I am blissful ignorant about most military operations, and even less knowledgeable regarding Pacific operation from World War Two. However, my interest was piqued about a little-known story concerning the Doolittle air raid over Japan. “Vanishing Act” by Dan Hampton, opens up a story regarding the one raider that landed in Soviet Russia while all the rest of the airplanes landed inside China. I enjoyed listening to this audiobook. I did, in fact, learn a whole lot about not only Doolittle’ daring (daunting) raid but also about the larger global politics surrounding that period of time. And that is my only negative about this book. The saga surrounding the raid, and the mysterious flight into the Soviet Union, required the author to fill out a shorter novella length story with a whole lotta information that felt like “filler” to build a bigger book. As an ignorant reader I appreciated much of the “filler” chapters in Vanishing Act; I really, really wanted to follow the narrower ( perhaps “targeted” is a better term) about Plane 8.
Thank you NetGalley for this audiobook.

Sometimes I thought his argument wasn't very clear since he kept going all over the place with his narrative, but it was interesting to learn about the raid more in depth, especially since it looked a lot different than the movie Pearl Harbor portrayed it to be

Stars: 4
Audiobook

Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC.

This was the second of two books dealing with the American Navy during World War II, but this one focused on the Pacific theater, specifically the run up to the bombing of Pearl Harbor and the entrance of the Soviet Union into the war against Japan. I actually knew nothing about the Doolittle Raid over Tokyo and the subsequent capture of one of the fighter planes that ended up off course and landed in the Soviet Union, so I learned a lot.

Much like Lachman in Codename, Hampton provides great insight not only into the actual events at the heart of the book, but also pays a great deal of attention to the lead up to the bombing of Pearl Harbor. And as in Codename, where I learned a lot about carriers and subs, this book provided insight into the early planes and all the intricacies of flying bombers off a carrier ship to great distances. It is truly amazing what these pilots and navigators did in a time before GPS!

This was another book I would highly recommend as an audiobook. The background details and the history of the tensions between the U.S, Japan, and the U.S.S.R is expertly weaved into another gripping story about the raid. Mike Chamberlain’s narration is even and he provides the right amount of excitement in the dangerous parts.


This is another one I would put on

We all know the story of the Doolittle Raid - or do we? In this book, Dan Hampton takes us on a journey with plane 8 - one that had a different, secret mission. It was kept in the strictest of confidences, and never talked about. The pilots of the flight, took the secrets to the graves. However, through historical evidence, this story is slowly being brought together.

I absolutely LOVED this book! WWII is a fascinating subject to read about, and the Doolittle Raid is one of the more famous aspects of the war. Through warfare, there are always secrets that are kept, and some are just waiting to be told - such as this one. The raid itself was full of danger and uncertainty, but this next level twist was even more dangerous, as no one knew these brave men were headed on a different mission, and one that could prove to be quite deadly.

Once I started, I could not put it down. I learned so much through this book, and look forward to doing another read through it, so that I can mark, notate and dive into some other areas of research. Be prepared to learn an entirely new lesson in history, with an adventure that will leave you spinning!

A must read for anyone who is a history buff and for anyone who knows the amazing story of Doolittle's raid, and wants to know the extended story of a secret mission that will keep you engaged until the end of the book.

Well-researched and written, I was gobsmacked at all I was reading and all that I learned [the time in the Soviet Union, while not surprising, was very sad and frustrating and just mind-boggling]; it made me want to dive into all of the authors other books.

Very well done!!

I was able to get an audiobook for this, and I am so glad I did! The narrator was excellent [and I have added him to my favorites list], read in a clear, straightforward way and I'd recommend this audiobook to anyone!!

Thank you to NetGalley, Dan Hampton, Mike Chamberlain - Narrator, St. Martin's Press, and RB Media for providing the eBook and audiobook ARC's in exchange for an honest review.

Extremely detailed book. After a while, it was just too much. The narrator did a good job and it was interesting to hear about WW2 heroes we’ve heard about in history books.