The First Wave

Billy Boyle World War II #2

by James R. Benn

Lieutenant Billy Boyle reluctantly accompanies Major Samuel Harding, his boss, in the first boat to land on the shores of Algeria during the Allied invasion. Their task is to arrange the surrender of the Vichy French forces.

But there is dissension between the regular army, the local militia, and De Gaulle’s Free French. American black marketeers in league with the enemy divert medical supplies to the Casbah, leading to multiple murders that Billy must solve while trying to rescue the girl he loves, a captured British spy.

Genres: Mystery, Historical Fiction, Fiction, World War II, Historical, Historical Mystery, Military Fiction

304 pages, Hardcover

First published September 1, 2007

About the author

James R. Benn is the author of Billy Boyle: A World War II Mystery, selected by Book Sense as one of the top five mysteries of 2006 and nominated for a Dilys Award. The First Wave was a Book Sense Notable title.
Benn is a librarian and lives in Hadlyme, Connecticut.

Reviews

[Cheryl Gatling]

Doesn't everyone love a Boston Irish lad? A little charming, a little awkward with the ladies (yet successful enough to win a beautiful blonde girlfriend), impulsive enough to disobey orders whenever necessary, smart-talking, informal and rumpled, brave enough (or love-sick enough) to walk through fire to rescue the lady, devoted enough (or stupid enough) to get off his cot despite a fractured skull to save the life of his best friend. Billy Boyle (who just happens to be a nephew of the general he calls Uncle Ike) is among the first wave of Americans to invade Algeria. The plan is to quickly liberate Algiers from the Vichy French and Germans. But morphine, and a new wonder drug called Penicillin are stolen from the army hospital. Boyle gets assigned to uncover and break up the smuggling ring. But the ring includes some powerful and ruthless men, as well as at least one American traitor. There are fire fights, knife fights, broken glass, jeep chases, druggings, a secret code to break, and a whole lot of lies to uncover. It's a man's man's book. It's an action movie, with a little brain-power detection work, and the occasional beautiful woman thrown in. But the best part is that the sights and sensations of WWII Algiers are depicted in sweat-drenched and often smelly immediacy, and the delicate politics between the various occupying factions are explained. It's good to learn something about a part of the war that is less well known. And the Irish lad does what he sets out to do, but ends up sadder but wiser, humbled by the violence of war.

[Mark Baker · Rating 4 out of 5]

It’s November of 1942, and Billy Boyle is part of the landing party trying to secure Algeria for the Allies. However, the plans fall apart quickly after the landing. Then, Billy figures out that someone is stealing the medical supplies that are coming in. Can he figure out who is trying to profit from the thefts while also rescuing his love?

Between the history, the spy story, and the mystery, there is a lot going on in this book. At times, it gets to be a bit too much, and I felt like the pacing was slowed down as a result. That’s ironic since there is plenty of action, and I was turning pages as quickly as I could multiple times over the course of the book. This certainly isn’t one of my normal light mysteries, but it shouldn’t be since it is a book about war. Still, the impact of this story hit me hard since I love these characters. The characters, both real and fictional, interact effortlessly, and it is very easy to care for our heroes. I do recommend reading the first book first since this book spoils some of the events of that story. It has to since those events impacted the characters so much. When you are looking to be fully immersed in another time and place, this is definitely the book to pick up.

Read my full review at Carstairs Considers.

[LJ · Rating 5 out of 5]

First Sentence: It was dark, and I as at sea, hunkered down in a flat-bottomed landing craft, slamming through four-foot swells and chugging noisily toward short, leaving the relative safety of our troop transport behind.

Benn has such an excellent voice. Narrated in the first person by a very appealing character, it conveys the sense of “I’m telling you a story,” and that story captivates you from the very first page.

For those of us not alive during WWII, and not particularly well versed in its history, I appreciate how much I learned without being “taught”. The information was so well integrated into the story.

