BookTowne Welcomes Best Selling Author Bob Drury at Rella's Italian Tavern

Join us in welcoming best selling author, Bob Drury, to discuss and celebrate his new book, The Phantom, at Rella's Italian Tavern This event will take place at Rella's Italian Tavern in Brielle, NJ. Open bar and light refreshments will be served. Each ticket receives a signed copy of the book. The first 40 tickets will receive a free paperback copy of another Drury bestseller! ABOUT THE BOOK Soldier, spy, scout, saboteur, and French Resistance leader in the heart of Nazi-occupied Europe--the untold story of Marine legend Pete Ortiz. Major Pierre “Pete” Ortiz was a Manhattan-born and Paris-educated polymath fluent in five languages. An adventuresome French Foreign Legion veteran specifically recruited by "Wild" Bill Donovan’s Office of Strategic Services (the precursor to both the CIA and U.S. Special Forces) upon his enlistment in the Marines, Ortiz was the officer “Wild Bill” instinctively knew he needed and could rely on to complete a string of clandestine missions. While recuperating from gunshot wounds received during a behind-the-lines excursion into enemy-held North Africa, Ortiz delivered his After-Action Report directly to Donovan in Washington. After reading it, “Wild Bill” scrawled across the top of the report: “Please re-employ this man as soon as possible.” Ortiz’s handlers heeded Donovan’s request. Within a year Ortiz was surreptitiously parachuted into the Haute Savoie region of Occupied France, where he made contact with the resistance fighters who called themselves Maquisards. By the time he retired as a United States Marine Corps colonel, he received two Navy Crosses for extraordinary heroism in World War II. He was one of the very few U.S. Marines to serve in combat in Europe during World War II, and one of the most decorated Marine officers of the war. ABOUT THE AUTHOR BOB DRURY, the recipient of several national journalism awards, is a three-time National Magazine Award finalist as well as a Pulitzer Prize nominee. Drury honed his investigative skills writing for all four New York City newspapers as well as a variety of national publications. His journalism career has arced from sports to crime to adventure travel to foreign correspondence. He is also the author, co-author, or editor of more than ten non-fiction books, including Blood and Treasure, Valley Forge, and Lucky 666.