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The Vaulted Sky

R. P. Moffa
iUniverse (2009)
ISBN 9781440152511
Reviewed by Charline Ratcliff for RebeccasReads (02/10)


Just for the record, I was unsure exactly what to expect when I started reading “The Vaulted Sky” by R. P. Moffa. Yes, I did request this book. Yes, I do love airplanes. Yes, I also love historical fiction but in looking the book over before I cracked it open I briefly wondered what I had gotten myself into. Not to worry though, I was immediately swept into Moffa’s well written story and the pages had a way of almost turning themselves for me.

My journey through time began in nineteen twenty-four where I met a younger Patrick Montalto, the book’s main character. I was present for his initial encounter with a biplane which sparked the love affair he had with airplanes from that day forward. After this we fast forward to his teenage years, his first ride in a nineteen twenty-eight Waco and we follow along as he juggles his schooling, his responsibilities to his family and learning to fly. The years progress and he is not unaware of the turmoil erupting in the world outside the borders of the United States. In following his inner sense of what is right he finds himself in Canada training to become a fighter pilot in order to defend a country not his own.

Moffa effortlessly takes us through one of the more horrendous periods of world history, World War II, and more often than not I was amazed by the accuracy of his portrayal both prior to and during the war. His tale came across as a believable accounting and even though “The Vaulted Sky” is a work of fiction it seemed as if the author had lived and experienced it firsthand.

Moffa paints a realistic picture of what it was like to live as a fighter pilot; where every day could be one’s last. He shows us the daily struggles, the pain, the loss, and yet he also shows us honor, integrity and pride. He recreates a different time; which encompassed a different set of values; when even your “downed” enemy was generally treated with respect. His words remind us that the only thing which really separates friend from foe is merely where one is born and that insight still rings true today.

I have given “The Vaulted Sky” a five star rating. I highly it as a “must read” and I look forward to the continuation of Montalto’s story in the upcoming sequel “The Sky Suspended.”