Billy Boyle is a wonderful character. In this second book of the series, he is still quite young, but his background as a Boston cop, coming from a family of Boston Irish cops, stands him in good stead. He’s tough, resourceful, but with good common sense. He is very real. Part of what makes him work, as a character, is his wry humor…”So after landing in North Africa, with the first wave of the first invasion of the war, if I survived, I’d be celebrating my twenty-fourth birthday on a motorcycle ride from hell. Not for the first time, I wondered how a nice Irish kid from Boston like me had gotten himself into this situation.”

Diana, Billy’s love, isn’t pure set decoration, at all. She goes through her own hell and survives by being strong and determined, yet not invincible. Billy’s friend, Kaz, is so appealing and interesting, providing a good counterpoint to Billy. Benn also does emotion very well, and there is strong emotion here. Benn provides good backstory on each of the recurring characters. That’s critical for those who have not read the first book.

“The First Wave” has excellent tension and nail-biting suspense while focusing on strong characters. I became a fan with the first book and am even more of one with book two. Can’t wait to read more.

THE FIRST WAVE (Hist Mys-Billy Boyle-Algeria-1942) – VG+
Benn, James R. – 2nd in series
Soho, 2007

[Teri-K · Rating 2 out of 5]

Boy, it this turning out to be a let-down from the previous five star book. That was a delightful balance of derring-do and realism, a young man being confronted with a very different world, and a good mystery/adventure novel all in one. This book started off with a bang and never let up on the action, but that means we never get to see our hero being thoughtful or making mistakes and learning from them. So I've felt a little less of a fan.

Then I hit the half-way mark and the story went very wrong. All along we've had the hero taking unrealistic risks and getting away with them, but I expect that in an adventure story like this. I was saddened that in the previous book the only woman is killed but I accepted that as it raised the stakes and bonded the characters together. But now in this book, Diana, the hero's love interest, is captured along with many other young people. She, alone, is drugged and raped. Seriously? The hero can run around like a super hero who makes mistakes but always gets away cleanly, but the woman has to suffer like this? This is getting perilously close to misogynistic, and I'm deeply disappointed.

There is one other woman in this book, I expect she'll turn out to either be a traitor or is being set up for some future horrible fate. I expect this kind of attitude in books written in the long past. In fact, as a girl it used to make me angry that I couldn't read an adventure book without the girl being the one who got into trouble and had to be rescued - every single time. I certainly don't expect this in a book written in the 21st century.

To be fair, I haven't yet finished the book, so perhaps the author will redeem himself. If he doesn't I will probably read one more book in this series and see if it's the same. Either way I will write about what I find in my reviews.

Upon Completion - I'm sad at the turn this book took. Life right now is frustrating, cynical, and mean. People are hurting innocent folks just because they can, and every day the news gets worse. I don't want my books to be that way, too. But this one was. Not to mention the treatment of women that makes it seem at home sixty years ago. I may read one more, to see if the downward trend continues, I haven't decided yet, but this was quite disappointing to me.

[Francis · Rating 3 out of 5]

First of all, I want to admit I bought this book because of the cover. I know, I know, you shouldn't judge a book by its cover ...yada, yada, yada. But, growing up as a kid, reading comic books, I never bought into that saying, cause a good cover was, just about always, a precursor to a good yarn.

Well in this case, the cover did kinda match the content, in that, it wasn't so much a mystery as an action adventure for developmentally arrested adults, and being one, I know that of which I speak. (Is that proper English? Well anyway, you know of which that I am speaking about, so I guess it don't really matter.)

So anyway, never more that ten pages from the next action sequence; I was like a 'pig in slop' or a kid in a comic book store with a dollar in his pocket looking at a ten cent comic rack, (pick your metaphor). And ..Billy Boyle he's like a super hero, humble, but if you was to say something bad bout his girl or his Mom, or hurt his best friend? Well watch out, cause he can stick a knife through your ribs faster than you can say "Wait, I was just funin' with you." Course, afterwards he would spend at least a couple of paragraphs, reflecting about what he had just done and regretting the necessity of it.

Anyway, I could go on and on telling you about all those predicaments, he got himself into and out of, and the time in spent in between, while he was in the hospital recuperating, thinking on the case and figuring things out, but you get my point, don't you? I mean that, it wasn't that great a mystery but it was a fun read anyway and that still counts for a lot.

Right?

