ACES
A Novel of Pilots in WWII

by Michael January

In the years leading up to the Battle of Britain, two competitive college friends at Princeton University in 1935, an American and a German, who fly in the Thomson Trophy air races, are both in love with the same girl. Pressured by her parents, she marries the German who becomes an ace with the Luftwaffe while the American volunteers for the RAF. As they become fighter enemies on opposite sides, she finds herself living the privileged life of the wife of a national war hero in Nazi Germany, drawn into secretly operating a forged document escape spy network under suspicion of the Gestapo.

A love story at its core, about the choices we make and the consequences, both in our personal lives and in a society, it is also a rousing war adventure of pilots, aerial dogfights and camaraderie, friendship, glory and tragic fates on either side of one coin.

REVIEWS

"This is a fabulous story...oh my gosh, it makes one cry." Author Zoe Robinette

"Michael January's "Aces" is a roaring, aviation-fueled dogfight of a read, filled withromance, suspense, twists, turns, wonder and danger, perilous but so worth the flight. Well researched and enjoyable." - Brooks Wachtel, Creator of History Channel's "Dogfights".

"In the 1930s, Aaron Miller and Michael “Miki” von Steuven are both students at Princeton University and the best of friends, despite hailing from radically disparate backgrounds. Aaron’s father is a Polish immigrant who moved to New York nearly penniless and built a wildly successful construction business. Miki grew up in Westphalia; his father is a German noble and the family’s prestige and wealth are tied to an ancient pedigree. But both students are talented pilots, and bond over the amateur races they enter and routinely dominate. These competitions are thrillingly portrayed…. The pilots’ friendship, though, is complicated by a shared passion for Lacy Dunbrough. While she loves Aaron, she’s perpetually frustrated by his unserious impetuosity, and her family unabashedly prefers Miki. Miki proposes to Lacy and she accepts. The two move to Germany but she is quickly dismayed by Hitler’s increasingly ominous rule and the malignant treatment of the nation’s Jewish population. Miki joins the Luftwaffe and is sent to Spain, and Lacy begins to worry that he has changed in some profound way she cannot countenance. Meanwhile, Aaron decides to decamp for Canada to join the Royal Air Force, eager to do his part as war finally breaks out in Europe. A grand showdown seems…inevitable, and the emotional stakes are effectively raised when Aaron believes Miki has shot down one of Aaron’s closest friends. In his propulsive tale, January vividly captures the fast-paced terror of combat in the air, and the peculiar mixture of precision and bravado displayed by the best pilots. An action-packed…war tale." Kirkus Reviews

"Aces tells at the same time an exciting, entertaining and dramatic story. A love-story set against the background of World War II, which examines anti-semitism, human corruptibility and a fascination with flight technology at its dawn. It approaches its historic subject unbiased and tells a tragic romance in the confusion of the Nazi-era and the war. The concept of a woman torn between an American Jew and a German industrialist's son…offers big emotions and heavy strokes of fate. Very satisfying...numerous action and war elements, but concentrated on the personal relationships of the three main characters, with history in the background. Aces is an exciting and entertaining historical work." Bavaria Media (Translated)

“I’ve read and reviewed many World War II historical novels, history book and biographical accounts, and was most moved reading this book. January took me up there in those planes and had me cued in to how those pilots felt, thought, and reacted during those air battles. He also showed me how they coped with the loss of their fellow airmen and accepted the fragility of their own hold on life. His book presents an unforgettable look at those airmen and the sacrifices that were part of their everyday existence... his parallel story of Lacy’s own journey…during the war is compelling and real. ...most highly recommended.” 5 Stars Readers Favorite

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News Author Michael January's new book receives a thrilling literary welcome