Hanging on

Koontz's first try at a genre other than sci-fi. Comedy set against the background of WWII.It all began when Major Kelly's Army engineers were dropped into Nazi-occupied France and ordered to keep a bridge open until the Allies arrived.Except the mission was a secret and nobody knew they were there -- nobody except the Luftwaffe, which kept bombing the bridge ... which meant the GI's kept rebuilding it ... which meant the Luftwaffe kept bombing it ...Which meant the tension was doing funny things to Major Kelly's men's minds ... which meant anything could happen --AND YOU CAN BET YOUR LAST C-RATION IT DID! "Imagine a company of misfit GIs being dropped into Nazi-occupied France by an ambitious--but slightly crackpot--general who orders them to keep a bridge open until the Allies arrive from the beaches at Normandy. Imagine the demented mission is a secret, so nobody else knows they're there--except for the Luftwaffe, which keeps bombing the bridge. The GIs keep rebuilding it. The Luftwaffe keeps bombing it. They're trapped. All they can do is hang on. The tension just might begin to do funny things to their minds. That's what happens to the Army engineers under the command of Major Kelly. And Kelly has his problems. Pvt. Angelli has fallen in love with Nurse Pullit--who used to be Pvt. Pullit until he started appearing at the hospital bunker in drag. Sgt. Hagendorf has climbed into a coffin and won't come out, declaring himself already dead. Lily, a sexy stripper left behind by a USO roadshow, has been producing noisy solo orgasms that keep the sex-starved troops from getting their necessary slumber. Then there's Lt. Slade an inept assassin, who wants to kill Kelly and take over command. To hang on, Kelly lives in a kind of terrified serenity: "This is all a fairytale," he says, "modest in color but grand in design." Finally, Kelly learns that a German tank division is racing toward the bridge. He has six days to construct an authentic French village in which to hide himself and his men. And the whole world is coming down around his ears. Hangin On is one of the most entertaining novels in years--a big, suspenseful, funny novel of men and women caught up in the absurdity of World War II."--Dust jacket flap Copyright 1973, published by a small press publisher M. Evans and Company, First edition with full 1-9 line. There was never a second printing or a book club printing. Original price was $6.95.