Title: Rescuing General Patton
Author: Curtis Stephen Burdick
Publisher: Gene Freak Publishing
ISBN: 9798559437002
Pages: 191
Genre: Historical Fiction
Reviewed By: Dan MacIntosh
Hollywood Book Reviews
Author Curtis Stephen Burdick confesses that his work of fiction, Rescuing General Patton, “pays nostalgic homage to films such as The Eagle Has Landed, The Dirty Dozen, Where Eagles Dare, even Saving Private Ryan” in the book’s Afterward. Then in the work’s acknowledgements, Burdick informs us how this story was initially drafted as a screenplay. These factors are necessary to fully appreciate Burdick’s book because he wrote it in such a way that the reader can easily visualize this story as a film. In the best sense of the term, Rescuing General Patton is cinematic.
Even without reading the book, though, its concept alone is both intriguing and enticing. What would happen, if in the middle of World War II, one of America’s most celebrated military leaders – namely General George S. Patton – had been captured by the German army? Scary, right? One trembles to imagine how that war would have turned out, had the German intelligence been able to pick that human brain trust.
Burdick builds his story around just such a frightening possibility. Although Patton is captured by the Germans, he’s able to change into a dead American soldier’s uniform before falling into the German army’s hands. The story’s tension is created by the race to rescue Patton before the German army figures out his identity.
The mission to find and bring back Patton is left in the hands of Major Peter Pizzio. Pizzio is a great character. He’s a real non-conformist. He also has no filter and puts a foot in his mouth again and again by expressing his criticisms of the American military out loud – not carrying who hears it. Pizzio is also a damn good soldier, which is why higher ups peg him for this big job, despite his faults. When Pizzio and Patton are finally in the same room together, the reader quickly picks up on how each man is cut from the same cloth. Their stubbornness, which oftentimes makes them difficult to deal with interpersonally, also helps make them great soldiers. Pizzio’s unbridled mouth might keep him always on the verge of a court martial, but his leadership skills are such that any Ranger under his command will do whatever he asks.
Burdick writes this book as a type of book within a book, if you will. It’s Burdick’s fictitious author, John Harding, that writes a book about Patton’s rescue. He (the author character) bases his story on information he obtains from Julia Patton Walton, General Patton’s granddaughter.
What transpires is gritty, earthy and real. The reader should be forewarned that these military characters speak just as you might expect them to talk, with plenty of uninhibited profanity. There’s also a whole lot of blood and guts described. Then again, this story is set in a war, which – sadly – oftentimes brings out the worst in humankind.
One of the best aspects of this book is how apolitical it is. This was, after all, back during a time when most Americans were on the same page, at least when it came to knowing who our enemies were during World War II. Although Pizzio may have had his strong qualms with the American military organization, he had no reservations about doing anything necessary to help the American forces defeat their enemies.
Even if you don’t particularly like war stories, Curtis Stephen Burdick’s book Rescuing General Patton is an exciting, movie-like read, which is difficult to put down.