Oh my goodness! I don't know where to start. The use of the word 'redemption' in the title of this book is very key, and really the main point. While there are Christian themes in this book, they are quite light-handed and very well delivered. Louis is the sort of guy that I admire, even before the redemption that I'm so keen on.
What I love:
*The audience is enormous. I can hardly imagine a group of people that I wouldn't expect to enjoy this book, except maybe for teen girls.
*Louis has a lot of character, and grows more as the book progresses.
*The history is really cool.
*It's a true story.
*The moments of release for POWs. I cried.
Things that I didn't love:
*After the capture of Louis and Phil the story really slows down. It's a true story, so it would be difficult to cut it down, but in a novel I would call for this part to be shaved down a bit.
*While I loved the epilogue, it was very long!