OPERATION OVERLORD - Francis Moss

Tommy Collins is the son of Royal Naval Lieutenant Commander Lawrence Collins. Britain is deep in World War II and Lawrence Collins is attending "Most Secret" meetings.  There is rumor that an Allied invasion will be taking place soon. 

Despite the active dangers in England, and the sensitive nature of Lieutenant Commander Collins' current work, Lawrence brings his son Tommy to explore Southampton on his own. While doing so, Tommy sees a girl, about his age. She's acting suspicious and speaking German and Tommy is convinced she's a spy. He tries to confront her but she quickly gets the upper hand and then sets him straight ... she's Dutch and she's recently moved to escape the Nazi occupation. Together, Tommy and the Dutch girl, Annike, will root out some actual German sympathizer/spies, just in time to help keep Operation Overlord (the invasion at Normandy) a secret.

I found this book to be rather stereotypical of 'educational' adventure tales. There's an effort to make young Tommy adventurous and the hero of the story, but his 'gosh golly gee whiz' attitude is almost unrealistic, even for the era. And I know that it's a children's book and the child protagonist is going to be the hero, but this is a little harder to accept in such a serious historical setting.

As an adult reader, the dangers are ever-present (how do you let a child run around when bombings are a part of life?) but even when Tommy and Annike confront the actual spies, there hardly feels like there's any real danger in the meeting.

Author Francis Moss has a nice writing style, and the plot is nicely developed, but the characters are all very one dimensional. Without the depth of character, Tommy and Annike's actions don't have the full impact that they could have. Annike, the obligatory 'girl' in Tommy's story, has more definition of character than Tommy - mostly because she tells him about herself to set him right when he thinks she's a spy.

This is not a bad book, but it's not the engaging, thrilling read it wants to be.

Looking for a good book? Operation Overlord by Francis Moss is a historical fiction children's book centered around the events leading up to the Allied invasion of Normandy. The book doesn't rise above a general stereotype of adventurous youth saving the day.

I received a copy of this book from the author in exchange for an honest review.

3 stars

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Operation Overlord: A Tommy Collins Adventure

author: Francis Moss

ISBN: 9781732791060

paperback, 166 pages