[May · Rating 4 out of 5]

I’m late to this series, although friends suggested it years ago. Since I live just north of Boston, I love Billy Boyle’s references to having been a Boston cop (for a few months) prior to WWII and how it influences his decision while on assignment to Uncle Ike!!

Cheryl’s review from 2011 is excellent & says it better than I can. I recommend her review & this series!!

[Becky · Rating 4 out of 5]

First sentence: It was dark, and I was at sea, hunkered down in a flat-bottomed landing craft, slamming through four-foot swells and chugging noisily towards shore, leaving the relative safety of our troop transport behind.

Premise/plot: The First Wave is the second book in the historical mystery series starring Billy Boyle. The first novel was set in England in 1942; the second novel is set in North Africa (Algeria) in late 1942. The plan was supposed to be simple: Harding and Boyle are supposed to be involved in the negotiations for the surrender of the Vichy French forces. But it’s a snafu from the start. The surrender won’t happen quickly—if at all. Soon Boyle is back to solving murders—and the body count keeps going up.

My thoughts: I wanted to love this one just as much as the first book. I do still really like the characters Boyle and Kaz. I was heartbroken over Diana’s situation. I think the weightiness of that kept me from fully engaging with this one. The mystery element also disappointed me. I don’t know why, but, I guessed the identity of the murderer super early. I usually don’t do this in the first half. Sometimes authors keep me guessing until the last handful of pages. I like the suspense. This one definitely reads more like a trauma-filled war novel. Gritty—very much showing the horrors of war.

[Valeria Spencer · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ben’s books focus on lesser aspects of WWII, here the Allies are venturing into Algiers, where the Nazis and Vichy France put up quite a fight to keep their hold in Africa.
The setting is sweaty and smelly with danger lurking everywhere. The miracle drug penicillin has been massed produced and enemies will do anything to get their hands on it. Book 2 is gritty and violent, alongside a very good story.

[Vincent · Rating 4 out of 5]

Just finished books one and two of the series. They’re fun reads mixed with some WWII history and although I’ve read so much on the war, these books have given me some information I didn’t know.

Looking forward to continuing the series.

[Debra · Rating 4 out of 5]

I have been loving James Benn's historical Facebook posts, so am going by back to be sure that I have read all his Billy Boyle mysteries (I forget titles. I really miss FictFact!)

[Daniel Shellenbarger · Rating 4 out of 5]

After dealing with a series of murders and thefts of intelligence involving the expatriate Norwegian government in Britain (and going off on a bit of an unofficial revenge mission) in book 1, Lt. Billy Boyle (ex-Boston Cop now assigned to be "Uncle Ike's" point man for dealing with... problems that need to go away for the good of the cause) is now in North Africa amidst the Operation Torch landings, the first American offensive of the war, intended to wrest North Africa from the Vichy French (and hopefully gain lots of patriotic (or at least practical) French volunteers for the Allied cause), relieve pressure on the British in Egypt, and open up a new front in Southern Europe. Billy finds himself sent in with the first wave of the landings in hopes of convincing a cabal of pro-Allied French officers (and anti-Fascist revolutionaries) to seize control of Algiers and hand it over to the Allies. Things soon turn pear-shaped: their mission is compromised, Billy and his CO are captured, the resistance uprising is quashed by the French fascists, the Allies find that unexpectedly Vichy #2 Admiral Darlan is in Algiers, quashing any hope of steam-rolling the French into switching sides, and an allied forward hospital is the scene of two murders and a mass-theft of vital medicine, including a priceless shipment of Penicillin. Oh, and Billy is stunned to find that his English girlfriend (and sometime SOE agent) is among the failed resistance fighters captured by the Vichy. So Billy and his allies must navigate the complex tensions of Algeria, having to tread lightly with the Vichy for political reasons, even as all the evidence points to corrupt officers in their ranks being culpable in these vicious crimes. It's not just a question of whodunit but how to bring them to justice when Uncle Ike is doing everything he can to woo the Vichy in Algeria into switching sides before the Germans get their act together. Oh, and rescuing his girlfriend...

