The Advocate: Summary and book reviews of The Advocate by Bill Mesce Jr., plus links to an excerpt from The Advocate and a biography of Bill Mesce Jr..
The Advocate A Novel of World War II
by Bill A. Mesce Jr., Steven G. Szilagyi
Hardcover: Sep 2000,
306 pages.
Paperback: Jun 2001,
336 pages.
A novel that seamlessly blends military intrigue, relentless suspense, and a baffling mystery, The Advocate is a harrowing account by two master storytellers who dare to imagine what can really happen in the fire of war, where good and evil aren't always what they seem. Here one man must pierce the military's impenetrable wall of silence to prove that even in the midst of a world war, murder is still a crime.
The Advocate
On a chalky bluff overlooking the windswept English Channel, an old man watches a horrifying spectacle unfold. Within a matter of seconds, one American P-47 Thunderbolt fires on another, mercilessly driving the crippled plane into the sea. And the old man, his cottage strafed, barely escapes with his life. The year is 1943: The Russians have defeated Hitler at Stalingrad. North Africa has fallen to the Allies. And the Americans, after two disastrous years, are winning the war in the Pacific. Now, in England, American fliers wage a bitter air war against the Luftwaffe. But what really happened in the skies above the Channel is something no one--least of all the military--is prepared to have revealed.
To find out the truth, the Judge Advocate's office calls on a brilliant, cynical, homesick lawyer. The last thing Harry Voss wanted was a case that had every indication of becoming a political powder keg. But Harry, a man of honor, cannot turn his back on the possibility that the incident over the Channel may not have been an accident--but an act of cold-blooded murder. Harry has no idea what he is getting into. For his investigation will lead through a labyrinth of military politics, where ambitious, powerful men guard their turf and soldiers guard their secrets with an unbreakable code of silence. For Harry, the case becomes his own personal war, as he uncovers a series of murderous events that detonate up the chain of command. He only wants justice for a crime. And he is willing to risk his own career and life to get it, as he begins a dangerous journey into the dark heart of war. It is here that Harry Voss will dare to enter a world where heroes are killers, wrong becomes right, and even angels must dip their wings into the fire of hell itself.
Publishers Weekly
Virtually certain to be one of the year's big hits (and a strong movie candidate), this beautifully crafted WWII thriller starts with a bang and rarely falters on its path toward gloomy enlightenment about the moral quagmires of war.
Library Journal
...the reader is left with a sense of the reality of war and how ideals can go wrong enough to make a proud moment in time a double-edged sword. Give this one an A+ and buy it for all fiction collections where readers want something more substantial than just a good tale.
Recent Reader Reviews
Rated of 5
by Bill Chapman
Excellentr reading--hard to put down. Very historically accurrate.
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by Bill Chapman
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