Stars of the Southern Cross

Book excerpt: Fervency, exhilaration, trepidation and death face Collin Farley, a young Colorado rancher, who flew his aircraft through its paces in the skies over the South Pacific against overwhelming Japanese forces during the early days of World War II. The sound of aircraft engines and the firing of the 37mm canon vibrate in his ears. Tender moments under the stars on the beach of the Coral Sea where he finds love during the throes of war wrench his heart, yet the camaraderie on a Pacific island maintains his sanity. From the shooting down the private plane of Admiral Yamamoto, the master-planner of Pearl Harbor attack, to viewing performances of the Swan Lake in Melbourne, Australia, to attending high level meetings with Generals MacArthur and Kenney, the reader is swept back to 1942-43. Emotions, loves and passions soar high over the azure waters of the Solomon Sea and in the Grand Opera House with the performances of Antoinette de la Fevbre. The men and women of the Fifth Air Force lived these campaigns, loved under the Southern Cross and died in the blue waters of the Coral Sea. This dynamic epic saga explicitly comes alive through the pages of this novel.