Monday, April 29, 2013

FROZEN IN TIME : AN EPIC STORY OF SURVIVAL AND A MODERN QUEST FOR LOST HEROES OF WORLD WAR II
by Mitchell Zuckoff

On November 5, 1942, a U.S. cargo plane (C-53) on a normal flight in Greenland crashed into an ice cap. Five men were on board. Four days later, a B-17 bomber (one of the search planes) got lost in a storm and also crashed. (Add nine more men.) To make matters even worse, the U.S. Coast Guard sent an amphibious plane called a Grumman Duck to rescue everyone and they, too, became blindsided by a horrendous storm and simply vanished. (Three more men.)
For five months, survivors valiantly fought to stay alive through the brutally harsh Arctic winter. How they were going to be saved keeps you riveted.
Mitchell Zuckoff certainly knows how to write amazing adventure stories about World War II. His previous book was Lost in Shangri-La and that was tremendous.
Frozen in Time is equally great and can keep you glued to your seat. I have one caveat with the book, though. Interspersed throughout (every other chapter), is a modern day tale. It completely throws you off and is neither compelling nor that interesting. By rights, it should be at the end.
Black-and-white photographs of the men, the planes, the terrain are fascinating to look at.
If you're one of those people who like to read about heroic men in disastrous situations, this is your book.
Recommended.