The Phantom Patrol

Billy Boyle World War II #19

by James R. Benn

In the nineteenth installment of James R. Benn’s acclaimed WWII mystery series, an investigation into a secret gang of Nazi-affiliated art thieves in post-Liberation Paris leads Billy Boyle and his comrades into the catastrophic Battle of the Bulge in winter 1944.

Months after the Liberation of France, ex-Boston cop Billy Boyle has landed in its war-torn capital city, still carrying with him the weight of his last mission. He witnesses a Paris ailing from the carnage it has endured—blocked roadways, buildings marked by bullet holes—but with the nascent hope that the war might be coming to its end. When Billy and his long-time comrade Kaz survive a tense shoot-out in the Père Lachaise Cemetery, they discover a rare piece of artwork left behind in an unmarked grave. Could the artwork be connected to the Syndicat du Renard, a shadowy network of Nazi sympathizers known to be smuggling stolen artwork out of France?

Billy’s investigation takes him through a shadowy underworld of art thieves and the heroic squad of cultural protectors, like the real-life Monuments Men, trying to stop them. Trailing the Syndicat and its unknown leader, the Fox, Billy discovers that someone with a high level of security and communications clearance—someone in the Phantom regiment of the British Army—may be using his position to aid the thefts. Determined to stop the gang of looters, Billy heads up to the frontlines of the war, to a tense, frostbitten calvary, where the Phantom unit’s headquarters is based. There, the Battle of the Bulge—one of the bloodiest campaigns in the history of World War II—unfurls in the Ardennes Forest, on the border of Belgium and Luxembourg. Can Billy and his team survive the bracing onslaught, and return a throng of stolen artwork to its rightful owners?

Genres: Historical Fiction, Mystery, Fiction, Historical, World War II, Detective

353 pages, Kindle Edition

First published September 24, 2024

About the author

James R. Benn is the author of Billy Boyle: A World War II Mystery, selected by Book Sense as one of the top five mysteries of 2006 and nominated for a Dilys Award. The First Wave was a Book Sense Notable title.
Benn is a librarian and lives in Hadlyme, Connecticut.

Reviews

[Ay · Rating 5 out of 5]

I was delighted to receive an advance review copy because I have loved this series up to this point.

I still do, after reading this book. If you have not read this series, start with book 1.

Okay. This, obviously is book 19. Book 1 is set in June of 1942 when Boyle, as a new lieutenant, is part of the US army, arrives in London. The 19 books keep him pretty busy investigating crimes and other irregularities in the middle of (mostly) the European theatre of world war II. Because of the complexity and intensity of this vast war zone, Boyle tends to get involved in whatever else is going on around him, usually intense military action.

Book 19 is no different. Boyle and colleagues follow leads to sort out what is going on, and end up in the middle of the battle of the bulge. As you do. As in the previous books, Boyle is trying to work out what on earth is going on with the task he is charged with, while having to frequently fight for his life, participate in battles and other general blowing-things-up type activities. The reader follows on with Boyle, as he keeps discovering new nuggets of information and putting everything together, with his interesting and likeable work colleagues.

As usual, we have deeply realised characters, complex engaging plot, and intense action sequences. I deeply appreciate Benn's deep research. In this book we learn about the way intelligence was fed from the battle front to the command centres, and the process of recovering looted artwork in the middle of a war. As usual we gain some sense of the reality of life in the villages and towns in the war zone. Benn depicts the reality of the human condition, from heroism in everyday life to the opposite, normal people getting through the day in an insane situation.

I cannot recommend this series highly enough if you like mysteries, war novels, or historical novels, excellent plot, and/or great characters. I look forward to the next book in this series.

[David · Rating 5 out of 5]

I got this and finished it in a 24 hour period.
All of the Billy Boyle books are fast paced but this may be the fastest. The real events that form the frame work are fascinating, well chosen and intricately intertwined.
Billy will come across black market criminals, missing art, car thieves, J.D. Salinger, David Niven the the Battle of the Bulge.
If you have not started this series you can read this as stand alone story but do yourself a favor and read them all.
I can't wait for the next one.

[Chris · Rating 3 out of 5]

Billy is investigating a French criminal gang in Paris four months after its liberation. It's December and the trail leads to the front lines in Belgium to an officer who conducts the phantom patrols for General Montgomery. Pretty soon art theft morphs into the Battle of the Bulge. The plot gets a little confusing as the criminal enterprise might be concealing a German plot to strike strategic Allied centers of gravity. After a while I just wanted it to wrap up. I did enjoy meeting the actor David Niven and the author J, D. Salinger both of whom interact significantly with Billy and Kaz.

[Renee · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Phantom Patrol is a crazy ride for Billy & Kaz! What starts out as a simple assignment turns into an epic journey, where Billy witnesses both horrific & brave acts & eventually saves the day. As I listened I actually felt Billy's cold & fatigue in my bones--or maybe that's just because I finished the book at the end of a long week with junior high students :) In any case, this was a rapid-paced, entertaining read.

[Jay · Rating 5 out of 5]

THE PHANTOM PATROL, the 19th book in author James R. Benn's Billy Boyle World War II mystery series, is a personal milestone for me as a fan of the series.

Having been a late arrival to the series, this is the first book in the series I've read when it ACTUALLY came out! Yes, I finally caught up and now like everyone else I get to ride along with Billy on his latest investigation.

And what an investigation it is. Billy Boyle is in Paris during the winter of 1944. He's part of an investigation that nearly ends badly for the cops with a shoot-out in a cemetery. But when a piece of artwork leads to a crime ring sympathetic to the Nazis, Billy soon learns that the crime ring may have help from someone in the British army.

As he follows the clues, Billy has to go to the frontlines of the war and winds up involved in the Battle of the Bulge. With Kaz, Big Mike and the rest of the characters weaving in and out of the story, Billy will have to not only survive one of the most deadly battles in World War II, but killers determined to keep him and his compatriots from stopping their plans.

THE PHANTOM PATROL was an absolutely great read. From the opening shootout in the cemetery where you can feel the dark night closing in even as the night lights up with gunfire to the frontline battles in the Ardennes Forest, the detailed work from James R. Benn places the reader right there with Billy in the middle of everything. The plot flies by as the investigation moves inexorably forward with plenty of twists and turns to keep you on the edge of your seat!

[Michael Rhode · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is an excellent series and this is a high point in it.

[Scilla · Rating 4 out of 5]

It's 1944, and WWII is almost over. Billy and Kaz are stationed in France, and are investigating art thefts. Most of the Germans have left Paris, but there is a group of folks seemingly mostly SS who are involved with art thefts. Billy and Kaz are checking out a Cemetary in Paris and they finally find the hidden thieves as well as a valuable painting. However, they weren't able to capture any of the theives. They get to the center where the art works have been stored, and manage to ship them back to Paris. As Billy and Kaz head north supposedly to check out the Phantom Patrols, they find Germans in American uniforms and signs which give the wrong directions. The germans haven't given up even though they have supposedly left Paris. It becomes difficult to know whether they are on the right road or heading to the correct town. They later find out that they have been involved in the Battle of the Bulge.

One group of Germans is determined to take out Eisenhower. Will Kaz and Billly be able to find the SS hideout and prevent an attack? The war isn't over yet! This is a great addition to a very good series. I thank Netgalley and Soho books for the ARC for me to read before publication.

[Ron · Rating 4 out of 5]

Excellent mystery set during WWII
The author mixes his fictional character with real people and often tells little known true stories about the war.

[Mountain343 · Rating 5 out of 5]

Yet another great Billy Boyle book!

I'm always delighted to see who he brings into each story and this one had such a fascinating mix of characters that kept popping up!

The case this time was a little bit of a swirling ball of confusion at times, and when it felt like it went off the rails, or tacked on, or even had a bit of a deus ex machina weirdness to it, Benn was able to really find a way to make it work into the whole overarching narrative. It was also really nice to see dead ends in the case, things that seemed major turning into something minor/inconsequential. Authors rarely due this for brevity's sake and yet it's really what investigators spend most of their time on!

One thing that Benn does really well is convey the feelings and emotional toll incidents have on a single subject and wide spread. Previously broaching the topics of the Holocaust and the Katyn Forest massacre, this book once again shows the horrors of the Holocaust in a new way, as well as torturing Boyle with more and more of the worst historical experiences the war had to offer.

