Soon to be a major television event from Pascal Pictures, starring Tom Holland.
Based on the true story of a forgotten hero, the USA Today and #1 Amazon Charts bestseller 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. Pino Lella wants nothing to do with the war or the Nazis. He’s a normal Italian … the Nazis. He’s a normal Italian teenager—obsessed with music, food, and girls—but his days of innocence are numbered. When his family home in Milan is destroyed by Allied bombs, Pino joins an underground railroad helping Jews escape over the Alps, and falls for Anna, a beautiful widow six years his senior.
In an attempt to protect him, Pino’s parents force him to enlist as a German soldier—a move they think will keep him out of combat. But after Pino is injured, he is recruited at the tender age of eighteen to become the personal driver for Adolf Hitler’s left hand in Italy, General Hans Leyers, one of the Third Reich’s most mysterious and powerful commanders.
Now, with the opportunity to spy for the Allies inside the German High Command, Pino endures the horrors of the war and the Nazi occupation by fighting in secret, his courage bolstered by his love for Anna and for the life he dreams they will one day share.
Fans of All the Light We Cannot See, The Nightingale, and Unbroken will enjoy this riveting saga of history, suspense, and love.
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Brilliant read, set during the second world war.
Beautiful story well written.
Beautiful writing. Sad. Set during WW2 in France, it’s so captivating.
Wonderfully written telling and tribute of a hero’s life. Blessings to the author and Pino Lella!! I listened to audiobook and it was excellent!!
Gave me incite into those who fought for the freedom that we take for granted. Educational, inspirational and sometimes scary. Would highly recommend.
I couldn’t put it down!!!!!
It’s an excellent book that tells the story of an Italian Jewry during WW2 and of the resistance made by the Christian population to the Nazis. The book based on a true story. The story itself is singular and unique in terms of plot and clearly shows that reality exceeds all imagination. The hero does heroic deeds to save persecuted Jews, while he also serves as a spy for the partisans. The book is interwoven with a great love between the hero and Anna. Love ends in a tragedy that has no solution.
This book proves the adages that “life is stranger than fiction” and “you couldn’t make this up.” If the story weren’t based on true events, the twists and turns of the plot would have strained my ability to suspend disbelief beyond the breaking point. The challenges and hardships the eighteen-year-old protagonist faced during the final years of the Nazi occupation of Italy during WWII are unimaginable. His experiences were enough to fill several lifetimes. A superb book, full of action and well written.
Peter Bernhardt, Author: The Stasi File, 2011 ABNA Quarter Finalist; Kiss of the Shaman’s Daughter [sequel]; Red Romeo;
http://tinyurl.com/a7rnpql – http://sedonaauthor.com – https://tinyurl.com/ycyvps3b
It is clear that Mr Sullivan writes commercial fiction. I just stumbled upon his bibliography; he is used to writing thrillers. If you’re looking for something more literary, move on or accept the fact that you are simply about to hear a decent story. The faults with this book, however, for any follower and avid reader of historical fiction, lie in the technique of that storytelling. Let us begin with the vernacular, which is unfortunately wholly failing and it is difficult to picture these characters as Italians and Germans (I was also listening to an Audible version with a rather poor performance of the German accent and pronunciation of German dialogue and words). Pino comes across as more of a freshman American college student (picture the polo-shirt collar turned up) than the very Italian young man he must have been, shaped by his culture, language and beliefs. That’s unfortunate, but it doesn’t kill the story. It makes it flawed.
Secondly, Mr Sullivan overuses certain techniques, one, in particular, being the cutting off of a character’s internal thoughts by an interruption or a surprise. This became very annoying after the twentieth time… and then the hundredth time…. and then the two hundredth time.
I would also have liked ten cents for every time Pino said, “Oui, mon général.” I’d be rich enough to buy a gourmet dinner for my husband right now. With two bottles of expensive wine.
The plot was fast-paced (a LOT–maybe too much, even–happens in one day with the General), and sometimes I wished Pino could internalise a little more so that he actually develops before our eyes as a character. Unfortunately, he gets a plate of food and a glass of wine, or Anna, before him, and all we know is that he feels exhausted by the things he’s experienced, dreams about them, maybe, but all of this was very unsatisfactory when one aches for more depth. An awful lot was too obvious, too cliché, too … fallen flat. And that’s unfortunate.
However, the General was super intriguing, the developments that occurred towards the end of the war, some of the scenes moving, and in either case, the script for a blockbuster hit is there. I can only hope that the producer who got it has truly built in the Italian aspects, the German aspects, the value systems, the true cultural clashes that MUST have also occurred between Pino and his “boss” (the cultures are so rich, so fascinating, so different to American that it would be a disaster, for me, if the producers do not take these things into account and USE them for the purpose of the story). All in all, Mr Sullivan’s book is entertainment, Pino’s story can be fascinating (if taken with a grain of salt). It’s a fresh take, but it does not deliver what this reader truly enjoys about historical fiction: depth, insight, a journey into a foreign world, and new information / twist on historical events.
Based on true and authentic people and s so aweinspiring. It made me experience every emotion under the sun. Once I started I did not stop and still two years later remember parts of this book as if they were my own memory’s. The writer is so incredible at they’re craft you can see the story and events as if I’m realtime. Simply one f my favorites of all time.
Excellent book- biographical and historical fiction- about the true story of one young man, Pino Lela, his survival and amazing work done during WWIU in Italy. For the first time ever Mr. Lella gave the author one on one interviews about his experiences from June 1943- May 1945. This is a case were truth is more powerful then fiction. This young man had multiple life stories during this short period.
Amazing. Strongly recommend.
Excellent story of WWII from the perspective of the war in Italy. Action and suspense packed. A few almost gory parts but typical of the realities of war. Excellent read and I enjoyed hearing the stories of Italian war heroes.
Pino Lela was was an exceptional young man in WWII Italy. A true story, very well written. A hero I had never heard of.
This book describes what Italians had to face, while standing against the Nazis in Italy. Great historical value. I thoroughly enjoyed it.
One of the best I read in 2018. Love true stories fictionalized. Very unusual and can’t put downer.
Some people just have amazing life stories to tell. Fortunately, for the readers this was encapsulated into a wonderful book. I am not giving away any secrets, but if you like a good World War Two story then this book is for YOU.
Couldn’t keep it down. It’s amazing!
Book based on actual accounts and easy to read.
An excellent read, very well written historical novel with wonderful characters and a great story. Very informative about the life in Italy during late 44 and early 45, the challenges faced but the city of Milan, and the German occupation. I really enjoyed the book and highly recommend it.
I thought the writing was sophmoric. The story, while based on a true story, was fine but too much detail about some things and too little emotional content around some events. Very moving and hard things were often simply dismissed. I read this for a book group and frankly, there isn’t even much to discuss about this book. It is simply a romance with some interesting things about war-time Italy thrown in.