Summer, 1943, and when fighter pilot Jox McNabb crashes on the wrong side of the straits of Messina, he is captured by the Germans.
It seems that for Jox, the war might be over.
But Jox is never one to give up. Desperate to escape, he quickly familiarises himself with the camp and gets to know his fellow prisoners.
With punishment brutal for those that have attempted to flee previously, morale is low in the camp and there is little motivation to try and break the rules.
The war is still raging on the outside and Jox will do anything to get back to his No 333 Squadron, the Black Pigs.
On the orders of a cruel Luftwaffe Colonel, Jox is embroiled in a scheme to use high profile POWs as human shields, covering shipments of precious artworks looted from Sicily and Italy.
Could this mission provide Jox with the means to escape? Can he blow the whistle on the stolen loot?
And can he get back in action and rejoin the war in the skies?
The Wire and the Lines by Patrick Larsimont is published on 28 February, 2025.
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