An American fighter pilot doomed to die in Buchenwald but determined to survive. On August 13, 1944, Joe Moser set off on his forty-fourth combat mission over occupied France. Soon, he would join almost 170 other Allied airmen as prisoners in Buchenwald, one of the most notorious and deadly of Nazi concentration camps. Tom Clavin's Lightning Down tells this largely untold and riveting true story. Moser was just twenty-two years old, a farm boy from Washington State who fell in love with flying. During the War he realized his dream of piloting a P-38 Lightning, one of the most effective weapons the Army Air Corps had against the powerful German Luftwaffe. But on that hot August morning he had to bail out of his damaged, burning plane. Captured immediately, Moser's journey into hell began. Moser and his courageous comrades from England, Canada, New Zealand, and elsewhere endured the most horrific conditions during their imprisonment... until the day the orders were issued by Hitler himself to execute them. Only a most desperate plan would save them. The page-turning momentum of Lightning Down is like that of a thriller, but the stories of imprisoned and brutalized airmen are true and told in unforgettable detail, led by the distinctly American voice of Joe Moser, who prays every day to be reunited with his family. Lightning Down is a can't-put-it-down inspiring saga of brave men confronting great evil and great odds against survival. Editorial Reviews "This book is an absolute winner for your Dad, your Granddad, your uncle, anyone who's a veteran or a World War II buff or readers seeking a tale of heroism. Find it now, and let "Lightning Down" strike you." -Terri Schlichenmeyer for Commercial News "Clavin's latest, like his other histories, reads like a novel and it will keep readers turning the pages ...This is an engaging and captivating story capturing the courage and strength of humanity under extreme conditions. Highly recommended." -Library Journal (starred review) "Clavin writes Moser's remarkable story into a heartrending tale of human endurance." -Booklist "The journalist and bestselling popular historian returns with the story of an American soldier who survived Nazi terror...Scrupulous, squirm-inducing...A fast-paced account of a little-known POW experience." -Kirkus Reviews "Clavin paints the horrors of life in the concentration camp in harrowing detail. The details Clavin unearths ... are grimly fascinating." -Publishers Weekly "Lightning Down is a historical biography that contains the information of a textbook while reading like a novel ... Clavin's style and structure induce enough suspense to keep readers wrapped up in the moment. And, despite the horrors that Moser experienced and Clavin describes vividly, Lightning Down has an overarching positivity and celebration of resilience." -Associated Press "A gripping tale of survival." -World War II magazine "Clavin has constructed an account filled with harrowing images that will linger in readers' minds as they doubtless lingered in Moser's memory...Reading this war and captivity history as seen through the eyes of a strong, resilient survivor is a true education." -BookReporter.com "Lightning Down is indeed a thriller. The writing is great, easy to read and digest with full emotions...a near perfect suspense story." -Argunners magazine "Lightning Down is a wonderful testament to the human spirit, an incredible story of courage and resilience, of one man's heroism both in a cockpit in the skies above Nazi-occupied Europe and in Buchenwald, the dark heart of the Third Reich. Don't miss this nail-biter from a true master, Tom Clavin." -Alex Kershaw, New York Times bestselling author of Against All Odds "When a quiet American farm boy named Joe fell in love with the Lockheed P-38 Lightning, he had no idea that his dream of becoming a fighter pilot would catapult him into one of the most harrowing stories of World War II. Tom Clavin's Lightning Down whisked me from the rural peace of the Pacific Northwest to aviation heroics on D-Day, from a nightmare prison train to a Nazi concentration camp, from a brutal frozen death march to a German POW camp that pushed thousands of men to the outer edge of human endurance-and beyond. This shocking true tale of a small band of American flyers imprisoned by the Third Reich is at turns horrifying and triumphant, revealing the galvanizing power of battlefield brotherhood and the extraordinary resilience of the human spirit. I began rooting for Joe on Page 1!" -Lynn Vincent, New York Times bestselling coauthor of Indianapolis: The True Story of the Worst Sea Disaster in U.S. Naval History and the Fifty-Year Fight to Exonerate an Innocent Man "Buchenwald was the place no allied airman was supposed to wind up-but they did. In this priceless eyewitness history, one of WWII's most incredible stories has finally found its teller. Lightning Down is a riveting read that will leave you with a cold shiver." -Adam Makos, author of the NY Times bestseller A Higher Call - From the Publisher *11/01/2021 Clavin, author of the best-selling "Frontier Lawmen" biographies (Wild Bill; Dodge City; Tombstone), has turned his efforts to the story of Joe Moser, a 22-year-old farmer who enlisted in the U.S. Army and served as a pilot during World War II. Over four sections referred to as acts, Clavin traces Moser's life from his small hometown in Washington State to French battlefields and to his eventual capture by the Luftwaffe. Along with other Allied soldiers, Moser was sent to the Buchenwald concentration camp in Germany. For the duration of the war, these soldiers relied on each other for survival and support, Clavin writes. He effectively recounts the men's liberation by the U.S. Army after a harrowing year of imprisonment and, notably, uncertainty. Clavin's latest, like his other histories, reads like a novel and will keep readers turning the pages. It expertly weaves a historical portrait of Moser and others while providing much of the background necessary to appreciating the events. VERDICT This is an engaging and captivating story capturing the courage and strength of humanity under extreme conditions. Highly recommended, especially for those interested in World War II history, U.S. history, and biography.--Jacqueline Parascandola, Univ. of Pennsylvania - Library Journal 2021-09-15 The journalist and bestselling popular historian returns with the story of an American soldier who survived Nazi terror. Generally, Allied POWs in Germany fared better than those in Japan--but not the group that included fighter pilot Joe Moser, Clavin's subject for this scrupulous, squirm-inducing account. The author narrates from Moser's point of view, and his sources include Moser's 2009 memoir. Raised on a farm and fascinated by flying, Moser enlisted in May 1942, underwent the 21 months of training required for the P-38 fighter jet, and flew his first mission in April 1944. Moving back and forth between the big picture and Moser's 44 missions, Clavin delivers a workmanlike account of the war that ends in August, when Moser's plane was shot down over France and he was captured. It's significant that he was taken to Fresnes prison near Paris, where Allied airmen were held, instead of being sent to POW camps. After liberation, in the scramble to evacuate Germany's high command, a group of soldiers were labeled "terror bombers." They were crammed into boxcars and shipped to Buchenwald, Germany's largest concentration camp; by fall, they were starved and disease-ridden. However, when he learned about their plight, a Luftwaffe officer, offended at this illegal treatment of fellow flyers, arranged their transfer to a POW camp. Readers relieved that their ordeal was over will be shocked by what followed in January. With the Red Army approaching, authorities evacuated the camp, forcing prisoners to walk across Germany in a freezing winter with only the food they carried with them. More died than at Buchenwald before arriving at another camp far worse than the one they had left. With Nazi Germany on its last legs, they expected a short stay, but two months passed before liberation. Readers can then enjoy Clavin's traditional concluding description of the remaining years of the lives of Moser and other major figures. A fast-paced account of a little-known POW experience. - Kirkus Reviews