Book Review: The Last Assignment - Erika Robuck

  

 I received an eARC of this book from NetGalley and the publisher, for which I thank them.

“The Last Assignment” is a historical fiction book by Erika Robuck. I will admit, I’d never heard of Dickey Chapelle before - no reason I should’ve known about her, but wow do I wish I had heard of her before reading this book. Ms. Chapelle lead a very interesting life - from covering the end of WWII through conflicts in Europe to going to Cuba to cover the rebels (Castro brothers & Che) to reporting and photographing the early(ish) years of the Vietnam War. Ms. Chapelle was a correspondent, photographer and writer - not always publishing her work (due to her editors thinking some of her photos were too graphic - though sometimes the military did keep her photos for their records). This book was well written - engaging from about the beginning - and well researched - I did like where Ms. Robuck explained where she condensed things, changed timelines for a better fit, and gave her resources. I’ve recommended this book already to two people. If you liked “The Women” (Kristin Hannah’s book), you may want to read this one as a companion book (though the two books are very different in what they cover). A strong recommend to read from me and this is one book I'd read again, thus the five star rating.