Blood of the Eagle: A Novel of the German Luftwaffe (The Eagle Trilogy)

IT IS 1941... and the Luftwaffe rules the skies over Europe. Leutnant Werner Wissemann, son of Willi Wissemann “The Black Eagle of Bavaria,” wages war on the many enemies of the Third Reich from the cockpit of his Messerschmitt Bf-109 fighter, scoring victories against the RAF in JG-26, and then with JG-27 against the Soviet Air Force in Russia. Once in North Africa, he begins to assert his aerial prowess over the Commonwealth pilots, running up a prodigious tally, and soon approaches his father’s Great War record of 33 confirmed victories.But all is not well in his world. Young Werner is relentlessly pursued by Gestapo Agent Bruno Keppler, a persistent and ruthless man with an old score to settle. Keppler believes Werner is the murderer responsible for killing a fellow Gestapo Agent and French prostitute one cold, December night in Paris. What follows is a relentless chase that leads Keppler to Berlin, North Africa, Rome, and then Paris again as he pursues the young Luftwaffe officer in the hopes of arresting him and bringing him to trial.Willi Wissemann, now a middle-aged, married man, and director of a successful aircraft manufacturing company, balances a career beset with one challenge after another. After a mandatory stint as Kommandant of a fighter pilot school, he resumes his career and begins work on a top-secret project (a pilotless, rocket-powered airplane) for the Reichs Air Ministry. What happens afterward are chaotic episodes of of failed test flights, petty jealousies, espionage, revenge, an epiphany, and a climatic court hearing in Berlin. In the end, Willi must choose between serving the Fatherland faithfully, or saving his wife from a life-threatening disease. All this, while World War II rages out of control.The final episode of the “Eagle and the Albatros” and “Only the Eagle Dares” air combat series! Read more