Jukebox Queen Of Malta: A Novel

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Summary: life and love during wartime in malta
Review: life and love during wartime in malta set during the germain bombardments of the island country. a good read

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Summary: A great WWII novel with stellar historical tidbits and love!
Review: Rinaldi's The Jukebox Queen of Malta gives us Rocco Raven, an American radio operator trapped on Malta during the German and Italian bombardments of WWII. Rocco quickly learns he cannot escape the enchantment of the island, it's charismatic people and the love he feels for Melita. Rinaldi weaves history with stories of perserverence and will, providing a humorous and fantastical account of the human spirit in times of war. Through the lunacy of the constant bombing, servicemen like Fingerly hoard tidbits of Maltese history-Dragut's dagger, a one hundred pound suit of armor and mummies from Egypt. I loved this book, it's timeless characters and prescient storytelling!

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Summary: Humor in wartime.
Review: This was a light-hearted humorous story about Malta during the Second World War. Nicholas Rinaldi successfully moved the reader through a number of quirky characters whose motivations were shaped by the uncertainty of the war. There was an addicted gambler, a clumsy pilot and of course Melita the heroine - a spontaneous beautiful Maltese who captured Rocco Raven's heart - the stranded American soldier whose devotion to duty became an obstacle to his relationship with the heroine.
The book is funny and it brought out the chaos and the craziness of war amidst the resilience and the resourcefulness of the Maltese, the expatriate business people and the military personnel that defended the island.
The writer gave the reader an excellent description of nightlife in Malta, which was incomplete without good food and various American wartime music. And one got an overview aerial combat in Rinaldi's depiction of warplanes that constantly pounded the island with bombs.
The writer, I believe, tried too hard to mimic Catch-22 by the late Joseph Heller, who incidentally wrote praises that the publisher placed on the jacket of the hardcover. While I would put Catch-22 and Rinaldi's book in same class, I would place The Jukebox Queen of Malta a couple of rungs below Heller's masterpiece.