This is an intriguing fictional story describing a real historical episode about the battle of the bulge in WWII.
Professional Reviews
The Second Objective
The Second Objective
Mark Frost
c. 2007
ISBN: 1-4013-0222-X
Hyperion Books
New York, NY
319 pgs. $24.95
I have seen many documentaries on TV about WWII. I remember the D-day invasion, the “Battle of the Bulge,” the “Battered Bastards of Bastogne,” and General McAuliffe’s famous answer of “Nuts!” to the German request that our troops surrender. I thought I was pretty familiar with these events until I read Mark Frost’s “Second Objective.”
This is a historical fiction novel. The main plot is based on actual events, but Mark Frost adds fictional characters, both for the German commandoes and the American soldiers they encounter, to bring life to the story. The characterization is so good; you will think you are observing the action. The overall history is that the Germans sent a 500,000-man army to burst through the center of the Allied front. Caught by surprise, the Allies fall back, allowing the Germans to recapture enough territory to form a large bulge in the Allied front.
All of this is pretty much well known. What is not so well known is the subject matter of Frost’s novel. The Germans hand picked 2000 specially trained English-speaking soldiers to don American uniforms and use captured American tanks and vehicles and penetrate the front before the main assault. Their mission, the “first objective,” was to spread havoc and sabotage behind the Allied front, disrupt communication wires, and secure strategic brides on the Meuse River needed by the main German army when they come through.
Even less known is that the Germans also selected twenty specially trained German commandoes to carry out a second objective, a highly secret one, even among the twenty commandoes, that would give the Germans the upper hand during the main assault. Frost claims the Americans, after the war, classified the information and kept it from the public for fifty years because they foresaw oncoming problems with Communist Russia.
The twenty commandoes were broken down into five teams of four men. Only the team leaders knew the purpose of the second objective. Any one of the teams could achieve it, but five teams were sent to insure that there were sufficient teams to accomplish the objective. This is where Frost’s skill in characterization takes over. The main characters are one of the four-man teams of German commandoes and two American soldiers who try to track them down.
The Germans wanted commando leaders who spoke flawless American English. Some of them spoke flawless British English. The special training included building up fluency in American idiom, slang, and swear words. Frost makes it believable by having some commandoes speak British English. The reader quickly recognizes the characters by the words they choose. It is interesting to see how the British idiom is recognized and weeded out.
The characterization reveals the backgrounds of the main characters and how their backgrounds influenced their personalities. When the commandoes penetrate allied lines and encounter American soldiers, the characterization continues as Frost introduces the American soldiers he brings into the story.
This action-packed novel follows the rapidly shifting fortunes of the German commandoes as they encounter more and more American soldiers. Frost first establishes the historical backdrop of the novel, and then skillfully focuses in on his fictional characters. The novel, itself, is a fast moving, very cleverly plotted cat and mouse game with many surprises.
This is a very interesting book, not only for the closer insight into what really happened during the Battle of the Bulge, but also in the adventurous interplay between the German commandoes and the Americans who try to stop them. At the end of the book, Frost adds detail on what happened to some of the real historical characters in the book. I found the details in “The Second Objective” so interesting; I had to get on The Internet to check them out. I really enjoyed reading this book. You will also.
Book I of Southern Swallow Series – 12th Century scholar Li K'ai-men takes command of his first official assignments during a time of political unrest and barbarian invasions.
