Tuesday, August 21, 2012

World War II Novel: The Special by J.E. Pendleton



Review copies and interviews are available upon request. Contact: J.E. Pendleton - jependleton47@yahoo.com

The Special is a novel set in World War II about family, love, and trust in the face of world-wide catastrophe. The story begins in 1941 when Billy Pendleton hitch-hiked from his home in Fort Worth, Texas to San Diego, California to seek his fortune. Little did he know what awaited. After encouragement from his new-found friend and landlord, he is soon building an automobile to set speed records and rubbing elbows with some of the legends of motor racing history. Into this heady world walked the woman who would change his life forever. As the car is built romance blooms and the world slips into a war that will touch every person on the planet.

Author J.E. Pendleton retired after a 42 year career in the telecommunications industry. He and his wife have three children and six grandchildren. Some of his passions in life are family, reading, racing, hot rods, and history. His passion for reading led to the desire to write. He set out to create an imaginary history for a car he was building. The pen created something very different. A simple car story quickly became the story of his uncle, and the life he hoped his uncle lived before being swallowed by the catastrophe of World War II.

In February of 1944, Pendleton’s uncle and his crew were listed as MIA (Missing In Action) while on a mission over the Bay of Biscay hunting German submarines. Two radio calls from his airplane were received, one stating they were under attack by German fighters and the other a simple Mayday call. Later search planes found an oil slick and two rubber life rafts, one American and one German. This is all Pendleton’s family knew for well over sixty years.

While researching The Special, Pendleton found two history books that listed the events of that day in 1944. His uncle's B-24 was attacked by a pair of German JU-88 long-range fighters off the southern coast of Ireland. During the ensuing battle, Pendleton’s uncle’s aircraft and one of the attacking fighters were both shot down with no survivors.

The same week Pendleton was writing about his uncle's death in The Special, a fishing trawler off the southern Irish coast found a large landing gear strut entangled in its net. The strut was later identified by serial number to have been from his uncle's airplane.  Was this simply a coincidence? Pendleton doesn’t believe so. He knows his uncle sent him a message that day.



1 comment:

  1. Just finish the book and it was by far one of the best I have read in quite awhile. I would recommend it to any reader.

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