An ace minus one

When fourteen-year-old jack elliot flees minnesota after killing a man in a whorehouse, he never expects to find himself in france, hunkered down in a trench as world war i rages around him. ever resilient, jack transitions from an ambulance driver at verdun to become one of the few american volunteers to fly in a french fighter squadron. jousting with german aces in flimsy wood and canvas "aeroplanes" during the day is hard enough for the inexperienced jack without the additional pressure of having to match the bacchanalian excesses of his squadron mates at night, all while staying one step ahead of his past. but jack figures that if he can shoot down five germans and attain the coveted "ace" status, all his troubles will be over. set over the battlefields of europe and the vast deserts of north africa, an ace minus one is authentic in its depictions of early aviation and the colorful men and women who made this period one of the most exciting in history.