A poignant and real story - gripping, harrowing, unputdownable

I read this book in draft format, a year ago, and loved it then. The book was subsequently professionally edited for publication and then recorded for Audible. The polished version of the text is even better than the original, and the Audible recorded version is excellent.

So many books written about WW2 dwell almost entirely on the Holocaust and the French Resistance. There is so much more that needs to be told about this monumental time in history, and TJ’s War fills in some of the gaps.

In listening to this book, narrated brilliantly by David Blair, you, the listener, are taken on an epic journey in the life of a man, TJ Maclean and those around him, before and during the War. Blair reads the book in a neutral British accent, however he can put on other intonations effectively when required. This is the sort of book that will keep you still sitting in your car when you arrive home, with the engine off and the car stereo on, as you just need to hear all the way to the end of the current chapter!

I especially liked the part set in Norway, as this was a side of the War that I was pretty ignorant about. When a high-ranking SS official was taken out by TJ, after a night hanging out in a tree (yes, this happened!) I was rooting for the agent. I could imagine and visualise the scene as if it were in a movie.

Iain Maclean, the author, is the son of the extremely brave, complex and ultimately damaged (PTSD) WW2 special forces soldier upon whom the character, TJ, is based. Iain lost his father at age 10. The book starts in the first person, in the prologue, and then switches to third person, appropriately once the story takes off.

I highly recommend TJ’s War. Bravo to all involved in its production!

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