As the inferno of World War II engulfs 101st Airborne Division paratrooper Lieutenant Sam Henry, the scholar-turned-soldier is thrust on a collision course with the embodiment of beauty—and the horrors of combat.

Training and awaiting D-Day in England, Sam’s can-do Yank confidence suffers the harsh realities of a war-weary nation under siege as well as a tyrannical platoon leader. His fascination with the beautiful British schoolteacher, Maggie Elliott, sustains his hopes and softens the bite of military life but cannot erase the dread of Sam’s upcoming mission.  

When that fateful day arrives, June 6, 1944, Sam embarks on one of the most dangerous missions of the war. But the massive parachute night drop behind Hitler’s Atlantic Wall disintegrates into pockets of fractured units and individuals locked in kill-or-be-killed close combat chaos, testing Sam’s optimistic intellectualism to the breaking point. His personal mission becomes nothing more than getting his beloved men out—alive.

Yet, with the D-Day airborne objectives nearly secured, an unforeseen clash against a Russian Front hardened storm trooper, Helmut Behr, threatens to destroy Sam’s sanity—and his life.                   

“Evocative and haunting. Varner’s action scenes are fantastic… he really brought me into D-Day. When I wasn’t reading it, I found myself thinking about The Great Hour Struck… That’s a mark of great writing.” – JEFFERSON SCOTT, acclaimed novelist, author of the Operation Firebrand series