Review: Jack DuArte Shows How "The White Mouse" Bit the Nazis and Escaped
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 05 13, 2014
It takes a talented writer to integrate reality and historical fiction into a fascinating look at a little-known piece of World War II, but Jack DuArte, an award-winning author, who has already written a successful work on Nancy Wake Fiocca, one of the principals of Britain's World War II Special Operations Executive, forerunner to MI-5 and MI-6 today,  has done it.In doing so, we know he has another winner on his hands. The basic premise is quite simple, Nancy Wake Fiocca, a resident of Paris, spent the first couple of years of the war setting up networks to get shot down fliers out of Europe and back to England.Just when the Nazis think they have her,  she escapes. Her husband remains behind “taking care of the family” business and their dog. Meantime, out of Europe comes Nancy, who the English authorities want away from the Nazis for a while so she can expand her skills. She not only becomes a master spy, expanding her skills, but she has is known by several names, as well.She works with SOE-F (France) with special emphasis on the Maquis, one of the many resistance groups founded to resist the Nazis. Along the way back she works with an American officer sequestered to work with the British; an openly gay man in an era where you didn't announce it (this one's hard to believe), as well as a host of specialists and Maquis commanders.DuArte did another fantastic job with this book. His characters are real and the situations they find themselves in are equally as real. The gay guy and his antics – well he has to deal with the people he is given and DenDen (his work designation) really did exist so DuArte had to work with this fact.With the many personalities DuArte had to work with, he shows he has a remarkable talent for pulling out the wheat and leaving the chaff on the threshing room floor. The result of DuArte's work a master work. He pulls the step by step story of “The White Mouse” and friends  and presents it in a masterly, well-written fashion.Since there's a lot of characterization going on as well as plot-setting and cross-plotting the “The Mouse” sometimes slows down, but for the most part, I couldn't put it down. It's an interesting look by an excellent writer at a little-known piece of World War II history that really didn't end too long ago because Mrs. Fiocca didn't pass on until two years ago at 99 years old.That said, we think you will like this book and it's one that will remain in the memory of my ereader now that I've finished it.