Billy Boyle: A World War II Mystery by James R Benn

What’s a twenty-two-year-old Irish American cop who’s never been out of Massa-chusetts before doing at Beardsley Hall, an English country house, having lunch with King Haakon of Norway? Billy Boyle himself wonders. Back home in Southie, he’d barely made detective when war was declared. Unwilling to fight—and perhaps die—for England, he was relieved when his mother wangled a job for him on the staff of a general married to her distant cousin. But the general turns out to be Dwight D. Eisenhower, whose headquarters are in London, which is undergoing the Blitz. And Uncle Ike wants Billy to be his personal investigator.

Billy is dispatched to the seat of the Norwegian government in exile. Operation Jupiter, the impending invasion of Norway, is being planned, but it is feared that there is a German spy amongst the Norwegians. Billy doubts his own abilities, with good reason. A theft and two murders test his investigative powers, but Billy proves to be a better detective than he or anyone else expected.

“This book has got it all—an instant classic.”—Lee Child, author of The Hard Way
“It is a pleasure marching off to war with the spirited Billy Boyle. He is a charmer, richly imagined and vividly rendered, and he tells a finely suspenseful yarn.”—Dan Fesperman, author of The Prisoner of Guantanamo

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Editorial Review

From Publishers Weekly
A promising premise—placing a callow Boston police officer in the midst of WWII intrigue—isn't fully realized in this first of a new historical series from Benn (Desperate Ground). Soon after Pearl Harbor, Billy Boyle escapes a combat tour because his Southie family pulls strings to place him on the staff of a distant relative by marriage, a general named Dwight Eisenhower, whom Billy calls "Uncle Ike." Billy's untried detective skills are soon put to the test in London, where he's assigned to unmask a spy who may compromise Allied plans to drive the Nazis out of Norway. When one of the chief suspects turns up dead, an apparent suicide, Billy displays a knack for forensics as he uncovers medical anomalies that suggest homicide. Hopefully, Uncle Ike will have more to do in future installments—and Benn will introduce the sort of character complexity that distinguishes, say, Charles Todd's WWI-era psychological whodunits (A Long Shadow, etc.) or PBS TV's Foyle's War, which also involves murder investigations during WWII. (Sept.)
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From Booklist
Billy Boyle is a Boston cop, from a family of Boston cops, but he is a reluctant soldier who prefers walking the beat in Southie to fighting Nazis. Using her cousin by marriage, a certain General Eisenhower, Billy's mother lands her son a seemingly soft job with Ike's staff in London. But Ike wants Billy to use his investigative know-how to sniff out a possible spy in the Allies' inner circle. Young Billy, oversold by his mother as a crackerjack detective, is definitely in over his head, especially when it turns out that the apparent suicide of a Norwegian dignitary may have been the work of the spy. Benn has a tantalizing premise here, but he doesn't quite deliver on it: his prose slips into wartime cliches a little too often, and the supporting love story reeks of WWII melodrama. Yet the action builds to a suspenseful climax, and there is even a hint of moral ambiguity in the wrap-up. A not entirely satisfactory debut, then, but Ken Follett fans will want to give Billy and his uncle a chance to develop. Bill Ott
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

Review
"A meaty, old-fashioned and thoroughly enjoyable tale." -- Seattle Times, October 8, 2006
"A memorable debut.... It's fun to watch Average-Joe Billy realize his talent and intelligence." -- Bookpage, September 2006
"Benn crafts a crackling good adventure, with much flavorsome period color…" -- Kirkus Reviews, June 1, 2006
"Benn provides ... appealing characters, spices the narrative with romance and emotion, and ruminates about the consequences of actions..." -- Library Journal, July 2006
"Engaging.... The World War II atmosphere and history are expertly handled." -- Denver Post, September 2, 2006
"Great fun. Benn knows his war history.... A batch of intriguing characters who seem destined to make another appearance." -- Toronto Globe & Mail, September 17, 2006

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About the Author

Tim LaHaye is The New York Times bestselling author of more than 70 nonfiction books, many on biblical prophecy and End times, and is the coauthor of the record-shattering Left Behind Series. He is considered one of America's foremost authorities on biblical end times prophecy.

Craig Parshall serves as senior vice-president and general counsel for the National Religious Broadcasters and has authored seven bestseller suspense novels.

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Book

Tittle	:	Billy Boyle: A World War II Mystery
Author	:	James R. Benn
Language	:	English
Buy the Book	:	Billy Boyle (Billy Boyle Ww2 Mystery 1) by James R. Benn
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