Matt Helm: The War Years

The story is a prequel, telling the tale of Helm's recruitment and training. Then some of the missions he handled during World War II are detailed. There are references to individuals and events taken from Hamilton's novels, so the author has done a lot of research. I was surprised that Wease successfully captured [a:Donald Hamilton 114241 Donald Hamilton http://d.gr-assets.com/authors/1291775970p2/114241.jpg]'s first person narrative style in this pastiche of the Matt Helm novels. The writing isn't as smooth or as concise as Hamilton's, especially in the early novels like [b:Death of a Citizen 2078937 Death of a Citizen (Matt Helm, #1) Donald Hamilton http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1328691567s/2078937.jpg 2084209], but I think any Matt Helm fan will enjoy reading this book.