In WWII Italy, two soldiers have been granted a week of leave—but R&R is not in the cards for them…

January 1944: The great Allied advance up the Italian peninsula has come to a halt before the formidable German Gustav Line at Monte Cassino. For the American soldiers in the valley, there is nothing to do but wait as General Mark Clark prepares his plan to shatter the German defenses and continue Fifth Army’s march to Rome.

Captain Perkin Berger and First Lieutenant Sam Taft are spared the monotony of waiting. They’re given a week of well-deserved leave in an Adriatic resort town, where they have no responsibility other than relaxation. Proving the old maxim that no plan survives first contact with the enemy, Sam and Perk find themselves involved in the Canadian battle at Ortona, and once again they are thrust into the middle of a secret war between the Third Reich and the Vatican. When the cousins return from their R&R, it isn’t long until the order is given. Against all sound military judgment, the exhausted and under-strength Gun Club is to cross the Rapido River and breach the Gustav Line—alone…

Commander Mark Bowlin USN