This book was archived before I was able to download it onto my phone and I'm unable to leave a review.

A good book overall. Could be a little hard to follow at times because of the multiple perspectives, but I did learn something from this book. I didn't know that Nazis held some Allied POWs at concentration camps - just goes to show the depths of human depravity.

A well written biography of a P-38 pilot who was shot down during the European campaign and spent the remainder of WWII as a POW. The thing that sets Joe Moser's story apart from the others is that he and 168 other Allied pilots were classified as terrorists and held in the Buchenwald Concentration Camp rather than a camp governed by the Geneva Convention. Joe lived to tell the story, but kept it secret for many years because the American public refused to believe that POWs were treated with such cruelty.
I read the audio version of the book which added a lot to the story. Many narrators are would be Shakespearean actors and want to make sure that you are aware of their talents.. Narrator George Newbern has a casual and very American style that fit the book perfectly.
Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for providing an advance reader copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

I'm a history junkie and a big Tom Clavin fan. I loved his previous books on Wild Bill, Tombstone and Dodge City. So when I saw this WW II book pop up for review, I knew I needed to read this as well. What a story! I couldn't stop reading!

Lightning Down tells the story of Joe Moser. Moser was 22-years old when he bailed out of his airplane over France in WW II. He was captured by the Germans and sent to a concentration camp. Buchenwald....a notorious death camp. He was one of 170 airman imprisoned there. It was a fight for survival as conditions were incredibly horrific.

OMG -- this book is so good! Once I got sucked into the story of everything this man went through, I couldn't stop reading! I can't even imagine what he and the others at Buchenwald went through. And how so many did not make it out again.

I listened to the audiobook version of this newest book (as well as reading in my digital review copy). Narrated by George Newbern, the audio is just short of 8.5 hours long. Newbern does a great job of reading. His voice is pleasant and he reads at a nice pace. Very enjoyable listen!

Another awesome book from Tom Clavin! I can tell his books are just going to be must-reads for me from here on out! I read early ARCs for review and then buy the audio book afterwards for every single one. Keep 'em comin, Tom!

**I voluntarily read a review copy of this book from St Martins Press. All opinions expressed are entirely my own.**

Lightning Down by Tom Clavin was the tue story of a young farm boy, Joe Moser, who always dreamed of becoming a pilot. Joe grew up on a farm in the state of Washington. He finally got to fulfill his wish of becoming a pilot when the United States entered World War II. After a slow beginning that included too much technical details for me, Lightning Down picked up its pace. It unveiled the little known POW experience Joe and 167 other Allied men faced during World War II.

On August 13, 1944, Joe’s P-38 Lightning plane had been hit by the Germans while he was completing a mission over occupied France. His plane was about to be consumed in flames. Joe jumped and landed in a field where French farmers tried to help him. Unfortunately, German soldiers were quick to arrive. Joe was imprisoned at the Fresnes Prison outside Paris, France initially. Shortly after, Joe and 167 other allied airmen were transported by cattle cars to Buchenwald Concentration Camp. This went against everything The Geneva Convention stipulated. Joe and his fellow airmen should have been brought to a POW camp. Instead they were about to face starvation, disease, abuse and the constant threat of death as they were brought to Buchenwald Concentration Camp. Lightning Down depicted the harrowing details Joe and his fellow airmen faced. The Nazis knew that they had to keep the whereabouts of these 168 airmen quiet and secretive. Joe and his fellow airmen knew they were living on borrowed time. They knew that the Nazis would have to ultimately kill them. The Nazis could not risk the chance that someone would discover that these Allied airmen were being kept in a concentration camp.

I have read many books about the Holocaust and the horrors of the concentration camps but I never heard of this harrowing experience that Joe Moser and his fellow airmen went through. When the men that survived the horrors of Buchenwald came home, no one believed their stories. Their governments chose to keep quiet about it. It wasn’t until decades later that Joe Moser’s story was finally told to the public and believed. Lightning Down was about courage, fear, resilience, heroism, and a determination to survive. It was the true account of the fate of 168 Allied airmen that finally has been told. I listened to the audiobook that was narrated well by George Newbern. This is a book that I would recommend to those who would like to find out more about the harrowing experiences these brave men were put through.

Thank you to Macmillan Audio for allowing me to listen to the audiobook of Lightning Down by Tom Clavin through Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. All opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

Lightning Down is a biographical story of Joe Moser, "An American fighter pilot doomed to die in Buchenwald but determined to survive." And what a story of survival it is!

This book hit harder than works of fiction I have read on the subject -- Moser's experiences, as well as others reported throughout the book are horrific and terrifying. Clavin leads into the horrors with backstory on Moser and other figures before we get to the cruelties at Buchenwald (and beyond). If you typically read works of fiction on the subject, the beginning may take time to work through. However, hearing Clavin's telling of Moser's story is incredibly important and I encourage you to stick with it--even though many of the experiences will be hard to hear.

We also hear how Moser, as well as many other survivors, were not believed when initially sharing their stories of survival. That is why it is incredibly important that first-hand accounts like this are recorded, read and shared.

George Newbern's narration was direct, clear and steady throughout the heavy information and terrors he was narrating.

Amidst the cruelties, there are also several accounts of bravery and hope sprinkled throughout Moser's experiences.

Thank you to NetGalley and Macmillan Audio for a digital audio copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

A very heroic war story. Some really crazy experiences in the concentration camp where these pilots were held. I love the fact that they managed to maintain a little of their dignity as soldiers even in the darkest days.

Although it was a great story line, and I'm a big fan of historic friction, the narrator made this book almost painful to listen to. His voice was continually upbeat even when the story was sad or serious. I can't honestly say that I enjoyed the audio version of this book.

This was a highly readable account of one soldier's experience as a Prisoner of War in Nazi Germany. The story is enhanced with accounts of related events which places his story in context. That context is helpful in explaining the history to new readers and will also help those with more extensive knowledge of World War II to place this particular story in time and place.

If you enjoy history you should find this book very interesting. I know I did. Learned so much more than what told or taught to us about our nation’s history.

This was a WW2 history based on the experience of a P-38 Lightning fighter pilot. The author told much of pilot Joe Moser’s personal story and added bits of history surrounding the people and places he encountered during his service.
The story was interesting but it fell a little flat for me. I didn’t get emotionally involved because I want drawn into the story as I could have been. Though many events were either tragic or fantastic, the telling wasn’t compelling.
Three stars is the best I can give this book. I would like to give it more because of the people and events it contained, but three is where it lands.
Thanks MacMillan Audio via Netgalley.