The Devouring

by James R. Benn Narrated by Peter Berkrot

Overview

A murder in wartime Switzerland reveals Swiss complicity with the Nazis and profiteering during World War II Billy and Kaz are sent to neutral Switzerland to investigate the murder of a Swiss banking official with ties to the Office of Strategic Services (OSS). The US and Swiss governments are about to embark on diplomatic discussions regarding the Safehaven Protocols, which are aimed at limiting the amount of war materials exported by Switzerland to the Nazis, halting the laundering of looted gold, and preventing the postwar use of Nazi wealth for war criminals. With the talks about to begin, the OSS wants their involvement in the murder cleared up, as well as to protect the participants from any threat of violence. The plans go wrong from the beginning when Billy and Kaz crash-land in France. As they make their way through occupied territory to the border, they meet Anton Lasho, a member of the Sinti ethnic group, whose family was slaughtered by the Nazis, and who is, in turn, a one-man Nazi-killing machine. They'll need his help, because as they find once they make it across the border, Swiss banks are openly laundering gold 'harvested' from concentration camps, and those that are profiting will do everything they can to protect their wealth and hide their dark secrets.

Editorial Reviews

Publishers Weekly

★ 07/03/2017
Switzerland provides the setting for Benn’s suspenseful 12th whodunit featuring U.S. Army investigator Billy Boyle (after 2016’s Blue Madonna). Billy and his colleague and friend Piotr “Kaz” Kazimierz, a lieutenant in the Polish Army in exile, are supposed to be flown from England into occupied France and dropped near the Swiss border, but the mission goes awry after their plane is shot down by the Germans, killing the pilot. Billy and Kaz manage to make it into Switzerland, with the assistance of a member of the Sinti ethnic group bent on revenge against the Nazis. Once they reach Geneva, their contact, Maureen Conaty, explains that they are to help with Operation Safehaven, an OSS effort to identify hidden German funds so that the U.S. treasury can “negotiate with neutral governments to keep the money out of the hands of the Nazis and use it to rebuild Europe after the war.” The pair is soon investigating a murder, and Benn does his usual excellent job of incorporating historical background into a fast-paced plot, which barely slows down on the way to the satisfactory resolution. (Sept.)

From the Publisher

​Nominated for the 2018 Macavity Award / Sue Feder Memorial Award for Best Historical Novel

Praise for The Devouring

​"​This is the twelfth installment of the Billy Boyle World War II Mysteries, and these creations just keep getting better and better.​"​
—Suspense Magazine ​

​"The Devouring is packed with the action we have come to expect from the Billy Boyle books​. ​The combination of history, action and suspense in the Billy Boyle novels continues to be irresistible—it’s one of the best crime novel series.​"​
​​—Connecticut News​

​"Suspenseful ​. . . ​Benn does his usual excellent job of incorporating historical background into a fast-paced plot, which barely slows down on the way to the satisfactory resolution.​"
—Publishers Weekly, Starred Review​

"Benn's 12th World War II mystery keeps the action coming, with a nifty whodunit chaser."
—Kirkus Reviews

​"Benn​ ​molds an entertaining story out of Billy and his cohorts’ encounters with odious Swiss bankers and a cadre​ of ​Gestapo agents stationed in Bern to protect the loot. Great history here." 
—Booklist​

"Extensive historical and military contextual detail, copious suspense, plenty of action, and the innate politics of power are distinctive traits of this acclaimed World War II–set series. Absorbing . . . Should appeal to historical fiction fans, mystery readers, and military buffs."
—Library Journal ​

"​Gripping . . . If you’re in need of a dose of adrenaline, then look no further.​"​
​​—BookPage​

"A white-knuckle adventure from the start. . . In The Devouring, Benn has created yet another thoroughly entertaining historical mystery page-turner that is filled with bountiful amounts of action and adventure. His ability to bring fresh understanding to an already well written about period of history is refreshing."
—New York Journal of Books

"Thrilling . . . James Benn is a master of mystery novels. Benn has done another masterful job of maintaining the suspense and fast-paced action at Mach speed right up to last edge-of-your-seat moment."
—Critics on the Aisle 