I enjoyed Billy Boyle (book 1), but my main source of complaint was that the ending was a bit messy, things just kind of went off the rails. It was satisfying but it was nowhere near as enjoyable as the early part of the book with its deliberately paced introduction of Billy and the mystery he'd been tapped to solve. The book jumped from being a closed room mystery to a spy thriller, and it was a bit jarring. Here we have the opposite problem. The opening few chapters are just plain insane. Billy just keeps walking into problem after problem: every time he turns around someone is getting killed or something dramatically awful is happening. However, after this rather chaotic opening, the book settles down into Billy and company doing the leg work of trying to figure out what's going on and who's responsible and doing a little off-the-books intel/rescue work with British commandos, and it just flows so much better. This is one of the reasons I prefer mysteries where the detective is brought into the problem rather than stumbling over the corpse, you don't have to contrive ridiculous amounts of serendipitous encounters to make the detective see everything, instead somebody else can just relate what happened. In this case, if everything that happened at the hospital happened off-page and was related second-hand, and Billy just had the encounters with the Vichy and the prison bits and then got brought into the penicillin heist/murders, it just would've felt more natural. There's just no good reason to make everything happen while the detective is present. That said, this is really just a stylistic gripe, and it's not something that keeps me from enjoying mysteries (heck, Vivien Chien does it all the time in the Noodle Shop Mysteries, but her detective is so fun, I don't really care), but overusing it just feels unnatural. I also want to say how much I enjoy the way Benn has chosen the settings for his mysteries. In the first book he touched upon the Allies' (ultimately abandoned) plans to liberate Norway and here we are focused on the Allied Invasion/Liberation of North Africa, both of these are rather minor and oft-forgotten parts of the story of the war, and choosing such esoteric settings gives Benn the benefit of putting his readers in a situation where they likely don't know what happened (and thus increase the drama of the background military events), and he's clearly done a lot of research on the events in question. All in all, an intriguing mystery with a fascinating setting and a likeable protagonist: that's a pretty solid combo.

[Mark]

I'm completely reading these out of order, but like many authors of series, each can stand alone in their own right...Billy Boyle is an ex-Boston detective, in the employ of his shirttail uncle, Dwight Eisenhower, investigating what need to be investigated in the conduct of WWII...An added plus, is Billy's right-hand man, Piotr “Kaz” Kazimierz...I'm tickled to have a character carrying the same nickname as I do, as well as have fun with well researched historical military fiction, a spy thriller and a mystery all wrapped into one story with each Billy Boyle outing...In "The First Wave," is set in North Africa with Operation Torch and Boyle is involved in the negotiations for the surrender of the Vichy French forces. It doesn't go as planned and soon Boyle and Kaz are saving spies, solving murders and keeping the theft of the new wonder drug, Penicillin out of the Underworld's hand...Just fun Reading!!!

[Jeannie Mancini · Rating 5 out of 5]

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 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!

[Roger · Rating 4 out of 5]

THE FIRST WAVE is the second book in James R. Benn's WWII series, following the debut novel BILLY BOYLE. THE FIRST WAVE is a much better book and the improvement so early in the series helps readers understand why the series has become so enduring (now 19 books in).

THE FIRST WAVE begins with the U.S./British invasion of Vichy-controlled Algeria in 1942. It's a campaign fraught with political intrigue, in addition to the usual dangers found when invading a foreign land. Billy Boyle is joined by his now familiar coterie in Algeria; Major Harding, Lieutenant Kaz, and especially, Diana, are all around. At first, Billy and Major Harding are tasked with a diplomatic mission, but that quickly devolves into a murder investigation wrapped in a profound criminal conspiracy. Billy's investigation is taut and straightforward; the resolution is challenging, but not so surprising given the devastation wrought by the villains.

BILLY BOYLE suffered from a bit of superficiality and Billy's actions (and successes) often had a comic book quality, despite a recognition that war can be terrible. THE FIRST WAVE is even darker, filled with more, and more overt moral ambiguity, and not even our favorites are immune from the worst horrors of war. It will be interesting to see how the war's effects play out in subsequent books in the series. It is probable, as well, that some of the new supporting characters herein will be making future appearances in support of Billy Boyle's adventures. Billy Boyle, the character, is developing nuance, which bodes well for future books.

