Beneath a Scarlet Sky: A Novel Kindle Edition

A Kindle First selection that is masterfully written with complex characters and heart-pounding scenes. It takes place in Italy -'the forgotten front'- during WW II and the reader is drawn into a web of intrigue. Pino Lello, 17 years of age, is wise beyond his years and intelligent, as well. It is a gripping story of resilience, the indomitable spirit of a young man that knew no boundaries and courage that sustained him during dark hours.

When reading the first portion, I was wondering if (and how) this intense pace would continue. The climbing scenes through the mountains gave me a real shot of adrenaline. I felt as though I was one of the climbers and not a reader. This is also when the echoes of 'Nessum Dorma' were played with such passion. For me, this is one of the underlying themes in the story - 'none shall sleep'. And, Pino Lello has taken that to heart for the remainder of this story.

The action intensified throughout the remainder of the book, and one is allowed a rare glimpse into the mind of Il Duce - Benito Mussolini - plus the inner workings of the German High Command. Becoming a driver for Major General Hans Leyer allows Pino access to a man that is two steps from the Fuhrer. Pino Lello witnesses atrocities he wishes he could forget but keeps soldiering on...wisely...

Just a gripping and harrowing Kindle First selection which I feel is the best one I have read. Full of action and suspense which will keep you on the edge of your seat for the duration.

Most highly recommended.

Please note that this is my Kindle First selection for April 2017.

I cannot add more to the excellent reviews previously posted other than to say I read this book in one sitting not being able to put it down until 4:00 AM! It gripped me emotionally and I'm still thinking about it the next day. Rarely does even a good book have the depth and character development than this one did. I will be looking for more from this amazing author!

Heartwrenching, at times hopeful, at times hopeless. This was an emotional roller coaster. I am grateful these stories are still being told because the world must never forget the details of this period in history. It will always remain relevant. Thank you, Mr. Sullivan, for investing yourself so much to bring this story into the light where it belongs.

I read this book in one weekend. I learned about a part of WWII previously unknown to me. I am grateful for both the author's and protagonist's openness. I cried real tears. Thank you for sharing this incredible story.

I received this book as my Kindle First choice for April 2017. I probably would never have seen or chosen it to read without this benefit, and that would have been very sad. My mother's three brothers were all in Northern Italy at the time of this book, two in different Army units, one in the OSS. They are now in Arlington. I have been wondering what they experienced in Northern Italy. It is something not discussed much—other than the acknowledgment they were there, and the odd fact that they had a reunion there. One of them married a wonderful woman from Milan who looms quite large in my memories. She lived through this story, too. This part of the war produced Bronze and Silver Stars, but it isn't easy to find much about it. This book, though fiction, isn't really, it is just carefully crafted to read as a story.

Giuseppino Lella, better known as Pino Lella, is 17 when this story begins on June 9, 1943, which is just before the Allies start bombing Milan. Pino is a musical, romantic, outgoing, gawky, acne-faced kid from a well-to-do family that is successful in the fashion trade. In short order we are introduced to Pino's Milan, the medieval part of the city that he knows and loves.

We are introduced to the Duomo it in its glory, "the grand Gothic cathedral that lies at the very center of Milan." Preparations are underway to protect the cathedral from the ravages of war. Next we see the Galleria, then the statue of Leonard da Vinci in its plaza, then the Teatro alla Scala, the famous Opera house.

We are also introduced to many of the key figures in the story. Mimo is Pino's very competitive younger brother, highly prone to action. Carletto is Pino's best friend. Cardinal Alfredo Ildefenso Schuster, is the Roman Catholic leader of northern Italy. Giovanni Barbareschi is a seminarian and later priest. All real, fascinating people living on the tightrope that is war.

Mark Sullivan wrote this book as a labor of love. It is the only way to this level of excellence. Notice I did not write "perfection." We just don't get there. At least one reviewer has pointed out some very minor factual errors. I suppose this is on the order of contextual goofs in movies. It is bound to happen. What does not happen in this book, however, is a lack of attention to reality. When Pino is in the alps, on the ledge, in a blinding white-out blizzard, I was there with him, struggling. When Pino is driving on mountain roads I was there in the car. When Pino is blind with rage, agonized, exhausted, empty, questioning, confused, tempted, I was with him. There are parts when I had to put the Kindle down and breathe. I don't know if it is that my Traumatic Stress was brought to mind or if Mr. Sullivan is that fine a writer. This is my first time to read him, so I will need to read another book to decide.

I wouldn't wait for the movie. Read the book. The movie, if there ever is one, might well be fantastic, but this Novel is now one of my favorites. In order to write this review, I turned back to the beginning on my Kindle and began reading again. Before I considered what I was doing, I had read through the second chapter. I must say I've never done that before.

I've read nearly every word Mark Sullivan has ever published - so I can say with authority that this work, Beneath a Scarlet Sky, stands as the ultimate fusion of his Pulitzer-nominated journalistic skills and his mastery of the thriller genre, which he's honed at the keyboard he sometimes shares with James Patterson. He takes us deep inside the love story of his discovery, the unknown hero, Pino Lella, and he crafts an epic tale set against the backdrop of Nazi-occupied Milan and the Italian Alps during World War II that is as intimate and tragic as it is thought-provoking and triumphant. Every page, every step crackles. Each twist, rooted in years of first-class reporting, shocks you anew. Through Sullivan's gripping cast of characters, the unreality and brutality of war meets its match in the guts and wits and soul of Pino Lella, his family, his friends and cohorts. This heretofore untold story has been etched in my heart and mind with a telling that is equally cinematic and literary. With this, perhaps his masterwork, Sullivan has reached a pinnacle in storytelling - and readers everywhere, like me, will be better for living it through his words. Of course, it is Pino Lella we must also praise and thank - for what he did with his young life, his uncommon bravery, his story and letting Sullivan share it with us. I wish I could read it again for the first time.