Carter is a former agent with ground knowledge in the hills of Sicily, where the Allied landing forces will need the cooperation of resistance fighters to avoid heavy losses to the occupying German forces. Carter has to recruit Luciano, a convict with Mafia ties, and Maria who has fled the mother country to escape the abuses of the underworld, represented by her grandfather, the key figure needed to coalesce the resistance fighters with the Allied cause.
After I read a couple of mentions of Higgins in books on writing, I pulled this off the library shelf. Higgins knows how to get right into the action of a story and move the plot to adventure. He skillfully sets all the elements in place to give a dramatic story with action and conflict. The characters are a step above cardboard cut-outs, serving to propel events, and scenes are quick-cut, keeping the reading at a brisk pace. In all, it's a quick read that isn't entirely predictable.