If you help it is
treason, but then the bad guys
win. Catch 22.

[Faith · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was my first time listening to an audio book, and my second experience with James R. Benn. I had previously read and enjoyed "A Blind Goddess", the eighth book in the Billy Boyle series. "The First Wave" is the second book in the series, and it featured a younger, wise-ass Billy, who I didn't recognize at all. I much preferred the character in the later book. Maybe he's matured or perhaps the snarky tone sometimes adopted by the narrator had something to do with my impression of the character.

The narrator's voice was pleasant but the accents he employed for the various characters seemed to come and go. I also wasn't very engaged by the plot of this book. It felt like a pulpy 1940s B-movie. The plot and writing in the 8th book were much better. I will probably stick with the later books in this series.

[Michael · Rating 5 out of 5]

The second of the Billy Boyle series finds Billy up against the Vichy French as the Allied Forces invade North Africa. After the initial invasion Billy finds himself investigating the murder of a supply sergeant and the disappearance of a shipment of the new miracle drug penicillin. Great page turner. I'm really loving this series

[Jay · Rating 3 out of 5]

In the second book in James R. Benn's Billy Boyle series, the titular hero finds himself sent on a mission to North Africa. The Allied Forces are establishing their presence in Algiers but have to deal with the notoriously fickle Vichy government.

Billy is still recovering from the events of the first book in the series but there's no time to rest on his laurels with a new mission to accomplish. Things take a turn for the worst when he and his immediate supervisor are captured by forces loyal to the Nazis and imprisoned.

And that's where the story really starts heating up. Their eventual rescue brings back Billy's friend Kaz, the exiled Polish baron. Still dealing with the effects of a tragedy, Kaz is a changed man and Billy notices these changes that are definitely not for the better. Worse yet, Billy has discovered that Diana, the woman he's fallen for has been captured while undercover and has been taken by the retreating Vichy forces.

He's determined to find and rescue her but a murder at a field hospital leaves him tied to investigate. How can he find the killer in a war zone and save the woman of his dreams? What will it cost him?

I loved the way Benn threaded this fictional story into real world events of the time period. Showing the frustrations of trying to deal with an unreliable but potentially important ally was a nice touch. It was made particularly more compelling because choosing the lesser of two evils doesn't make up for the fact you are still cutting a deal with the devil.

The changes to the character of Kaz was an understandable evolution due to the reasons behind it. He seems lost and going down a rabbit hole. Billy sees it and does his best to keep his friend from succumbing to his demons.

You can also see how Billy grows. There's only a short time between the settings of the first two books but even a little bit of growth for Billy makes him an even more appealing hero. The fact that he remains someone with a capacity to doubt his qualifications even while growing ever so slightly into his capabilities shows the author's deft touch for characterization.

The mystery itself is wrapped up into wartime allies, betrayals and convenient circumstances. It makes for a pretty engrossing story that readers will enjoy to great effect.

[JPT · Rating 4 out of 5]

*
*
*
Audiobook
Story: B, Narration: A

Not a review, just some thoughts for personal reference.

I have some of the same comments as with the first book. Love the setting and how the multinational criminal underclass worked and why it was such a big issue for the war effort. I also was interested in how women in uniform were treated. (I won't say "liked" because it was repugnant.) The characters are getting better fleshed out, and I was glad to see Harry's reappearance since I'd assumed he was dead.

I have mixed feelings about how the situation with Diana was handled. For starters, I thought her mission was idiotic. Or at least her participation in it since I thought she was wildly unsuited for the role.

I also get pissed off with how frequently women's trauma is used as a vehicle to showcase men's pain. I say mixed feelings because I did think it was handled realistically. It's a fact of war, and recent conflicts have shown that sexual assault and torture of male and female military members and civilians are not just condoned but intentionally weaponized to demoralize and degrade enemies. It's also true that it affects the partners of victims. I just think it's an overused trope that the male partner's pain is often primary and is a motivation for future behavior, while the victim's pain is secondary. ("Sorry that what happened to me is so hard for you to bear.") As I say, I'm conflicted.

