CODE NAME SONNY is a movie waiting to be made. It is difficult to believe that this is a first book by K.E. ‘Ken’ Pottie because it so successfully captures the reader’s interest from the first page to the last. It is told in two tracks – the factual events in 1942 – 1944 and the modern day year 2000 fictional events of the aftermath of the lead character of the book. And in a note from the author it is made clear that ‘code name Sonny’ was not the real code name for the author’s father (Joe) but instead Sonny was the nickname the author’s grandfather used for Joe (the true code name remains a secret to this day). It is this mixture of a true story about the author’s father concerning events that happened in WW II brought up to date to the year 2000 in a way that allows the reader to feel involved in the depth of secrecy of the underground forces and offers a resolution of sorts to a life long puzzle. The author basically alters chapters between the war and the present and in doing so he creates fully developed characters with whom we all can relate.
1942: Joe and his friend Raymond live in New England in a town where all of the able men are off in the military. They are close friends but Joe longs for action: his two older brothers are already serving in the military and his mother forbids him to enlist. Because of Joe’s fluency in French (his mother is French Canadian) and his knowledge of radio workings he gains the attention of the National Guard and is offered a secret mission to help the war effort. Joe accepts the opportunity, telling his parents that he is only going to a camp, but soon it is made clear that a larger assignment is in mind. Joe is soon off on a secret mission to England and then France, assigned a code name (Sonny) and with a French girl ‘Marie’ and a Spaniard ‘Sergio’ the triad is trained by Major Smythe to transmit and intercept radio messages to confuse the way in which the Germans make plans for the Allied invasion of France. The three young people are introduced to the French Resistance, trained by Henri, sheltered, and secretly pass radio parts to the French resistance. Of course the ever present Nazis discover the plot, terrible war crimes ensue, Sonny becomes close friends with Charlene, a child left without parents who are murdered by the Nazis in front of her, and the underground operations of Sonny, Marie, and Sergio make strange mutations. Something happens that Sonny will retain as a secret forever – almost.
Meanwhile in the year 2000, Jack, the son of Joe/Sonny, discovers some facts about his father’s war efforts at an Elk’s Club party, facts that are based on the secret his father has always harbored. Some inexplicable murders occur, a traveling woman speaker passes through town and it is from this point that the tension builds to a level that connects all the dots of the secret with the people from the past and the present. It is this transition between fact and fiction that makes the book a fascinating read.
Pottie’s narrative abilities are excellent. He is unafraid to use French phrases when needed without translation, a bow to the dignity of the reader. He keeps the dialog embedded in the narration of the story in a manner that aids the flow of the unraveling sequences, and he successfully creates a contemporary situation based on his own life experiences that serve as the author’s way of explaining the secrets that war tattoos on the minds of veterans. Few writers have described the French underground resistance is so real a manner. This is a strong book and one that hopefully will become a film.
