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Napoleonic Murders #2
Wolf Hunt: The Napoleonic Murders
"Cabasson skilfully weaves an intriguing mystery into a rich historical background."—Mail on Sunday
The forces of Napoleon's Grande Armée are in Austria. For Lieutenant Lukas Relmyer, it is hard to return to the place where he and fellow orphan Franz were kidnapped four years previously. Franz was brutally murdered and Lukas has vowed to avenge his death.
When the body of another orphan is found on the battlefield, Captain Quentin Margont and Lukas join forces to track down the wolf that is prowling once more in the forests of Aspern. . . .
Armand Cabasson is an author and psychiatrist.
The forces of Napoleon's Grande Armée are in Austria. For Lieutenant Lukas Relmyer, it is hard to return to the place where he and fellow orphan Franz were kidnapped four years previously. Franz was brutally murdered and Lukas has vowed to avenge his death.
When the body of another orphan is found on the battlefield, Captain Quentin Margont and Lukas join forces to track down the wolf that is prowling once more in the forests of Aspern. . . .
Armand Cabasson is an author and psychiatrist.
298 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2005
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About the author
Armand Cabasson
35 books1 followerArmand Cabasson is a psychiatrist and novelist working in the north of France.
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Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews
March 22, 2011
I was absolutely underwhelmed and disappointed with "WOLF HUNT". I'm a fan of Napoleonic Era fiction, and the fact that "WOLF HUNT" was also a mystery novel made me feel that I was in for a treat, because I love a well-written, engaging mystery novel, too.
"WOLF HUNT" is set in Austria in 1809. A young officer (Lukas Relmyer) in the French Army in the forest near a recently concluded battle comes across the corpse of a young man, whose face was mutilated in such a way that it bore a macabre grimace. For Relmyer, an Austrian by birth, it brings back memories from a few years earlier, when a childhood friend of his met a similar end.
Relmyer becomes obssessed by the murder and, with the help (albeit reluctantly) from a fellow officer, Captain Quentin Margont, leaves no stone unturned in his efforts to find out "whodunit."
Relmyer came across as little more than a caricature of the brooding, troubled soul, as well as a brat. I had little empathy for him. The storyline failed to captivate my full interest. I was sooo glad to finish this novel.
"WOLF HUNT" is set in Austria in 1809. A young officer (Lukas Relmyer) in the French Army in the forest near a recently concluded battle comes across the corpse of a young man, whose face was mutilated in such a way that it bore a macabre grimace. For Relmyer, an Austrian by birth, it brings back memories from a few years earlier, when a childhood friend of his met a similar end.
Relmyer becomes obssessed by the murder and, with the help (albeit reluctantly) from a fellow officer, Captain Quentin Margont, leaves no stone unturned in his efforts to find out "whodunit."
Relmyer came across as little more than a caricature of the brooding, troubled soul, as well as a brat. I had little empathy for him. The storyline failed to captivate my full interest. I was sooo glad to finish this novel.
August 14, 2016
Four stars, mainly for a splendid description of the Battle of Wagram.
April 27, 2013
Cabasson is well-known for his obsessive study of the Napoleonic wars, but he has considerable trouble separating his hobby from the necessity of terseness in his prose, and so this book has the usual long excursuses into regimental history, battle plans (both French and Austrian), and a few supercilious put-downs of the Viennese. Quentin Margont is a French soldier who, when he is not butchering the enemy, likes to ponder egaliteraniasm and the remains of the Revolution of 1789, and, at other times, solve crimes. He encounters a beautiful Austrian woman (during a truce in the conflict) who begs him to help locate a missing orphan. The orphan is subsequently found brutally murdered. Meanwhile, an Austrian-turned-French soldier Lukas Relmyer is on the chase of the murderer who, he believes, was the man who had very nearly killed him several years earlier. The two men decide to join forces, and in the midst of their hunt, there is opportunity to describe a Viennese ball, corruption in the bureaucracy, Franco-Austrian disdain for each other, a few bouts of fencing, and Margont's love for the beautiful Austrian woman. As far as investigations go, unsurprisingly, this is not of very high calibre; eventually the two men do catch up with the murderer, but the villain's motivation was not very clear (to me, at least).
May 5, 2017
As a crime/thriller this fails. As a story about the 1809 Napoleon Austrian campaign it is an OK read which is short enough to allow one to forgive its weaknesses.
February 18, 2017
Military mystery set in Austria, 1809, during the Napoleonic wars. A wolf hunt - with a wolf hunting you back.
Young lieutenant Lukas Relmyer is back at the place where he and his friend Franz were kidnapped and put into the cellar in order to get weak - to be an easy target for a murderer. Lukas escaped, Franz had not. But Lukas is not an adolescent he was 4 years ago anymore, now he is a renowned duellist charged for hunting the abductor and making him pay for the Franz's death. But the murderer is smart - he is killing only young orphans, whom nobody is caring for. Fortunately Lukas and his sworn "sister" from the orphanage Luisa has found the right helper - Captain Quentin Margont, who is a kind man and idealist enough to put his everything to stop the killings.
I was happy to know Quentin Margont better here in this book. Author concentrates on him and his story more - and he is worth to know him better. Quentin is an unusual hero, a man idealistic enough to go a mile more for his friends or just for justice, thinking in the take-charge world and dreaming for the better future for all. But he is not a naive boy, he knows exactly which times he is living on and this saddens him. But he is still willing to help - exactly a person you wish to have amongst your friends.
But while the author is doing him justice, I feel he is not doing the same to his friends (except his energetic sidekick Levine), as they feels as caricatures.
