Beneath a Scarlet Sky

A Novel

De: Mark Sullivan

Narrado por: Will Damron

Soon to be a major television event from Pascal Pictures, starring Tom Holland.

Based on the true story of a forgotten hero, the USA Today and #1 Amazon Charts bestseller Beneath a Scarlet Sky is the triumphant, epic tale of one young man’s incredible courage and resilience during one of history’s darkest hours.

Pino Lella wants nothing to do with the war or the Nazis. He’s a normal Italian teenager - obsessed with music, food, and girls - but his days of innocence are numbered. When his family home in Milan is destroyed by Allied bombs, Pino joins an underground railroad helping Jews escape over the Alps, and falls for Anna, a beautiful widow six years his senior.

In an attempt to protect him, Pino’s parents force him to enlist as a German soldier - a move they think will keep him out of combat. But after Pino is injured, he is recruited at the tender age of eighteen to become the personal driver for Adolf Hitler’s left hand in Italy, General Hans Leyers, one of the Third Reich’s most mysterious and powerful commanders.

Now, with the opportunity to spy for the Allies inside the German High Command, Pino endures the horrors of the war and the Nazi occupation by fighting in secret, his courage bolstered by his love for Anna and for the life he dreams they will one day share.

Fans of All the Light We Cannot See, The Nightingale, and Unbroken will enjoy this riveting saga of history, suspense, and love.

©2017 Mark Sullivan (P)2017 Brilliance Audio, all rights reserved

Absolute best WW II book I ever read

I wish I could give this book ten stars in every category! While it is a novel because some of the dialog had to be imagined, it is based on real events and real people dealing with the war in Italy, particularly Milan, in 1943 -1945. An absolutely stunning and gripping story. Ironic, but true twists abound.

Great story, mediocre reader

This story was heartbreaking at times, hilarious at others and always, always entertaining. A wonderful read and good listen; unfortunately the reader was not the best, his voices for female dialogue are particularly grating.

absolutely amazing story.

This is one of the most incredible WWII stories I have ever read. All the people in the story were real and the "Afterward" chapter is just as amazing as the WWII story. Most of the books fiction or non-fiction that I have read about the Allied Forces in WWII were from the perspective of an American or Brit in the European or Pacific theatre this is from the perspective of an Italian in the Mediterranean theatre. I think the narrator of this audio book was pretty good but could have been better.

a riveting and hard to hear story.

this story was extremely difficult to listen to. it was made even more difficult given that it was a true story of a really terrible time in our history. while I couldn't put it down I was often repulsed at what I heard. a great accounting of that terrible time.

Interesting story but needed a better editor.

I'm surprised this was as highly rated a it was. It is pretty standard stuff about World War II but since I've read very few books about the war in Italy this was at least interesting. If the author was better or had another editor it could have been much better. The main character seemed a bit self serving.

Beautiful Historical Fiction

First off, the majority of this is a true story. The fiction part is just where the author needed to fill in unknown elements. So I like that the majority of what I read could be considered historical.
It took me about an hour to really understand where the story was going, the important characters, themes, etc. (About 70 pages in the book.) The synopsis did not appeal to me, but let me just say it does not do the book justice.
The story is fascinating, gripping, and keeps you hooked. I finished this book in a day because I could not stop.
I am amazed this story is not more widely known and I love that the author shared it with us!
Great for listeners who love anything with WWII.
I have shared it with many people!

Unimaginable heroism and perfect story telling

This is such a totally engrossing story you sometimes have to remind yourself it is ALL actually Non-Fiction. Oddly, there were several times where I wanted it to be fiction.
It is a story of the 17-year-old Pino Lella who becomes a Partisan fighter of sorts. Ordered by his parents (wonderful and strong in their own right) to a Catholic boys school in the Italian Alps to escape the escalating Allied bombing of Milan, Lella is recruited by the Priest to guide Jews fleeing through the perilous Alps in to Switzerland. Through highway robberies, Nazi patrols, vertigo inducing snow covered rock climbs, leading frightened families with small children through avalanches and impossible passes, that story alone is enough. But then, by chance and circumstance, he becomes a high level spy driving for the highest placed German General in Italy. It is an unforgettable and mind boggling World War II adventure story for sure.
In truth it is that and so much more. It is the story of a boy going from 17 to 90-years old and the people that surround him. It is a breathtaking story of violence that 17-year-old boys (and his 15-year-old brother) should be shielded from by adults. Instead, it was inflicted upon them by Nazi's and they were pressed into service by family and circumstances that could not shield them from horrors. It is a story of enduring love and forgotten hatreds.
As a bonus, there is a story within the story which is the authors own life and his interaction with the now old and well worn Pino Lella.
Artfully written, perfectly narrated by Will Damron (enough can not be said about his work here) and a true life story that you can not help but visualize as you read or listen to it, make this an ABSOLUTE MUST HAVE book. I am not sure I have a more favorite story than this.

Wow.

What a story! Book Club read, and glad it was. Very moving and a part of WWII you don't often hear about. Even if only half of the details in the story are true, it makes one heck of a life Pino lived!

Excellent story but

I really enjoyed this audiobook . The narration and story was excellent, however I have hard time believing most of it is true. A lot of it seems dramatized and fictionalized. I know the author said he had to fill in gaps but the gap seems quite large. Therefore I gave it four stars instead of five.

Gripping account of the last years of fascist Italy

A book that succeeds on many many levels. Passionate love story, war, important leaders and the small decisions of ordinary people caught up in fascist Italy. Truly a must read.