July 19, 2013 / Leslie

Review – Audiobook: Frozen in Time by Mitchell Zuckoff

Narrative Non-Fiction, Non-Fiction, WWII

Frozen In Time
by Mitchell Zuckoff
Narrated by Mitchell Zuckoff

Genre: Narative Non-Fiction
Publisher: Harper Audio
Publish Date: April 23, 2013
Format: Audio, 8 hours | 57 minutes
Audio Listening Level: Easy – Intermediate
Rating: 4 of 5

Publisher’s Synopsis:

On November 5, 1942, a U.S. cargo plane slammed into the Greenland ice cap. Four days later, a B-17 on the search-and-rescue mission also crashed. Miraculously, all nine men on the B-17 survived. The U.S. military launched a second daring rescue operation, but the Grumman Duck amphibious plane sent to find the men vanished.

In this thrilling adventure, Mitchell Zuckoff offers a spellbinding account of these harrowing crashes and the fate of the survivors and their would-be saviors.

My Thoughts:

Mitchell Zuckoff brings to life a little known story of courage and heroism from the WWII era, a story that has been forgotten in time. For 148 days these brave men fought to stay alive after their plane crashed on the ice off the coast of Greenland. During that time several perilous rescue missions were attempted and failed, eventually succeeding in returning some of the survivors.

The book alternates between the past, with the story of the crash and rescue attempts, and a present day search to recover the plane and the remains of the men who didn’t survive. I found the parts of the books that detailed the past much more interesting and compelling than the present day events, which was more about funding and convincing the military that this search should be undertaken. It wasn’t until the end, when they went to Greenland to conduct a search for the plane buried under 50 years of ice, that the portion in the present got interesting.

I listened to the audiobook which was narrated by the author in a pleasant voice and even pacing. I generally find narrative non-fiction to be some of the easiest to listen to in audiobook form. In this book the listener needs to be alert to the shifts back and forth in time and the numerous characters, making it a little more complex but for the most part an easy listen.

Zuckoff has expertly pieced together the events of the crash to create a riveting account, one that reads like an adventure story. Recommended, especially for those who enjoy WWII history and real life adventure stories.