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liberrydude's review
4.0
Billy Boyle is recovering from a combination of too much meth and combat fatigue in a special mental hospital for those with top security clearances when he witnesses a man falling from the roof of the hospital. It’s presumed to be a suicide but Billy saw another person on the roof and is convinced it’s a homicide. He keeps that information to himself as he’s concerned his mental state will be further questioned and he’ll never be released.
45% in a reference to the title. Another murder. But wait there’s more. Billy tries to solve these murders while as a patient and even after being cured but he runs into the spook culture of secrecy, a formidable obstacle but one Billy relishes going up against.
After reading this you wonder if the good guys are no better than the bad guys. Deeply personal emotions and a great ending for the next adventure.
45% in a reference to the title. Another murder. But wait there’s more. Billy tries to solve these murders while as a patient and even after being cured but he runs into the spook culture of secrecy, a formidable obstacle but one Billy relishes going up against.
After reading this you wonder if the good guys are no better than the bad guys. Deeply personal emotions and a great ending for the next adventure.
naluju's review
adventurous
dark
informative
inspiring
mysterious
sad
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
usbsticky's review
4.0
#14 in the Billy Boyle series. You should really read the series in order as they follow on eachother. Billy Boyle is a Boston detective in real life. In the WW2 US army he is a captain at SHAEF due to being a distant relation of Ike. He kind of fills a special detective/operative role together with Sgt. Mike (a Chicago cop) and Baron Lt. Kaz (a Polish soldier in the British army). They investigate unusual crimes or espionage cases. In the last book they were sent to France after D-Day to try and mislead the Germans into defending Paris and solve a murder at the same time.
Spoilers ahead:
In this book Boyle has been sent to St. Albans, a rest home/hospital for mentally stressed (basically PTSD) cases for high security clearance members of the armed forces. During his last assignment Boyle had been highly stressed because his loved one (Diane, SOE operative) was taken by the Germans and he had been taking meth (German Pervitin) pills to try and stay awake for days while trying to find and kill a French double agent during the last days of the liberation of Paris.
At St. Albans, first one, then other patients are being killed, apparently not by Germans but by someone else at St. Albans and Billy tries to find the killer. He discovers a highly secretive and very controversial operation of the SOE. This operation is based on actual history as are some of the characters in this book.
The writing is easy to read and follow but this is not an edge of the seat thriller. I read it slowly over several days as I followed Billy Boyle doing his due diligence following the clues and questioning witnesses. There is a lot of history in this book. It seems there was an operation to sow discord in the Nazi ranks by sending out false flags. There was also a bit on V2 rockets, which I read up on later. I would have loved it if the book had more on the V2 as that was an important part at the end of the war.
I would recommend this book and series to anyone interesting in WW2 and crime books with a WW2 setting. Now waiting to read book #15 which is already out.
Spoilers ahead:
In this book Boyle has been sent to St. Albans, a rest home/hospital for mentally stressed (basically PTSD) cases for high security clearance members of the armed forces. During his last assignment Boyle had been highly stressed because his loved one (Diane, SOE operative) was taken by the Germans and he had been taking meth (German Pervitin) pills to try and stay awake for days while trying to find and kill a French double agent during the last days of the liberation of Paris.
At St. Albans, first one, then other patients are being killed, apparently not by Germans but by someone else at St. Albans and Billy tries to find the killer. He discovers a highly secretive and very controversial operation of the SOE. This operation is based on actual history as are some of the characters in this book.
The writing is easy to read and follow but this is not an edge of the seat thriller. I read it slowly over several days as I followed Billy Boyle doing his due diligence following the clues and questioning witnesses. There is a lot of history in this book. It seems there was an operation to sow discord in the Nazi ranks by sending out false flags. There was also a bit on V2 rockets, which I read up on later. I would have loved it if the book had more on the V2 as that was an important part at the end of the war.
I would recommend this book and series to anyone interesting in WW2 and crime books with a WW2 setting. Now waiting to read book #15 which is already out.
lazygal's review
3.0
Historical mysteries and WWII are not my favorite genres, and here they are all in one book.
As far as mysteries go, the Red Horse made me think of Sherlock Holmes' orange pips and dancing men: a symbol that ties everyone together. Setting this in a convalescent home reserved for members of the military means that it's not implausible there will be members of the intelligence community would be there, either as patients or as watchers of those patients. It also allows the author to highlight some practices that we, today, find primitive, using them to further the plot.
Overall, it was ok, but not a series I'll be continuing.
As far as mysteries go, the Red Horse made me think of Sherlock Holmes' orange pips and dancing men: a symbol that ties everyone together. Setting this in a convalescent home reserved for members of the military means that it's not implausible there will be members of the intelligence community would be there, either as patients or as watchers of those patients. It also allows the author to highlight some practices that we, today, find primitive, using them to further the plot.
Overall, it was ok, but not a series I'll be continuing.
kfrench1008's review
4.0
Takes a while to get moving, especially compared to the previous entry in the series, which was all action. More of a traditional whodunit than usual for Billy.
katking's review against another edition
4.0
First time reading a Billy Boyle mystery. Enjoyed the WWII setting and the characters. Good for a light summer read. Now I’ll have to read the earlier books in the series.
bob_dw's review
4.0
The Red Horse picks up with Billy waking up from his last adventure. All is not well with him but as usual murder seems to be a close companion. Those who have followed the series (this is #15!) will enjoy this latest outing. As usual Benn gets the history right and puts some interesting historical issues on the table.
Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for providing me with a copy in exchange for an honest review.
Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for providing me with a copy in exchange for an honest review.