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Billy Boyle WWII Mysteries #16
Billy Boyle is sent to the heart of the USSR to solve a double-murder at a critical turning point in the war in this latest installment of critically acclaimed James R. Benn's WWII mystery series.
It's September 1944, and the US is poised to launch Operation Frantic, a shuttle-bombing mission to be conducted by American aircraft based in Great Britain, southern Italy, and three Soviet airfields in the Ukraine. Tensions are already high between the American and Russian allies when two intelligence agents—one Soviet, one American—are found dead at Poltava, one of the Ukrainian bases. Billy is brought in to investigate, and this time he's paired, at the insistence of the Soviets, with a KGB agent who has his own political and personal agenda.
In the course of an investigation that quickly spirals out of control, Billy is aided by the Night Witches, a daring regiment of young Soviet women flying at night at very low altitudes, bombing hundreds of German installations.
It's a turning point in the war, and allied efforts hang by a thread. Unless Billy and his KGB partner can solve the murders in an atmosphere of mutual distrust, Operation Frantic is doomed.
"[E]xhilarating... Bolstered by vivid, scintillating descriptions of air strikes and dogfights involving the legendary all-female Soviet air force unit known as the Night Witches, Benn's high-intensity storytelling shines. This entry will leave fans eager for the next installment." - Publishers Weekly (starred review)
"Benn's ability to sustain his terrific premise while adding depth to his characters makes this long-running series a must for those who love WWII crime fiction." - Booklist (starred review)
"Billy's 16th adventure has more action and history than his previous cases...Benn's well-crafted series deepens with every installment." - Kirkus Reviews
"James Benn has done it again with Road of Bones. A real page-turner and enormously entertaining!" - Alex Kershaw, New York Times bestselling author of The Bedford Boys
"Hats off to Billy Boyle! Like a fine Irish whiskey, James Benn's series only gets better, and this time there is a most intriguing addition—a regiment of young Soviet female pilots called the Night Witches." - Susan Elia MacNeal, New York Times bestselling author of the Maggie Hope mysteries
"This book had me at Night Witches; James Benn has done it again! Billy Boyle's return in Road of Bones is an absolute triumph. Sharp, resourceful, and daring, Billy is a hero to root for from first page to last. James Benn brings WWII so vividly to life, you'll hear the whistle of shrapnel and wish you had a SPAM sandwich." - Deanna Raybourn, New York Times bestselling author of the Veronica Speedwell series
This information about Road of Bones was first featured
in "The BookBrowse Review" - BookBrowse's membership magazine, and in our weekly "Publishing This Week" newsletter. Publication information is for the USA, and (unless stated otherwise) represents the first print edition. The reviews are necessarily limited to those that were available to us ahead of publication. If you are the publisher or author and feel that they do not properly reflect the range of media opinion now available, send us a message with the mainstream reviews that you would like to see added.
Any "Author Information" displayed below reflects the author's biography at the time this particular book was published.
James R. Benn is the author of the Billy Boyle World War II mysteries. The debut, Billy Boyle, was selected as a Top Five book of the year by Book Sense and was a Dilys Award nominee, A Blind Goddess was longlisted for the IMPAC Dublin Literary Award, The Rest Is Silence was a Barry Award nominee, and The Devouring was a Macavity Award nominee. Benn, a former librarian, splits his time between the Gulf Coast of Florida and Connecticut with his wife, Deborah Mandel.
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