A Kirkus Reviews Best Book of 2025.

“It seems odd to call a World War II novel ‘delightful,’ but that’s exactly what you get with O'Connor's mix of history and fiction.” — Kirkus Starred Review

Show-business dropout Jim Tanzer shouldn’t be in the Army at all—let alone in the freezing Ardennes in December 1944. He’s old for a private and could have stayed home on a fatherhood deferment. His wife is furious he enlisted—and won’t answer his letters. Now he’s about to trade his dance pumps for hand grenades.

Jim is in the Morale Corps, assigned to Corporal Mickey Rooney’s Jeep show squad—entertaining front-line troops where the USO won’t go. Risky duty, but not as risky as combat—until the morning Jim witnesses the opening act of the German counterattack that would become the Battle of the Bulge.

Ordered to carry a captured map back to VIII Corps Headquarters, Jim must stay ahead of rampaging SS divisions—and avoid being shot by his own jittery sentries. Three days later, supporting the exhausted 101st Airborne at Bastogne, Jim’s odds of surviving shrink by the hour—then General McAuliffe orders a Christmas Day mission that becomes Jim’s ultimate test.

Sure, his marriage—and all his troubles—will be over if he’s KIA. But what if he’s captured? What if he runs?

The show must go on, but how long can Jim hold off the final curtain?

Based on true events, Jeep Show brings to life the little-known enlisted entertainers (MOS 442) who risked their lives to lift spirits at the front. Rich with historical detail and dark humor, it’s a funny, poignant, and unforgettable story of the grit and morale that won WWII.