The Aeronaut

Book excerpt: An American soldier in WWI France flies a jetpack over no man’s land in this steampunk historical adventure of action, espionage, and romance. At the beginning of the twentieth century, Europe is in the grip of bitter and bloody war. Computational machinery has allowed great technological leaps on both sides—making trench warfare even deadlier for soldiers at the front. Some men fight to defend their homeland. But Robert Preston flees America and joins the French Army to escape heartbreak. Placed in the elite 5th Aeronautic Corps, he learns to use high-tech jetpacks to leap over trenches—and the deadly no man’s land between them. It’s a dangerous job with a low survival rate, but Preston is determined to make a difference. There, he meets a man he calls his best friend, and a woman he believes is the love of his life. But a top-secret mission behind enemy lines, and a heart full of jealousy, threatens to tear the three of them apart forever.