The First Wave

All’s Fair in Love and War

Once again our Boston city cop turned World War II Private Investigator is thrown into the fray as bullets fly, bombs drop, and murder and mayhem toss Billy Boyle into the fires of chaos. Just back from a skirmish in Norway, his uncle General Ike Eisenhower hands Billy his second mission, allowing him a not so scenic tour of exotic Algiers. This version of the Kasbah was not what Billy had envisioned.

Arriving on desert shores with the First Wave of American troops, Billy and his commanding officer Major Sam Harding, immediately encounter a barrage of submachine guns pelleting them with lead that falls like rain. Greeted by both enemies and allies, Billy and Sam scamper off the beach into town, finding show more headquarters at a hospital outpost. They are there to assist Algiers and convince France to join the British Allies to fight against the Germans, but the Vichy French have agendas of their own and all is not as it should be among the world of sand and palm trees.

Not even an evening passes before the heat gets turned up and Billy is forced to play detective. Two murders, a drug heist, and his beloved Diana, who is an undercover special operative agent, gets kidnapped by an sadistic French officer taking prisoners for ransom.

This second installment brings the reader a volatile, high octane historical adventure mystery packed with blood curdling action, World War II history, romance, humor and a complex murder plot to rival any of the other top Noir style mystery novels. James Benn is a top-notch writer who has the talent to pull it all together with a blend of ingredients that can only win. With loveable characters you can do nothing but root for, and pages that turn for the reader like wildfire, I doubt any avid reader could put the Billy Boyle series down. High praise all around for a series that has it all, 5 stars for James Benn. His hero is handsome, his hero is brave, now if he can only manage to get the girl! Well, he does get her, but somehow keeps losing her….. Fabulous second installment to this addictive new series! show less

The second in the Billy Boyle series. Billy handles everything required of him but there is no doubt he would prefer to be back in his job as a Boston cop, patrolling the beat while twirling his baton. He was elevated to detective with family assistance and then made army lieutenant because of his distant family connection to the Eisenhowers. The story in Algeria involves the illegal activity surrounding the brand new, highly-prized penicillin. There are serious issues here including murder, rape and torture that came across as incongruous with light-hearted Billy, a character that would fit well at the “cozy” end of the mystery genre.

Billy Boyle was a newly-minted detective on the Boston police force when World War II broke out. He made detective because his father and uncle "took care of him" by making sure he knew the answers to the exam in advance. His Irish-American family isn't excited about fighting on the side of England, but a family connection to Mamie Eisenhower gets him what they think will be a cushy office job. Then Ike goes to Europe and Billy goes along as his top-secret investigator. This is the second book in the series, in which LT. Boyle, his Polish friend Kaz, and his superior, Maj. Sam Harding, are in on the Allied invasion of Vichy Algeria. Billy learns that his special ops girlfriend Diana has been captured in an abortive student uprising, and show more he also finds some skulduggery going on with penicillin and other drug supplies in an American hospital. Billy has actually learned something from his time in Boston, so his investigation proceeds. But he's learning much more from the war -- he's finding that he does have a moral center. I look forward to more episodes in Billy Boyle's war service. show less

Plot was fine, characters a bit cliched, but appropriate for this type of book. The central plot device of rape and torture of what was supposed to be a strong female character ruined it for me. In a book I’m reading solely for entertainment, I can do without rape and torture

Benn has written a great second novel in the army life of Lt. Billy Boyle. A mix of historical fiction/mystery, The First Wave takes the action to a WWII front I wasn't very familiar with, in Northern Africa. The Vichy French hold Algiers and the army is going to try to cut a deal to fight the Germans in Africa with them. It was an engrossing book, with drug smuggling, murder, and kidnapping to keep Billy and his returning side kick Kaz, busy.

Billy gets involved with murder and theft at a hospital in Algiers during the war. Smuggling, theft, all kinds of crime don't seem to stop during a war. It's up to Billy to find the culprits. In the meantime, Diana and a bunch of SEO are kidnapped and it weighs heavy on Billy's mind, but it isn't his main mission. Will he be able to find Diana and the culprits without being killed? This was another good story in the Billy Boyle series though the beginning was a little slow.

This is a good light read. The ending to the mystery about the traitor is a surprise and all the bad guys get their just desserts. I'm looking forward to the next one in the series.