullivan is listed as a historical novel, but the author says it closely follows facts, based on interviews of the main character. The story is incredible.

Can one recommend a great WWII novel?

Beneath a Scarlet Sky” by Mark T. Sullivan is one of the best WWII novels and maybe even one of the best books I’ve ever read. I highly recommend it.

Can you recommend books from various countries around the world?

I if recommend you a book in Italy, it would be Beneath a Scarlet Sky, which goes about a young man that spies for the Allies in World War II.

What are the best examples of heroes masquerading as villains, other than Professor Severus Snape and Uchiha Itachi?

In Beneath a Scarlet Sky, Lella is conceived as a villain by family and friends, when he starts serving as a soldier, but he actually helps Jews and people in general in general that are suffering.