Freshman student, GTCHS
The Raiders and the Cross Summary
The Story of Jeremy "Jox" McNabb
*This article contains book spoilers.*
The novel that I read is called The Raiders and the Cross by Patrick Larsimont. The book is set in World War II and focuses on fighter pilot Jeremy "Jox" McNabb, who participates in many battles in Britain and Malta. The book begins in 1940, with the war reaching an all time high. London is being bombarded during night raids and Jox McNabb is tasked with the job of stopping the German Luftwaffe by training to fly a black Spitfire on night fighting missions to defend Britain.
But then when he least expects it, a tragedy strikes and Jox loses his girlfriend Alice in a raid on London. Jox is damaged not only from war, but from the loss of Alice, and begins a slow recovery to rebuild himself both physically and emotionally.
Wanting to have a clean start, he decides to volunteer himself to help in the war-sieged country of Malta. After a short time there, he realizes that this country is just as dangerous and hard to defend as the last one. After a few days there, he finds himself in trouble when he crashes into the backyard of a Maltese family.
After the crash, Jox finds himself with a destroyed plane but a new interest in the daughter of the family where he crashed. Slowly, Julianna begins to help him heal from Alice’s passing. This brand new relationship finds itself being put to the test as Jox is called back to Britain. On his return flight home, Jox McNabb finds himself in peril again when his cargo transport plane is attacked by Luftwaffe night fighters. He and the others on board successfully defend their aircraft, landing safely, with Jox vowing to return to Malta, and Julianna, again one day.