Finally, the identity of one of the baddies was glaringly obvious almost from their first appearance. Billy started to voice his suspicions, too, but then didn't pursue it. In fact, still acted surprised when it was confirmed. Pretty unrealistic.

[Darren · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love a good mystery. If you set it in the backdrop of World War II, then you get my attention! James R. Benn got my attention in a big way!

Billy Boyle is back, and he reluctantly joins his commanding officer on the first boat of the invasion force landing at Algiers. Their mission is to arrange the surrender of the Vichy French forces. It is a task easier said than done. There is dissension between the regular army, the local militia, and De Gaulle’s Free French. They also have to contend with missing medical supplies from the allied hospital, the local black market, and multiple murders that Billy must solve. Oh yeah, he also has to rescue the girl he loves; a British spy that was captured, and he is certain she will be subject to all sorts of torture.

Here is the great thing about James R. Benn’s writing; he sucks you in and holds you hostage for the duration. To give you an idea as to how good this book is, I woke up at 4 a.m. to finish the last 100 pages. It is better than good. He does not hold back on the horrific effect was has on the human body and mind. The descriptions are so vivid that I could almost taste the air around the main characters. He also had me guessing if certain characters would survive to the final page. That is a rare quality in a mystery.

If you like/love mysteries, get this book!

If you like/love history, get this book!

If you are just looking for a really good book to escape into, get this book!

Bottom line, GET THIS BOOK!

I give this book 5 very enthusiastic bookmarks out of 5!!!

[Rob Kitchin · Rating 3 out of 5]

The First Wave is the second book in the Billy Boyle series set in World War Two. Boyle is a former Boston cop and a nephew of General Eisenhower, on whose staff he serves as an investigator. In this outing he is selected to run a mission to persuade French Vichy troops in Algeria to surrender rather than fight landing American troops. Along with Kaz, his Polish colleague, and his boss, Major Sam Harding, he’s soon turning his investigative skills to a murder at an army hospital and the theft of the first batch of penicillin in circulation, as well as tracing the whereabouts of Diane, his former girlfriend turned SOE agent in Algiers. The story is very much a boy’s own adventure, with Boyle swashbuckling his way around Algiers and the dusty coastal strip, doing battle with French fascists and a rotten apple in the US Army. Benn spins a couple of different threads that intersect at times, and keeps the pace high making sure there’s an action sequence every ten pages or so. The plot is a little thin at times and is held together with spider web of coincidences – especially with respect to characters knowing each other prior to this adventure and being involved in it (because in a global war a number of people from different services, two of them ex-girlfriends, will find themselves in the same spot and conspiracy). But if one can put the shortcomings on a back burner, then it’s a reasonably entertaining Hollywood Romantic/Action version of the initial invasion of North Africa.

[George · Rating 4 out of 5]

#2 in the former Boston cop Billy Boyle WW II mystery series opening in November, 1942 and Billy and his boss, Major Samuel Harding, are in the first wave of the American invasion of North Africa, Algeria where their mission is to arrange the surrender of the Vichy French forces. It becomes overly complicated very quickly due to dissension between the regular army, the local militia, and De Gaulle’s Free French while American black marketeers are in league with the enemy to divert medical supplies leading to multiple murders led by a Frenchman who is the story's ruthless villain. It is not long before Billy learns that the girl he loves is in the area as a captured British spy.

Billy is in very early 20's, Boston Irish with a cocky attitude and had just made detective when the war started. His parents used their connections to keep him out of combat by getting him a staff job on cousin's Dwight Eisenhower's staff who at the war's start was based in Washington, D.C. Ike is quickly transferred to London when Billy joins his staff. Billy's goal: stay out of any combat situation and get back to Boston. His investigative style is to poke a stick into things to see what happens. He is impertinent and in these first books, disobeys orders, takes himself off on his own personal tasks without considering ramifications putting himself in serious situations, and, since he is hero, these personal tasks work out for the best.

