Book Review: Risking It All
' Risking it All ' is a truly lovely short story with a very convincing wartime atmosphere. A few years ago I went to a World War II battle re-enactment which English Heritage organised at Scarborough Castle (below), and this book gave me very much the same sense of history coming alive. You can almost smell the aircraft fuel and feel the bombs landing, not to mention hear the jive music playing when Lynne sees Billy for the first time in years, at the airmen's dance. A lot of intensity is packed into a small space, in a way which I might not have believed if it weren't for the fact that because it's wartime, both hero and heroine know that time may be short for them. The transition which Lynne and Billy make from childhood crush to adult relationship is believable and touching. Suspense comes from the conflict stemming from Billy's concern that Lynne may be responsible for the spate of deaths at the airfield, as well as from the risk Billy runs e...