Taxi to Tobruk

Some spoilers below, but not much more than is in the book blurb.

In this novel, translated from French, we are introduced to five French soldiers who are in the French Free Army in Britain. We are provided with their backgrounds over the course of the first few chapters, at the same time as we learn their roles and their mission.
These soldiers are a part of the Long Range Desert Group, and make up one truck in a four truck convoy to travel from El Alamein (the Allied base in Egypt) across the desert to carry out a brazen attack on Tobruk, the German base in Libya. The other three trucks are British LRDG soldiers.

After the attack, which was successful in terms of goals, but less successful in terms of the teams escape, we are left to follow the Frenchmen in their attempt to return to the Allied line. Their truck is limping, they are days away from safety, and are being pursued by a German half-track, which ultimately destroys their truck, leaving them with little equipment or supplies.

Rather than give up, and wait to die, the men set out in pursuit of the half-track, surprise the soldiers about and commandeer the vehicle to make their way home, but, the German officer is not dead, and the Frenchmen become reliant on the German man's assistance to survive - and an alliance of sorts must be met.

Well written (translated), it is a relatively simple story, only 150 pages long, and read in a handful of hours. It keeps up the pace, has a few twists and turns to keep it interesting, and demonstrates some of the moral judgements made about one's enemy in war. The outcomes and ending are perhaps not hard to have guessed, but the story is well executed - albeit in a simple fashion.

Enjoyable at 3.5 stars, and I will generously round it up!