"Part whodunit, part MacGuffin, part spy novel and a beautifully and poignantly written war story, The Devouring is a multi-layered and artfully synthesized novel."
—The Day ​

Praise for the Billy Boyle series

“Spirited wartime storytelling.”
—The New York Times Book Review

“A fast-paced saga set in a period when the fate of civilization still hangs in the balance.”
—The Wall Street Journal

“A complex tale that maps the human cost of warfare in the South Pacific—and delivers a deft portrait of a young Jack Kennedy struggling to recover from the losses of PT-109. Poignant and riveting.”
—Francine Mathews, author of JACK1939

"Cleverly told . . . the book weaves fascinating military facts with obscure historical details about the islands and native life."
—The Arizona Republic

"One of Mr. Benn's best books of the series . . . A pleasure to read."
—Seattle Post-Intelligencer

"[An] excellent eighth Billy Boyle whodunit . . . The superior plot and thoughtful presentation of institutional racism directed against American soldiers about to risk their lives for their country make this one of Benn’s best."
—Publishers Weekly, Starred Review

"These creations just keep getting better and better."
—Suspense Magazine

“Terrific . . . Razor sharp.”
—Joseph Finder

“Billy Boyle gets better and better. This is a must-read series.”
—Lee Child

“Full of action, humor and heart.”
—Louise Penny

Library Journal

08/01/2017
In this 12th series entry, Billy Boyle and friend Kaz are sent to neutral Switzerland to investigate the murder of a banking official with ties to the OSS. But our heroes are shot down over France before reaching Switzerland. With the assistance of Anton Lasho, a member of the Sinti (Romany) ethnic group, out to avenge the slaughter of his family by the Nazis, they make it over the border and find that Swiss banks are openly laundering gold stolen from concentration camp victims. Extensive historical and military contextual detail, copious suspense, plenty of action, and the innate politics of power are distinctive traits of this acclaimed World War II-set series. VERDICT The theme of Swiss complicity with the Nazis and their profiteering is absorbing and should appeal to historical fiction fans, mystery readers, and military buffs. Read-alikes include Martin Limón's fast-paced "Sueño and Bascom" military mysteries, and J. Robert Janes's "St-Cyr and Kohler" series set in occupied France.—ACT

Kirkus Reviews

2017-07-04
A doughboy detective hunting for hidden Nazi gold solves a murder puzzle in the process.Using the Rhône River as a landmark, Capt. Billy Boyle (Blue Madonna, 2016, etc.) and his sidekick, Piotr "Kaz" Kazimierz, make an emergency landing in occupied France after their plane is hit by enemy fire. With German troops nearby, they make a run for it toward Switzerland. They're rescued by Anton Lasho, a Sinti who, after suffering the loss of his entire family at the hands of the occupiers, has become a one-man resistance, killing Nazis left and right. The pair find refuge in an abbey, where they learn the details of Lasho's sad history. Their contact in Switzerland, bristly Maureen Conaty, is openly disdainful of Lasho, whom she deems a distraction for the resistance, but Billy and Kaz effectively advocate for him. With fake credentials, they hunker down in Switzerland to search of the Nazi gold that's laundered there, a sum likely in the hundreds of millions. In Bern, where a direct delivery from the German Reichsbank is expected soon, an international collection of Allies assembles to assist them. Victor Hyde from the American Embassy and his good friend Henri Moret join Billy and Kaz to watch the convoy of Mercedes Benz trucks parade by, with Lasho and Conaty not far away. But before an effective heist can be implemented, one of these four new colleagues is murdered. Benn's 12th World War II mystery keeps the action coming, with a nifty whodunit chaser.

Product Details

BN ID:	2940170107988
Publisher:	Recorded Books, LLC
Publication date:	09/12/2017
Series:	Billy Boyle World War II Mystery Series , #12
Edition description:	Unabridged

Read an Excerpt

Chapter One
(Continues…)

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Excerpted from "The Devouring"
by .
Copyright © 2018 James R. Benn.
Excerpted by permission of Soho Press.
All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.
Excerpts are provided by Dial-A-Book Inc. solely for the personal use of visitors to this web site.

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