When Pearl Harbor was attacked, John "Lucky" Luckadoo joined the United States Air Force, and in 1943, he flew B-17 Flying Fortresses over France and Germany on bombing runs that were considered suicidal. Drawn from Luckadoo's firsthand accounts, Kevin Maurer shares his extraordinary coming-of-age tale, uncovering astonishing feats of bravery as this scrappy pilot endures subzero temperatures, the constant threat of being shot down, and the reality that three out of every four members of the "Bloody Hundredth" bomb group would not be coming home.

"In this action-packed flyboy saga, the reader is in the co-pilot's seat…. The scenes of the deadly duels between bold American bombers and desperate German fighters are riveting."—Bob Drury and Tom Clavin