It is the summer of 1940 and in Europe the time of Blitzkrieg. John Howard, a 70-year-old Englishman vacationing in France, cuts short his tour and heads for home. He agrees to take two children with him.

But war closes in. Trains fail, roads clog with refugees. And if things were not difficult enough, other children join in Howard's little band. At last, they reach the coast and find not deliverance but desperation. The old Englishman's greatest test lies ahead of him.

Pied Piper is set in Nazi-occupied France during World War II. The story follows John Howard, an elderly Englishman who is on holiday in France when the war breaks out. He decides to help evacuate several children to safety in England, but as he journeys through the countryside with the children, he faces many dangers and challenges. Along the way, he meets various people who are also trying to escape the war, and he forms deep bonds with the children in his care. Ultimately, John's determination and kindness help him and the children to reach safety, but not without facing difficult decisions and heart-wrenching losses. The novel is a moving portrayal of the human cost of war and the resilience of the human spirit.