D-Day - Normandy - behind Utah Beach. Just after midnight the drop began. Come dawn, 18 C-47s and their paratroopers were missing. What could have the missing troopers accomplished if they had landed safely and engaged the enemy? MISSING STICKS tells one story.

A new novel featuring the Screaming Eagles of the 101st Airborne Division on D-Day

I have listened to and read accounts written by and about the paratroopers and glidermen, and their aircrews, and wondered who the missing men were. What could, what would the missing men have done if they had made it safely to the ground? This is a novel about those missing men, their buddies and the friends and enemies they met on the ground on June 6th, 1944.

Missing Sticks is a fictional account of a handful of those missing men, representative of those declared casualties in real life. Each character, every story is a figment of my imagination, but I hope a reflection of the diverse men who flew into the darkness and danger over Normandy that fateful night. I have attempted to make the people and the actions as realistic as possible, stealing bits and pieces of events and personalities from the accounts of the many who participated, and merged them in my mind.

If you have been around combat you know that not every man is brave. Not every man is a hero. Everyone makes mistakes. However, in the fire of battle, a handful of heroes is forged as bravery overwhelms the fear that naturally keeps us from harm. I hope the Screaming Eagles in this novel are true to the real Screaming Eagles I have known, talked to and read about over the years, with all their faults—and all their bravery.

This novel is the result—a fictional tribute to the Screaming Eagles who disappeared into the darkness.

A NEW REVIEW

You need to constantly remind yourself this is a work of fiction while reading MISSING STICKS. First of all it reads like you are there; this event really happened.  A segment of the Airborne that was supposed to be the early attack force went missing, and there has been conjecture and theory as to why. What takes place in this fictional story is what author J. M. Taylor envisions might have occurred. In a C-47 over France with the 101st Airborne, going into France on the night before the D-Day invasion, someone screws up. What results is the dropping the troops at the wrong time/in the wrong DZ and into a hostile environment, with all sorts of early warnings for the bad guys (Germans/Nazis).
 
Reading MISSING STICKS has the reader ducking live ammo and running with the combatants for your life. This is a very believable story, from its authenticity of surroundings to its dialog between airborne soldiers.  The latter generates true concern from the reader as to which characters will live or die, and that makes the telling of this story all the more real. At the end of the story, I wanted everyone to get back to their unit and then to get home after the war.
 
I really enjoyed this story and would recommend it to others. Readers who served or lived through WWII will especially appreciate the kinship in this story (I’m a student of WWII, lived through it, and had a cousin and uncle who both served). I loved this masterful and powerful FICTION, with it’s short, easy to follow chapters and very detailed, concise maps, positioned strategically throughout the story.

Review by Larry Purcell, Military Writers Society of America (June 2009)

Our younger generation honors our WWII vets at a Zephyrhills Reenactment, February 2009. These Reenactors authentically represents Item Company, 3d Battalion, 506th PIR.

Meet Taylor and talk about guns, dogs, cats, parachuting and repelling at your favorite book store. The photo was taken at a recent signing at Haslam's Books in St Petersburg, Florida. Teacup, one of the store cats, assists in the sales pitch.

Missing Sticks is available also  from

Amazon.com (trade paperback and Kindle)

Target.com (trade paperback )

and Mobipocket.com (eBook)

Signed copies can be ordered from Screaming Eagle Press.

ISBN:  978-1-879043-00-8

Click on an image to go to the store.

 © 2000-2010 John M. Taylor
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Excerpts may be used in electronic or print media with credit to John M. Taylor