Free (Sony) - Beneath Gray Skies

[Andreiuta]

Beneath Gray Skies by Hugh Ashton ($5.99 at Kindle US and elsewhere). HISTORICAL FICTION.

David Slater, a conscript in the 1920s Army of the Confederacy, faces a dilemma. When he and his regiment were shipped to Germany to help stage a coup there, his Limey fellow-soldier Brian was acting strangely. David now has the choice of reporting his best friend to his commanding officers, or keeping quiet and just doing his job: preparing for the arrival of Bismarck, the giant Zeppelin flying Hitler and his Nazi cohorts to meet their new allies, the Confederates.

Beneath Gray Skies follows the adventures of David and those around him in a past that never happened-where the Civil War never took place, and the Confederacy survived as a pariah slave-holding nation into the 20th century. Confederates, Unionists, British and Germans plot and counterplot in a tightly woven tale of espionage, treachery and romance.

The cast of Beneath Gray Skies includes rogue British agent “Bloody Brian” Finch-Malloy, hard-drinking Henry Dowling, and Christopher Pole, a slave who escapes from the hell of the Confederacy-living against a backdrop that includes real historical characters. Adolf Hitler, Hermann Goering, and Dr. Hugo Eckener, the brilliant anti-Nazi Zeppelin captain, all live again in this “extraordinarily well-written piece of mind candy that becomes more and more difficult to put down” (Christopher Belton).
Almost without realizing what has happened, David finds himself part of a conspiracy within the Confederacy that includes “Bloody Brian”, which is working to prevent the airship’s arrival in Georgia, to seize the mysterious priceless treasure on board the Bismarck, and to halt the spread of slavery to Europe.

As David Slater and his President, Jefferson Davis III, confront each other on the doomed dirigible, David must ask himself once again where his loyalty lies: to his country, or to a higher morality. Beneath Gray Skies is the first published novel by Hugh Ashton, a British-born writer and journalist currently living in Kamakura, Japan.

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[carpetmojo]

Not available outside US ?

[rhadin]

Not a very good book. I started it, read about 30 pages, and found the characters wooden and uninteresting. If I recall correctly -- and I may not; I may be thinking of another book in this regard -- the book also had more errors than I could tolerate. Reading it became a slog so I stopped reading and deleted the book. The premise is intriguing, the execution is not.

[DiapDealer]

I picked it up when it was free a while back. I haven't got around to reading it, so I can't comment on it's quality.

[ApK]

Originally Posted by rhadin

Not a very good book.

I can believe that. The synopsis above was hard to get through.

"When he and his regiment were shipped to Germany to help stage a coup there, his Limey fellow-soldier Brian was acting strangely."

Does that mean Brian was acting strangely only at the moment they were shipped out?
Is it just me, or is that awkward sentence structure? Or am I just unfamiliar with British writing?

I hate to hastily prejudge, but with so many reading choices I do need to filter.

[Andreiuta]

Found the deal... posted the deal... That's pretty much my involvement with this book.

[ApK]

Originally Posted by Andreiuta

Found the deal... posted the deal... That's pretty much my involvement with this book.

Never thought otherwise.
(Your sentences are always nicely structured, as far as I know. )

Anyway, even a critical post is a bump for the thread...any press is good press.

[Andreiuta]

Originally Posted by ApK

(Your sentences are always nicely structured, as far as I know. )

I'm always happy to oblige.