The First Wave

Excellent historical mystery. Skillfully conjures up the 1942 North African campaign so vibrantly that you feel you’re in the thick of it. Full of vivid description; sights & sounds, smells, etc., creating a visceral, realistic backdrop for the story.

I’m not usually a mystery fan, but the best mysteries are much more than just mysteries, in which the mystery itself becomes merely a generic structural framework upon which a great story & great characters are built. This is one of those fine historical mysteries that transcends the mystery genre to become a rich historical experience that helps one understand past events. It takes history out of the textbooks & makes it as exciting & entertaining as a first-rate movie.

This second installment in the Billy Boyle World War II mysteries is a phenomenally well written, well researched, and exciting trip back into time. Author James R. Benn has enormous descriptive powers and he brings them fully to bear on exciting details of battle, of life and death, love and betrayal and, above all, ultimate justice. Billy, Kaz and Harding are in Algiers to join the sympathetic French forces there. Billy is focused on rescuing Diane, who has been captured by the evil German sympathizer Villette. While searching for her, several murders occur in the hospital where Kaz has been taken following an injury, and Billy is assigned to solve them. He attempts to find the murderer while simultaneously searching for Diane and uncovers a huge smuggling ring in the process. This exciting mystery is set as war and conflict constantly invade and batter Billy and Kaz. The war is an incredible, escalating backdrop to this compelling story. In short, this is a wonderful book, and I highly recommend it.

Okay, I admit, I am absolutely hooked on this series. What is a senior-citizen great grandmother doing reading about a fictional character in WWII? The answer is that this is the most pleasurable way to learn about history I can imagine. Since WWII had so many diverse battlefronts, Benn did his research on each battlefront and plunked “Billy” in the middle. He lets Billy meet historical figures and keeps the action humming. Billy’s love interest provides another thread of suspense because the reader is hoping Billy and Diana will survive and get together in the end. To my limited knowledge, not many books have been set in this particular battlefront and it gave me a much better understanding of the complexities of the Allies’ situation in North Africa. You don’t have to be an inquisitive old “granny” to enjoy this.

Billy Boyle is on his way to North Africa to assist in some undercover negotiations between the Vichy government of Algeria and the US forces about to invade North Africa. Things don’t go well, and Billy and Major Sam Harding are quickly embroiled in local politics, the theft of supplies at a quickly-established Army hospital in Algiers, the these of medical supplies–including most of the penicillin in the world, the disappearance of a large number of French-Algerian opponents of Vichy (and of Billy’s love, Diane, who is there as an OSS operative). The plot is extraordinarily complex, and completely believable. The situation is well-established; it’s quite easy to believe both that these events could easily have occurred and that the people involved would act and react as they do in the book. Billy’s background on the Boston PD serves him well, and he displays growing skills as an investigator. The ending is both moving and authentic. It’s a good thing there are more books in the series. Because I would hate to have to wait in order to read them.

Fantastic book. Mr Benn is a terrific writer. His use of words is magnificent. I really enjoyed the story. Billy is a very interesting character, as are the rest of the cast. I very much look forward to finding more about everyone. Highly recommended.

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