[Ktmholm · Rating 4 out of 5]

In the second of this series, Billy Boyle—Eisenhower’s personal investigator (and nephew)—and his boss, Harding, are landing with the first wave of Allied troops into Algeria. Their mission is to contact the Vichy French and see if they will cooperate with the Allies against the Germans. However, the story goes far deeper than that, as Billy uncovers an international drug ring stealing the first mass-produced penicillin meant for the troops, in addition to a number of suspicious deaths. More personally upsetting to Billy is finding his girlfriend Diana, a British SOE agent, captured and tortured by the Germans.
Harding shows that he’s not entirely devoid of human kindness, and Billy is again accompanied by his sidekick, Kaz, a Polish officer. Together they discover the culprits and rescue Diana, while barely surviving their own assassination attempts from unexpected sources, as well as strafing by German Messerschmitt aircraft.
I must congratulate Benn on his historical research and his powers of description. This is an area of the war that is written about less often, and I was captivated by his descriptions of the setting. As his powers of deduction improve, Billy—a newly-minted Boston cop at the beginning of the first book—also learns about the darker sides of war (and that not everything necessarily will turn out ‘ok’) in this very readable story.

[Joe Santoro · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was definitely an improvement in writing style over the first book.. the author seems to have really found the voice of the main characters. Billy is a bit more realistic here, he doesn't know nothing then everything in spurts as happened a couple times in the first book.

The author does a great job here mixing historical content with his story... and explained what things he had to tweak in order to properly fit in, which I appreciate. The story itself was much better, a very engaging plot that was more centered around proving what happened and catching the bad guys than the mystery, which worked alot better. I didn't have to yell at the characters for being dumb much at all in this book.

There were more than a couple coincidences of place here, but I'll give the writer a break on that... I'd rather he build up some good characters and skip a bit of realism than have new sidekicks every story... as long as it doesn't get too crazy.

I think that could be an issue later on.. Billy and Kaz took a beating in this book, and had 2 really near misses. I'm hoping that doesn't happen every time... if Billy gets 2 or 3 concussions per story he is definitely not going to have much of a happy ending no matter what! I can also only accept so many times when main characters get shot and it just happens to be a clean wound with no issues.

[Rabia · Rating 3 out of 5]

This second book took me by surprise just like the first book; right when I thought it was gonna be a historical cozy of sorts, it takes a darker twist. I do like this twist though, because it creates depth to the characters and is more realistic rather than pretending everything is okay. I liked the slightly vague, but hopeful ending, and even that Harding gets a more relatable side in this book. While having more emotional depth than a cozy, I do like how it has a similar gang of characters than we can count on to show up in the novel. And of course, I love Billy’s “just your regular joe” personality. You can also see how his own character and thought is changing the longer he is in the war.

Some things I didn’t really like was the more frequent action scenes in this book, as well as the technical (machinery, military) descriptions. It considerably slowed the book down for me. However, I get that it’s a book set in WWII. Another thing is that I really didn’t like Billy’s viewpoint on the Arabs - like it’s their land, but they’re always just collectively mentioned as dirty and just lingering in the background. I wish there was at least one side Algerian character (I mean, historically, as well, Billy wouldn’t have been able to stay in North Africa for this long without interacting with at least one Algerian? Like even the ones working for the military?)

[Michael · Rating 5 out of 5]

I am a huge fan of this series after finishing the first two books. Benn is adept at painting vivid pictures of the people and places in the stories, and the stories are truly gripping. Billy Boyle, a young ex-Boston cop now working for his distant relative, Uncle Ike, is assigned to be the General's personal detective. While he has very little direct contact with Eisenhower, the General's desire for devoting all attention and energy to pursuing a successful war effort is clear. Boyle accompanies the first invasion forces landing in Algeria, where the Vichy French are in control. A recurring theme is that no one knows whether the French will attack or surrender to the Allies, and the General's elaborate plans for invasion are in constant flux, as reality changes and plans fail to develop as expected. Adding to the chaos, Boyle discovers an elaborate smuggling operation involving international contacts, the French underworld, and apparent traitors. What appear to be unrelated murders complicate things and Boyle is presented with the difficulty of even determining whether a dead body was actually a murder victim with war swirling around. Personal tragedies must be set aside in pursuit of military objectives, but in the end, Boyle achieves some measure of "justice."

