Customer Reviews

On Falcon's Wings

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This compelling and gripping novel about five teenagers' lives during the Nazi occupation of Czechoslovakia is hard to put down. Marshall Umpleby is to be congratulated on crafting this novel.

The story shows the interconnectedness of five teenage boys and one of their girlfriends who's disparate lives become intertwined almost by accident. One came to Prague from Lidice for medical treatment after being injured by Nazi troops and meets the others. They are part of a church-sponsored wrestling team coached by a partisan. That partisan successfully assassinated General Heidrich, the Nazi overload of Czechoslovakia. The teenagers later witness the death of those partisans.

Due to carelessness one evening, all five boys and their girlfriend are arrested by Nazis. The girl is raped and sent home. The boys are bundled on a train for the eastern front and survive a harrowing trip into the Ukraine, although one is killed on the way. In the Ukraine, they escape, although another one is killed. They slowly make their way back to Prague with the help of local farmers and partisans. Another of their group is killed by Nazis. Along the way, they survive heat, cold, dank sewers, polluted rivers and finally make it back to Prague having been smuggled back as 'cargo" by sympathetic partisans. The book ends with the return of the two survivors to grateful relatives.

Character development and background scenery is described in an excellent way. Clearly the novel is to be well researched.

World War II is now a distant fifty year memory. It is good that Umpleby reminds us how horrible it was and that the Nazis of that day were truly the ultimate "untermenschen". Their sins should never be forgotten.

If you like historical fiction, you'll love this fast-paced, compelling story about five teen-age boys whose lives take a disastrous turn during the Nazi occupation of Prague. The author very wisely chooses to focus on teenagers whose naive, impulsive, and rebellious nature is in constant tension with the Nazi troops. Their journey reveals the absolute cruelty of war and the psychological domination that occupation gives the occupiers -- not unlike what we've recently witnessed at Abu Ghraib prison.

The characters are so real and so beautifully drawn that I became very involved with them. I struggled with them as they weighed the risks of fighting back or submitting. Those who break through the barrier of fear pay a high price as heroes or martyrs.

I read the last 125 pages in one sitting because I had to find out how it turned out for the five boys I had become so fond of. This is a five star read -- one you won't soon forget.

On Falcon's Wings is terrific story telling. The story and characters bring to life a period and place I knew very little about -- despite being a World War II history aficionado.

Historical enlightenment aside, this is simply a thoroughly enjoyable read.

This book drew me into a relationship with each character and ultimately I was living their anxiety-ridden, bleak existance with them every step of their journey. Absolutely one of the best books I have ever read.

Umpleby's story maintained a strong feeling of tension from beginning to end. It gripped my attention and interest from the very outset and never let go. I was particularly impressed by the keen insights provided of the reality of the human experience of war, of one's copuntry being occupied and dominated by a ruthless foreign power, of the heights and depths of behavior to which otherwise ordinary people can rise or fall. I got so involved with the Czech boys frantic efforts to survive that I nearly screamed out loud to Pavol at times,"No!No!No! Don't do that!!!" It's clearly a five star read for me.

Marshall Umpleby and I worked together as assistant principals during the 1980's at Burlingame High School. He had a background in teaching English and I considered him an excellent writer. I remember talking with Marshall about his book idea and about my book idea. I had the unusual experience of being an American boy from Boston trapped in a small Tuscan village along the Gothic Line during World War II. I looked forward to reading On Falcon's Wings because the story involved five teenagers in a situation similar to mine. Marshall did an outstanding job researching the topic and presents a vivid story, detailed, and at time gruesome, portraying the futility of war. As I read about the five teenagers I remember that I was almost captured by the SS troops in Tuscany and taken to Germany as a forced laborer. I was stopped by a German patrol and was in the process of being herded on a truck with other Italian boys to be transported to Germany. My mother, bless her soul, intervened and pleaded with the German soldiers not to take me since I was only 13 years old. A friend of mine, named Sandro , who looked older because he had started to shave, was taken and later was wounded in northern Italy. While reading On Falcon's Wings, I realized how lucky I was not to have been captured by the German soldiers and how lucky I was to have survived the war. I realize how fortunate I was to return to the United States in 1946 and resume my life as an American teenager. Some of the Czech teenagers were not so lucky! A must read book for those interested in the World War II saga regarding the survival of oppressed people.
Tullio Bertini, Author TRAPPED IN TUSCANY
[...]

This compelling and gripping novel about five teenagers' lives during the Nazi occupation of Czechoslovakia is hard to put down. Marshall Umpleby is to be congratulated on crafting this novel.

The story shows the interconnectedness of five teenage boys and one of their girlfriends who's disparate lives become intertwined almost by accident. One came to Prague from Lidice for medical treatment after being injured by Nazi troops and meets the others. They are part of a church-sponsored wrestling team coached by a partisan. That partisan successfully assassinated General Heidrich, the Nazi overload of Czechoslovakia. The teenagers later witness the death of those partisans.

Due to carelessness one evening, all five boys and their girlfriend are arrested by Nazis. The girl is raped and sent home. The boys are bundled on a train for the eastern front and survive a harrowing trip into the Ukraine, although one is killed on the way. In the Ukraine, they escape, although another one is killed. They slowly make their way back to Prague with the help of local farmers and partisans. Another of their group is killed by Nazis. Along the way, they survive heat, cold, dank sewers, polluted rivers and finally make it back to Prague having been smuggled back as 'cargo" by sympathetic partisans. The book ends with the return of the two survivors to grateful relatives.

Character development and background scenery is described in an excellent way. Clearly the novel is to be well researched.

World War II is now a distant fifty year memory. It is good that Umpleby reminds us how horrible it was and that the Nazis of that day were truly the ultimate "untermenschen". Their sins should never be forgotten.

"On Falcon's Wings", set in World War II Europe, moved me more than any book in recent memory. The author's obviously extensive research certainly paid handsomely helping him bring faithfully to life a setting and historical period fraught with powerful emotions and grave dangers. The portrayals of the settings, scenes, and characters all ring very true; there wasn't a false note anywhere. The drama builds steadily developing the backgrounds and personalities of five Czech teenagers seized by the Nazis and transported toward the German military front in Russia. The tension mounts quickly as the youths struggle for survival and attempt to escape and elude their captors. At times it becomes almost impossible to lay this book down. "On Falcon's Wings" is a timely reminder to us all of the devastating effects an empire building, totalitarian government can have on its most humble and righteous citizens and subjects.