Swiss Information – Tourism & Products

Major Swiss Newspapers

In his time investigating crimes for both the Boston cops and General Ike's European forces, Lieutenant Billy Boyle hasn't encountered a serial killer. But now it looks like he may--a serial killer with a in particular horrendous agenda.

Two officers from the American troops stationed in Caserta, Italy, not far from Naples, have been found murdered. Lieutenant Norman Landry was found behind a supply tent with his neck snapped. Captain Max Galante, MD, was strangled on the same night, and his body left in a garden outside HQ. The MOs are altogether different, and it seems like the officers had no connection to each other, but one horrendous fact links the murders: each body was ran into with a single playing card: the Lieutenant, the ten of hearts; the Captain, the jack of hearts. The message seems to be clear--if the murderer isn't apprehended, the higher ranks will be next.
 
Billy is sent to Italy for the investigation, which grows growingly sinister. But he has other things on his mind, too. His girlfriend, Diana, is on a very dangerous spy mission, and Billy doesn't recognise when--or if--he'll see her again. To make matters worse, Billy's just learned that his baby brother, Danny, is being sent over to Europe as an infantry replacement, an fabulously dangerous assignment. And all around him, he sees GIs suffering from combat fatigue preparing for another battle. As the invasion at Anzio begins, Billy needs to keep a cool head among fear and terror as the killer calculates his next moves.

ReviewAuthor One-on-One: James R. Benn and Hank Phillippi Ryan

Hank Phillippi Ryan: Quick! Elevator pitch. What's your new book about?

James R. Benn: The sacrifices that dedication demands. For Billy, it’s personal: his kid brother experiences war as an infantry replacement, and he has to deal with his natural protective instinct. For other characters, the sacrifices are life, limb, and spirit as GIs who have been in battle for months are thrown into the ill-conceived Anzio invasion, while a murderer stalks American officers.

Two officers from troops stationed near Naples, Italy, have been found dead. The primary was a lieutenant, found behind a supply tent with his neck snapped. The body of a captain, strangled on the same night, was left in an graceful garden. One exceptionally bad or displeasing fact links the murders: each body was came across with a single playing card. The ten of hearts with the lieutenant; the jack of hearts with the captain.

Ryan: Oh, tell me more!

Benn: The fear amongst officers at headquarters is that a crazed killer is working on a royal flush, with a standard aimed as the ace of hearts. Billy is sent to stop the murders before they go any further and interfere with the upcoming invasion south of Rome. But he has more to worry about; his kid brother Danny has been drafted to the platoon Billy is investigating. While Billy knows his brother wants to prove himself, he's also well conscious that the lifetime of a front-line infantry alternate is measured in days or even hours of combat. With the added pressure of a murderer lurking nearby, Billy has to find a way to protect Danny's life, a daunting prospect on the battleground of the Anzio Beachhead.

Ryan: So what with regards to Billy Boyle? Where did you original "meet" him? How did you come to recognise him? What with regards to him endears him to you?

Benn: I had a hint of Billy in 1972 when I watched The Godfather. In the opening wedding scene, which takes place in 1945, Michael is in his Marine uniform, a highly prettified veteran, and he’s practically ignored. The Corleone family didn’t value service to country, only family, and I wondered, what would it have been like if Sonny was the one who had to go into the service? I promptly did not one thing with that idea for thirty years. When I was ready, it was the Boston Irish, not Sicilians, who gave birth to Billy. He arrived one day, completely formed and named, with a finish backstory. Instead of the Mafia, his family is organized around the Irish Republican Army and Boston Police Department, where promotions are handed out based on connections and family loyalties. Just as he was made Detective, the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor and Billy had to go to war. As far as the Boyles viewed things, no one had attacked Boston or Ireland; they saw no value in another war to help rescue the hated British Empire. They cook up a plan to have him serve out the war safely in Washington DC on the staff of a distant relative, an unknown usual named Eisenhower. Things don't work out the way they planned.

Ryan: Love it. And it’s always so revealing to listen where the initial nugget of an idea comes from. And why your brain plucks it out of the universe, and comprehends instantaneously that it’s the beginning of everything. I get goose bumps, sometimes, thinking of it. This book turned out to be with regards to combat fatigue, right? Why did you choose that element?

Benn: Because of a friend who's a state trooper. He was involved in two shootings, and was forced to kill his assailant each time. I saw how bravely he dealt with Post-Traumatic Stress Syndrome, and that got me fascinated in what things were like for servicemen for the duration of World War II. It seems that in each war--starting with the Civil War, when it was called Soldier's Heart--we learn regarding the effects of violence on soldiers and then promptly forget when it comes to it before the next war. As late as 1944, army divisions in Italy did not have a single psychiatrist on their medical staffs. Today, we see the same struggles with PTSD in Iraq and Afghanistan, and lately with the proper diagnosis of Mild Traumatic Brain Injury from roadside bomb concussions.

Ryan: This is book six in your Billy Boyle series. Is it necessary to read them in order? Why? How has Billy changed over the books?

Benn: No, it isn't necessary. There is a narrative arc concerning Billy and his English lover Diana Seaton, but that doesn't interfere with reading them out of order. Each book stands alone in terms of the story.

I think Billy has changed, in that the war has hardened him. He's suffered, and I think he's lost a good deal of of the innocence he had in the initial book. But that's natural and rather necessary. This isn't Hogan's Heroes.

Ryan: What do you want your readers to comprehend or realize when they finish the last chapter?

Benn: The price is high. And thank God we have men and women who are more than willing to compensate it. That evil is all around us and hides within the places where fear causes us to look away. And that Billy has paid a price for his decision--but wait, I don't want to give that part away!