[Bill Linton · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is the second book in the series and it was a great follow up. I plan on reading the third.

Billy finds himself in Algeria at the front of the allied invasion of North Africa. Major Harding, Kaz, and Diana all make into the second book, and Billy’s relationship with each continues to grow and deepen.

Billy and Kaz uncover a smuggling operation of drugs from the American hospital and work to figure out who the guilty culprits are. While the mystery is interesting, the action that Billy and Kaz experience is more front and center than the effort to identify the thieves.

The author does an excellent job on of incorporating the military realities of the invasion right down to the jargon used by soldiers during WW II. The details of rations, weapons and uniforms is spot on. He also shares how penicillin makes its first large scale us after Pfizer had figured out how to scale production beyond the small quantities that were produced in the laboratory setting.

He also brings to light the harsh realities of war, not just for the soldiers, but for the innocents as well. He also touches on the diplomatic challenges that Eisenhower had in working with the Vichy French during the North African campaign’s early stage.

[Anthony · Rating 4 out of 5]

This has quickly become one of my favorite mystery series. Set amid the turmoil of World War II, it is a murder mystery, as well as a history lesson.

In this outing, LT. Billy Boyle is sent to North Africa to be a part of the first Allied invasion of German occupied territory. But the target city of Algiers is governed by the Vichy French forces and the allies are not sure if they will be welcomed by the Vichy French as liberators or enemies. Billy is sent by his Uncle Ike to investigate a smuggling ring which is stealing quantities of the new wonder drug, penicillin, which is being used for the very first time by US doctors in the North Africa theater. Of course, the Germans hear about this, and work with some French gangsters to try to get a hold of as much of this new drug as they can. Along the way, there are murders, betrayals and the usual bad stuff that comes with war.

This is a very entertaining series, and as I've already said, a history lesson in every book.

[Kevin Washburn · Rating 5 out of 5]

War may seem like an ideal time to commit murder—unless newly minted Boston detective turned soldier Billy Boyle is on the case. In First Wave, Boyle is in northern Africa, a place of mixed cultures and shifting alliances. In the midst of such chaos, supplies begin disappearing from a field hospital. The new wonder drug penicillin is an especially high-value target of the thieves. Soon, suspicious circumstances surrounding the disappearance of one supply sergeant and the death of another have Boyle asking questions. Add to this the occasional air raid and the need for Boyle to rescue his love interest, and you have an captivating wartime mystery. What Benn does so well with Boyle and the other characters of these books is stay true to the thoughts and feelings they would realistically have. There is an authenticity to each one. First Wave is a highly satisfying reading experience—and I’m already eager to start the next book in the series.

[Doug · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ack been sick for weeks and finally could sit up and finish The First Wave. It was okay, not my favourite of the two, but I like Billy and the rest of the characters. The gang is all there, Ike, Billy, Diana, Kaz, Harry, Major Harding. They are off to North Africa for the first wave and Billy and Kaz get involved in a penicillin thief ring. The new med was a first wave of sorts as well in the war and lead to saving many lives. It help save Kaz from the beginning. Diana is on mission and rounded in the early stages of the assault, much of the story is Billy worrying for her and trying to find her, as well determine who was involved in the drug thief ring. Turns out it was one of our own the nurse Gloria who was leaking the secrets. Grey's Anatomy plays a role as a codex, which interestingly I saw that coming early on, too many references to it.

[Livia · Rating 5 out of 5]

Book 2 of the Billy Boyle WWII Mystery Series is THE FIRST WAVE. The excitement and intrigue continues as Billy's Uncle Ike sends him to Algeria to help arrange the surrender of the Vichy French forces. Once in Algeria Billy is introduced to Black Marketers, encounters two German officers of Rommel's "Afrika Korp", experiences the cruelty of the Vichy Police and interacts with the US Army's Nurse Corp.

As the War heats up for US military, Billy gets involved in investigating theft and murder all the while searching for a woman he's come to care about a great deal. She's a British spy arrested with other French students participating in underground activities in Algiers.

As I post this review, I am anxiously waiting the arrival of the next two books in this series. It's a series just continues to draw me in.