Hold Strong

A Novel

De: Robert Dugoni, Jeff Langholz, Chris Crabtree

Narrado por: Will Damron

From Robert Dugoni, Jeff Langholz, and Chris Crabtree comes an epic and inspiring novel—based on true events—about love, heroism, and resilience during the darkest chapters of World War II.

Sam Carlson is a projectionist in small-town Minnesota, where fantasies unspool in glorious black and white—for him and for his sweetheart, college-bound math whiz Sarah Haber. When the Japanese bomb Pearl Harbor, Sam is sent to the Philippines and captured as a POW. Brutalized but unbroken by the Bataan Death March and POW camps, Sam is one of eighteen hundred starved and weakened prisoners herded into the cargo hold of a barbaric hell ship called the Arisan Maru, his survival doubtful.

Determined to use her math skills on the home front, Sarah is recruited to Washington, DC, into the covert field of code breaking. When Sarah intercepts a message about a Japanese convoy, the US Navy’s mission is clear: sink the Arisan Maru and send it to the bottom of the South China Sea. Now, the lives of the two young lovers are about to inadvertently collide in one of the most shocking acts of World War II.

Anchored in an extraordinary true story and breathlessly re-created, Hold Strong is a one-of-a-kind novel that explores faith, courage, survival, and coming home against insurmountable odds.

©2025 La Mesa Fiction, LLC, Jeff A. Langholz, and Chris Adam Crabtree. (P)2024 Brilliance Publishing, Inc., all rights reserved.

Reseñas de la Crítica

“This book is hard to put down.”—Historical Novels Review

“Though these gruesome aspects of war aren’t often easy to portray in novels and historical fiction, Hold Strong, by the trio of researchers and writers Robert Dugoni, Jeff Langholz, and Chris Crabtree, has achieved the unachievable. It does so with their cast of strong characters backed by their meticulous research.”—The Epoch Times

“Something straight out of a Tom Clancy novel, with submarines and secret codes and war-altering decisions made at heavy cost. It’s thrilling stuff, made all the more so by its grounding in history.”—Rob Merrill, Associated Press

The courage of the POWs.

Amazingly well researched and revealing of untold stories. I was impressed with the time perspective information.

History

Great writing pleasant voice narration learned a lot while being entertained I love this writer

Couldn't stop listening!

Eye opening, honest, shocking, horrific and triumphant telling of one of the hardest periods in US history. An extremely good and compelling listen. recommend to all

Characters are so real

Love his books. Loved the humor of Chavez and the will of those to keep helping others even though they were suffering so badly.

Excellent historical novel

Although there are a lot of historical novels based on World War II, this is one of the few that focuses on the experiences of American prisoners of the Japanese. The characters in this book were captured in early 1942 and spent the next 2 1/2 years in captivity. I know a lot about this topic because of a family member that is similar experience. The book is well written, accurate, and should appeal to anyone who likes historical fiction.