Lukas Relmyer is having an interesting character arc, but somehow I feel that his author doesn't like him - as I can't connect with him, too. Which is sad, because he is the proverbial boy who has survived - which itself is a hard fate, but which makes an interesting hero.
I am happy to report that there is a less war descriptions that in the previous novel, as I am no fan of the military operations and their reviving. But this might be interesting for men or fans of this time period!
And finally, the mystery - well, most of the book I was hooked. The killer is a man who definitely must be hunted. And during the war times this is precisely what is hard to do - our sleuths have a military service to do, they are on the enemy's soil and the kidnapper is definitely one of their Austrian adversaries. How to find him?
But the abrupt ending has somehow spoilt all the good sleuthing I experienced with the heroes.
But still, the author succeed in hooking my imagination - I was there with Quentin and the posse, amongst the fightings, in the caffes, on a hunt. Just to accomplish this means that the author is a skilled writer. And there is not much skilled writers!
And precisely because of that and my feeling of companionship with Quentin Margont I will be a good soldier and follow him on his next adventures. To arms!
Young lieutenant Lukas Relmyer is back at the place where he and his friend Franz were kidnapped and put into the cellar in order to get weak - to be an easy target for a murderer. Lukas escaped, Franz had not. But Lukas is not an adolescent he was 4 years ago anymore, now he is a renowned duellist charged for hunting the abductor and making him pay for the Franz's death. But the murderer is smart - he is killing only young orphans, whom nobody is caring for. Fortunately Lukas and his sworn "sister" from the orphanage Luisa has found the right helper - Captain Quentin Margont, who is a kind man and idealist enough to put his everything to stop the killings.
I was happy to know Quentin Margont better here in this book. Author concentrates on him and his story more - and he is worth to know him better. Quentin is an unusual hero, a man idealistic enough to go a mile more for his friends or just for justice, thinking in the take-charge world and dreaming for the better future for all. But he is not a naive boy, he knows exactly which times he is living on and this saddens him. But he is still willing to help - exactly a person you wish to have amongst your friends.
But while the author is doing him justice, I feel he is not doing the same to his friends (except his energetic sidekick Levine), as they feels as caricatures.
Lukas Relmyer is having an interesting character arc, but somehow I feel that his author doesn't like him - as I can't connect with him, too. Which is sad, because he is the proverbial boy who has survived - which itself is a hard fate, but which makes an interesting hero.
I am happy to report that there is a less war descriptions that in the previous novel, as I am no fan of the military operations and their reviving. But this might be interesting for men or fans of this time period!
And finally, the mystery - well, most of the book I was hooked. The killer is a man who definitely must be hunted. And during the war times this is precisely what is hard to do - our sleuths have a military service to do, they are on the enemy's soil and the kidnapper is definitely one of their Austrian adversaries. How to find him?
But the abrupt ending has somehow spoilt all the good sleuthing I experienced with the heroes.
But still, the author succeed in hooking my imagination - I was there with Quentin and the posse, amongst the fightings, in the caffes, on a hunt. Just to accomplish this means that the author is a skilled writer. And there is not much skilled writers!
And precisely because of that and my feeling of companionship with Quentin Margont I will be a good soldier and follow him on his next adventures. To arms!
May 12, 2016
"Wolf Hunt" by Armand Cabasson is an historical mystery or more accurately , historical fiction with a hunt for a vicious murder. The story takes place during Napoleon' attack on Austria in the summer of about 1810. During a loll in combat, the body of a boy is discovered horribly mutilated. In the midst a warfare, an investigation is started involving French officers who vow to find the killer.
The book is written with very good descriptions of life in the armies of the time, and of the warfare of the period. Unfortunately, the author also spends a lot of time describing hpthe tactical aims of the armies which slow down the narrative quite a bit. I found myself skipping over over the military stuff to get on with the story.
Not bad and not exciting and the characters are interesting, but if one has little or no interest in Napoleonic warfare and politics, slow reading?
The book is written with very good descriptions of life in the armies of the time, and of the warfare of the period. Unfortunately, the author also spends a lot of time describing hpthe tactical aims of the armies which slow down the narrative quite a bit. I found myself skipping over over the military stuff to get on with the story.
Not bad and not exciting and the characters are interesting, but if one has little or no interest in Napoleonic warfare and politics, slow reading?
August 5, 2014
Translated from the original French, it was sometimes odd - grammatically correct, but not normal language. Taking place during Napoleon's war against the Austro-Hungarian Empire, the serial child-killer uses the chaos of war to hide his crimes. On the other side is Relmyer, a grown-up escaped victim looking for redemption, and a French Republican who has his own deep issues in assisting with the disorganized investigation. The climax to the investigation comes after a long description of the climactic final battle outside of Vienna. Unlike many mysteries, this doesn't delve deeply into the motives of the killer, but instead into the motives of the investigators and various side characters.
February 18, 2015
Historical mystery set against the Occupation of Vienna and Battle of Wagram. The same cast of characters as Officer's Prey. Captain Margot battles his own demons along with Relmyer. Interesting historically.
October 21, 2016
A vivid, atmospheric story set during the Napoleonic Wars.
A well written tale of murder, mysterious killing and vengeance.
A great read and highly recommended.
I was given a digital copy of this book by the publisher Gallic Books via Netgalley in return for an honest unbiased review.
A well written tale of murder, mysterious killing and vengeance.
A great read and highly recommended.
I was given a digital copy of this book by the publisher Gallic Books via Netgalley in return for an honest unbiased review.
June 27, 2013
The murder mystery was a convenient hook to hang some great accounts of Napoleonic warfare. I particularly enjoyed Cabasson's use of the Battle of Wagram for his climax.
Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews