Attack at Night

Military historian Jackson ( Fighter! ; Air Heroes of World War II ) tries his hand at fiction here and will probably please only WW II action-adventure die-hards. In early 1944, the Nazis have developed devastating new airplane-launched rockets, threatening a vital Allied convoy en route to Italy. Some crack British commandos of Special Air Services are flown behind enemy lines in the south of France. Capt. Callum Douglas's team is directed to take out the German aircraft at a secret base in the Camargue. His foes are not just Nazis but also the brutal French collaborationist Milice. This adventure might have worked as a much shorter story, but it's padded with cliches, clunky constructions and dull, predictable characters. The descriptions of weaponry, on the other hand, are authentically detailed. (Apr.)