First published 2013
Major Stanley Woolley commands Goshawk Squadron at twenty-three, making him the veteran among his pilots. The press celebrates World War One aviators as noble knights, but Woolley sees through the romantic nonsense. He works to destroy the gentlemanly attitudes his public school pilots bring to aerial combat. Woolley knows that chivalrous thinking will get them killed. He strips away their decent instincts because brutality keeps men alive in the sky. The war drags on and headquarters sends him younger, less experienced replacements. Each new pilot arrives greener than the last. Woolley must feed these boys into the killing machine of aerial warfare. The squadron develops dark humor and fierce bonds to survive the horror. They joke about death and cling to each other against the madness. But no amount of gallows wit or brotherhood can stop a Spandau machine gun round from finding its target.
Genres: historical-fiction, 20th-century, military-fiction, adventure, action, aviation
Vibes: dark, emotional, suspenseful
Tropes: dark-academia, gritty, military-romance
Setting: Europe
Period: World War I
224 pages · Paperback · Quercus Publishing
Content warnings: death, graphic-violence, war