Thursday, September 3, 2015

James R. Benn

James R. Benn is the author of the Billy Boyle World War II series, historical mysteries set within the Allied High Command during the Second World War. The series began with Billy Boyle, which takes place in England and Norway in 1942.

In The White Ghost, the tenth installment of the series, Billy meets a young John F. Kennedy.

Recently I asked Benn about what he was reading. His reply:
The Fate of Others, by Nancy Lefenfeld.

The Fate of Others tells the little-known story of Jewish resistance groups smuggling Jewish children out of occupied France into Switzerland during World War Two. Operating in the Haute-Savoie region, which until 1943 was occupied by Italian troops who often during a blind eye to their activities, the Zionist Youth Movement and other underground groups smuggled hundreds of Jewish children into neutral Switzerland. A little-known story of incredible courage.

Real Tigers, by Mick Herron.

I was lucky enough to get an advance reading copy of this entry in Mick Herron’s series, featuring disgraced MI5 agents exiled to Slough House and sentenced to career-ending mounds of meaningless paperwork. When one of them is kidnapped, the team reluctantly goes into action. Literate and funny, this one stands the Brit spy novel convention on its head.

And for pure fun reading, you can’t beat the tag sale treasures I came up with last week; six copies of the GI Combat comic books featuring The Haunted Tank and other staples of a misspent childhood!
Visit James R. Benn's website.

The Page 99 Test: The First Wave.

The Page 69 Test: Evil for Evil.

The Page 69 Test: Rag and Bone.

My Book, The Movie: Death's Door.

--Marshal Zeringue