ReviewBenn does a masterful occupation of interlacing fiction and history...this nail-biting mystery...paints a picture so bright that the reader can't aid but be swept up in the action....sure to send new readers scrambling to catch up on the series, and eagerly awaiting the next installment! - The LA Examiner

“A fast-paced saga set in a amount of time when the fate of civilization still hangs in the balance."—Wall Street Journal

"Captivating.... Benn does a superb occupation of simultaneously capturing the personal anguish of war and creating a splendid adventure novel."—Library Journal, Starred Review

“Solid wartime adventure, well grounded in historical detail, and boasting a challenging mystery to boot.”—Booklist

“A thrilling, fast-paced book, a outstanding yarn marvelously told. The mystery ploy is top notch with the ‘who,’ ‘why,’ and ‘how’ distinct features of the murders as puzzling and suspenseful as anybody could wish…Author Benn skillfully mixes the mystery of the murders and the violence of the war into one fantastic, satisfying whole. If you haven't already been hooked by this series, this book will do it and have you reaching back for the former five.”—Mystery Scene

Praise for the Billy Boyle series:

"Spirited wartime storytelling."—The New York Times Book Review

"An instant classic."—Lee Child, Gone Tomorrow

"What a outstanding read, full of action, humor and heart."—Louise Penny, Still Life

"Terrific.... Razor sharp."—Joseph Finder, Vanished

About the AuthorJames R. Benn is the author of five former book in the Billy Boyle series: Billy Boyle, The First Wave, Blood Alone, Evil for Evil, and Rag & Bone. He has been a librarian for a lot of years. He lives in Hadlyme, Connecticut.

Most helpful client reviews

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful.
delightful WWII mystery, steeped in historical detail
By Pat Loftfjeld
Another great installment in the Billy Boyle series (detective series featuring a young Boston cop-turned-US Army Lieutenant who is sent to Europe for the duration of WWII to act as General Ike's personal investigator). In this mystery, Billy Boyle has to find a serial killer amidst the troops stationed in Caserta, Italy, in the days just before the battle of Anzio. Benn tackles the idea (as staged by one of the Army doctors) that, over prolonged exposure to combat, 98% of men will develop acute sensations or changes of combat fatigue (or what we would call PTSD). The other 2% would be sociopaths. At this late stage in the war, as Benn depicts it, the troops are no longer fresh; they have been fighting for months, have seen comrades taken down, and (almost throughout the board) are suffering from what they've seen. This web of fatigue has become a playground for one soldier who has NOT been affected by the horrors of war, and who may now take revenge on his resentments with impunity.

The mystery constituents are unquestionably capable and interesting, but for me the book genuinely shines in it is wartime storytelling. Benn recreates the stress (and now and then insanity) of being a soldier in a way I found altogether believable and empathetic.

5 of 5 persons found the following review helpful.
Superb series...
By Jill Meyer
James Benn, a librarian from Connecticut, is the author of the "Billy Boyle" WW2 series. Six books are in the series, and "A Mortal Terror", is the latest book. I mention all this because Benn is an anomaly of sorts; the author of a series of books where the quality of writing of both plot and characters has bettered steadily with each new book. When I look at other series books over time, I ofttimes have the sentiment that the author has run out of things to say or has lost interest in his or her characters. Or that the writing has become closely "rote". Sometimes cited writers "coast" on their well-established series until either finish ennui has taken over or a publisher explains that sales are flagging and it might be time to move on to a new reputation or a new plot line. James Benn, on the other hand, has systematically found new plots in which to implicate Lt Billy Boyle and has continually modern the lives of his characters.

Billy Boyle is a Boston cop from a long line of Boston cops, with a few Boston firefighters thrown in the mix to keep the Boyle family interesting. He joins the Army when the US enters the war and his father, not wanting his son to be in too much danger, arranges through influential friends in Washington to have Billy join the staff of a frequent who is married to Billy's aunt. Now, since the aunt's maiden name is "Doud", you might be competent to guess who her husband, the general, is. Billy becomes Eisenhower's "personal cop" and is ofttimes sent by the general to handle perhaps "delicate" criminal matters. In the series, Billy has operated in England, North Africa, and now, Italy. Sent to southern Italy in early 1944 to investigate a bizarre series of murders of US officers, Billy is caught up in the Allied attacks at Anzio beach.

I'm a reader who reads-to-learn. I genuinely read more non-fiction than fiction, but I always take delight in fiction which has an historical basis. And Benn's books provide the reader with the chance to learn while enjoying a well-written story. It's best to read Benn with Wikipedia close at hand to look up the events, places, and humans he writes about. "Billy Boyle" might be a fictional character, but in James Benn's competent hands, he is the main reputation with a richly developed history.

If you're just discovering "Billy Boyle", I'd suggest you start out with the original book in the series, "Billy Boyle". Benn introduces Billy and assorted on-going characters. Some die along the way, but most accompany Billy all around the next five novels. James Benn's series has just quietly gotten better with each new book. I wish he was more widely recognised for the masterful writer he is.

3 of 3 persons found the following review helpful.
Always dependable
By Dixie Swanson
The Billy Boyle franchise is a outstanding place to find a good read. Set in WWII, Billy's family of Boston Irish cops is determined to keep him out of harm's way. They manage to park him with his Aunt Mamie's husband who is driving a desk at the beginning of the war. Uncle Ike has jobs for Billy on the QT.

Needless to say, the jobs are anything but boring, and none too safe, either. Full of amount of time detail and splendid recurring characters, you may see Billy attempting to solve crimes in the midst of a war. After all, bullets are flying, so who may tell who shot who?

Start with the first, Billy Boyle, then work your way through the series. They make the most sense that way -- sort of like the war itself.

Don't miss this series if you like a good read.

See all 15 client reviews...