Robert L. Hecker's novel Rush to Glory has all the elements of a Greek tragedy: blind ambition, betrayal and redemption, lust and compassion, cowardice and heroism, and jealousy that almost leads to fratricide. The story begins in wartime Britain just before the Allied assault on Normandy with the arrival of Lieutenant Hal Bailey, a B-17 bombardier assigned as a replacement to his older brother's Eighth Air Force bomber squadron.

His brother Luke Bailey's squadron is part of the force carrying out the daylight bombing raids that inspired the movie Twelve O'Clock High. Whereas the movie concentrated on the wrenching impact the air war took on senior commanders, Rush to Glory tells the story of a single flight crew and squadron. Although newly-added long-range fighters provided a measure of protection against enemy interceptors, the German anti-aircraft fire routinely inflicted losses of 10 percent or more on every mission.

The story centers on Luke and Hal, who, although brothers, could hardly be more different. Luke's all-consuming ambition, violence and frequent bouts with alcohol are not the product of long exposure to combat and command, but rather his own response to a childhood dominated by a wife-beating, drunken father. These same circumstances combined to create a sense of compassion and sensitivity in his younger brother, Hal.

These differences are a recipe for disaster when directed toward the same woman, an army nurse. Luke's romantic pursuits are, at best, carefully-planned assaults; Hal's are apprehensive and tentative. Their romantic skirmishes are a precursor to their actions in combat where the personality conflicts hold lethal consequences. Each brother's response to the threat of imminent death sets the stage for a final battle that slows the rush to glory.

Veterans will find Hecker's graphic descriptions of the airmen's lives and the numbing terror of running the gauntlet of the enemy's flak corridor day after day a grim reminder of war. His details capture the fatalism that bound the airmen together and underlied their raucous parties and trips into London in search of Piccadilly commandos in skirts.

While the uninterrupted scroll format is distracting, Robert Hecker's compelling story will keep the memories alive of the war that defined the lives of America's greatest generation.

John Messer writes from Ludington, Michigan.