It's World War II and the US military has come up with a plan: Select twelve military prisoners, some slated to be executed, and train them in behind-the-lines operations and sneak them into Europe to wreak havoc on the Nazi war machine. The man in charge of training these prisoners is Captain John Reisman, a man with an extensive military and mercenary experience. His job is to turn these thugs, murderers, rapists and thieves into the reliable and trustworthy soldiers they never were. His method involves rigorous physical training and gradually gaining their trust. He helped in this task by a young lieutenant whose specialty is psychological warfare.
What a disappointment this book was! I was expecting a story of a group of reformed villains, working together to sabotage the German war effort. Instead, 97% of the book is about Reisman's training of these criminals. Their secret mission only takes up about 15 pages at the end of the book. I kept reading and kept reading and I was getting puzzled as to when the story of the mission would appear. True, it was interesting reading about the prisoners being trained. But 500 pages of it? Too much! The story I wanted was just a footnote to the rest of it.
Here is a review by Kirkus Reviews from 1965.
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