Lives are often stories not yet written down. Not always ended, either, which can fuse the living and telling into a path not always clear. Some tales take a long time to tell, especially when they start in 1944 and flow into 1996, and the characters weave in and out across those years without knowing one another. Retired Colonel Matthew Rankin's sudden death at a party in 1996 leaves a gap in many lives. Deepest, perhaps, in that of his daughter, Manda, whose grief is overwhelming as she realizes how little she knows of who her father was. His strict and formal way kept him at odds with his daughter.
The coincidental arrival of Pieter Becker, a man following a just-found trace of his own father's WWII disappearance, sets the two of them in motion to solve the puzzle of their fathers' connection. At first, the only clue they have is a photo taken in 1975 of the men together in Grand Central Station. A picture taken by Willi Prang, a garrulous former WWII POW who says he knew Pieter's father. In 1975, Matthew Rankin was an on-the-rise Colonel in the United States Air Force, successful and devoted to doing the Pentagon's bidding. According to Willi Prang, whom Pieter meets at a reunion of German ex-POWs, the other man in the photograph is Pieter's father, Franz Becker.
But Pieter's father died in World War II.
Or did he?
Happy Thanksgiving! And November is military awareness month. Today's book,
See Ya, is all about both these events, telling the story of men serving for their country, family, and friends. Be sure to pick up a copy at
ChanterPress.com, it'll make a great read for you or a friend!