When Hell Struck Twelve

Written by James R. Benn

Narrated by Peter Berkrot

In the 14th Billy Boyle mystery, US Army detective Billy Boyle and Lieutenant Kazimierz travel into the heart of Nazi-occupied Paris on a dangerous mission: ensure a traitor to the French Resistance unwittingly carries out a high-stakes deception campaign. August, 1944: US Army detective Billy Boyle is assigned to track down a French traitor, code-named Atlantik, who is delivering classified Allied plans to German leaders in occupied Paris. The Resistance is also hot on his trail and out for blood, after Atlantik's previous betrayals led to the death of many of their members. But the plans Atlantik carries were leaked on purpose, a ruse devised to obscure the Allied army's real intentions to bypass Paris in a race to the German border. Now Billy and Kaz are assigned to the Resistance with orders to not let them capture the traitor: the deception campaign is too important. Playing a delicate game, the chase must be close enough to spur the traitor on and visible enough to ensure the Germans trust Atlantik. The outcome of the war may well depend on it.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Recorded Books, Inc.
• Release date: Sep 3, 2019
• ISBN: 9781980051428

James R. Benn

James R. Benn is the author of the popular Billy Boyle World War II mystery series. The debut title, Billy Boyle, was a Dilys Award nominee and one of Booksense’s top five mysteries for 2006. Subsequent titles have received starred reviews in Publishers Weekly and Library Journal, and two have been tagged as “Killer Books” by the Independent Mystery Booksellers Association. Benn lives in Hadlyme, Connecticut, with his wife, Deborah Mandel. For more information, visit his website at www.jamesrbenn.com.

Reviews for When Hell Struck Twelve

[ethel55_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Billy and Kaz have been investigating and seeing the horrors of war for a couple years and it is seemingly starting to manifest in physical ways for both men. They start in Falaise, a stand the Poles took in France that I didn't know much about. With the march on Paris in the works, Patton is in France, and the resistance is starting to break ranks to favor a free France, DeGaulle or Communism. Looking for a traitor takes Billy and Kaz from the French countryside to Paris. where Billy is neatly aided by the grandfather of a detective in another series.

[jamespurcell · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Two ugly scenes bookend this bleak description of the liberation of Paris. One. the Poles savage fight to hold Hill 262 in Falaise and the other the bloody mess that ensued as the Germans left Paris. Billy struggles to carry out a diversionary plan for the allies to move past and keep chasing the fleeing Germans while popping bills and caring for the ailing Kaz. A brutal but rivering tale in this very good WW2 series.