Hold Strong

A Novel

De: Robert Dugoni, Jeff Langholz, Chris Crabtree

Narrado por: Will Damron

From Robert Dugoni, Jeff Langholz, and Chris Crabtree comes an epic and inspiring novel—based on true events—about love, heroism, and resilience during the darkest chapters of World War II.

Sam Carlson is a projectionist in small-town Minnesota, where fantasies unspool in glorious black and white—for him and for his sweetheart, college-bound math whiz Sarah Haber. When the Japanese bomb Pearl Harbor, Sam is sent to the Philippines and captured as a POW. Brutalized but unbroken by the Bataan Death March and POW camps, Sam is one of eighteen hundred starved and weakened prisoners herded into the cargo hold of a barbaric hell ship called the Arisan Maru, his survival doubtful.

Determined to use her math skills on the home front, Sarah is recruited to Washington, DC, into the covert field of code breaking. When Sarah intercepts a message about a Japanese convoy, the US Navy’s mission is clear: sink the Arisan Maru and send it to the bottom of the South China Sea. Now, the lives of the two young lovers are about to inadvertently collide in one of the most shocking acts of World War II.

Anchored in an extraordinary true story and breathlessly re-created, Hold Strong is a one-of-a-kind novel that explores faith, courage, survival, and coming home against insurmountable odds.

©2025 La Mesa Fiction, LLC, Jeff A. Langholz, and Chris Adam Crabtree. (P)2024 Brilliance Publishing, Inc., all rights reserved.

Reseñas de la Crítica

“This book is hard to put down.”—Historical Novels Review

“Though these gruesome aspects of war aren’t often easy to portray in novels and historical fiction, Hold Strong, by the trio of researchers and writers Robert Dugoni, Jeff Langholz, and Chris Crabtree, has achieved the unachievable. It does so with their cast of strong characters backed by their meticulous research.”—The Epoch Times

“Something straight out of a Tom Clancy novel, with submarines and secret codes and war-altering decisions made at heavy cost. It’s thrilling stuff, made all the more so by its grounding in history.”—Rob Merrill, Associated Press

Historically Grounded, Amazing Book

WOW! An incredible story, beautifully told. While it is Historical Fiction, it is grounded in historical accuracy. Highly recommend!

Reality of war

Honest view provided of the challenges encountered in war and how those challenges are met.

Moving and Compeeling Story

Excellent book and performance. Robert Dugoni knows how to tell a story and this one is excellent. Dugoni tells the compelling story of POWs in the Pacific, their horrific treatment, and the sacrifices they gave for our freedom. The story also tells of women who serve our country during WW II - a story rarely told but so important.
The audible performance is excellent.

Riveting reality

This story is told simply, without unnecessary dramatics, which makes it all the more compelling.

moved quickly but engaging

well written and well paced story of love war and tragedy mired in World War 2. this book can trigger strong emotions and if inclined to traumatic PTSD could be a trigger but really well written

Fantastic

Wasn’t expecting this to be a wwll book. I bought it w/o reading plot. I love RD books so I was expecting it to be a thriller. How ever it caught my interest right away. I like to listen to this era in time. It kind of reminded me a little of Unbreakable by Laura hilldetbrant

Great book!

I enjoyed the history lesson and story line. It was great! Anyone who loves WWII book will enjoy the novel.

Read this now! Don’t wait!!

Wow. This book was not what I was expecting and my heart almost broke so many times while reading it. This book is about a young couple who had dreams of a future, hers of going to college and becoming a teacher and his of being her husband. Her parents wanted her to find a doctor or lawyer and to keep an open mind, but all she loved was Sam. Sam’s parents were struggling during the Great Depression. He went to the National Guard with dreams of buying back his families farm that they had lost. 3 and a half years later as he was almost done with his contract and as she was ready for marriage, their lives changed forever. Sam becomes a prisoner of war and when teaching isn’t enough Sarah secretly becomes a code breaker for the government where she meets a man that falls in love with her. Can she love him or does she only have a heart for Sam…and will Sam even survive? This book was so worth the read. I would read it again! Highly, highly recommend.

Hero’s from the past

Powerful, educational, moving. We must never forget and always study and learn from the past

Amazing production

Life is always truer than fiction and those brave men should always be remembered throughout history.