For those familiar with the war, there are certain names - people and places - that are mentioned throughout the book that foreshadow the later chapters events. And while you may know what is coming, trust that Benn does a great job covering them and their importance.

Overall, it was a great read, with a great cast of characters, a lot of different places, scenes, and events. The case wasn't the best, but it fit the overall narrative in an interesting way, and there are some real gut wrenching moments that hit pretty hard - everything you want in a book like this!

[Homerun2 · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is an outstanding and long-running World War II series featuring former Boston cop Billy Boyle, a relative of Eisenhower's who is sort of a troubleshooter.

The ensemble cast is terrific and long-time readers enjoy the interactions. Billy and Kaz, his Polish fellow officer, are up to their eyeballs in this action-packed adventure. They become involved with old French resistance politics, Nazi art looting, and a lot of battlefield action with the Germans.

The plots are always complex and Benn doesn't glorify or pretty up the war. Highly recommended series. I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

[Robin · Rating 5 out of 5]

War is hell. In his gentle, narrative manner, James R. Benn has demonstrated through 19 and counting Billy Boyle novels this harsh verity. All of them, in their own way, are excellent, some of them more traditionally structured mysteries, like the locked room puzzler The Red Horse (2020) or the English village set Proud Sorrows (2023). But they all take place during WWII and feature at least one bravura battle or action scene. Book 19 is set during the Battle of the Bulge, and even though hostilities would end several months later, Billy finds himself still in the thick of things.

Billy, a former cop, works for General Eisenhower (a cousin, though he calls him “Uncle Ike”) as an investigator. This novel kicks off with the discovery of Klimt drawing which was obviously looted by the Germans. The thread he follows in order to find the original owner illuminates the work of the real life Rose Valland, a woman who kept track of looted art and was able to ultimately return 60,000 works. In the novel, she validates the value and authenticity of the Klimt drawing.

Much of the story then focuses on the group – we might think of them as a sleeper cell – who stole the drawing and seem as though they could be disrupting the allies in other, more dangerous ways, one of them a rumored attack on First Army headquarters. The journey Billy takes (mostly solo) through the French countryside illustrates the confusion of the soldiers on the front as the Battle of the Bulge was going on. In the midst of the chaos nothing seemed to make sense.

In pursuit of his objective he finds himself trudging through snow, surviving a plane crash, hiding in the woods, throwing grenades, setting off bombs, and in more than one encounter, fighting for his life. In constant danger, exhausted and often hungry, he still must use his brain to piece together what’s happening in the topsy-turvy world around him. Benn’s novels always give the reader an appreciation for what the soldier on the ground experienced and though Billy is slightly elevated and has more access than a common soldier, his experiences are as challenging and dangerous as theirs.

Benn also presents a magnificent set piece in each novel, and, happily, this one has two. In the first, Billy and a pilot get aboard a tiny plane (which at that time were basically frames covered with canvas) on a low visibility day. Their terrors are recounted in a way that makes it only too easy for the reader to feel they are along for the white knuckle ride. The other is a sequence toward the end of the novel which I won’t reveal too much of here, but suffice it to say, it’s a wowser of an ending for the novel.

While I enjoyed much of this book I found myself wishing there was a bit more about the work of the Monument Men, who recovered stolen artwork. Much of Billy’s on the ground machinations in and around the front were, to me, slightly confusing. I even re-watched Patton to get a feel for the Battle of the Bulge, but of course that story is told from the point of view of a general and not a soldier. However, I always learn something when I read a Benn novel, and am always delighted to reunite with Billy, who is a wonderful, dare I say already classic, character.

[Judy Singer · Rating 5 out of 5]

It is a pleasure to be given the opportunity to read The Phantom Patrol before its release date this September. I am a huge fan of James Benn’s Billy Boyle WWII mysteries which consistently provide a unique view of the war from the perspective of an investigator working directly for SHAEF, Eisenhower’s command in Europe.
The action takes place in the winter of 1944. The Germans have retreated beyond their borders and the allies are spread out along a line that is not as well-defended as it needs to be. It is almost Christmas, and the Germans are about to launch a counter-offensive which will become known as The Battle of the Bulge. Using historically accurate maps and accounts of the activities on both sides, Benn builds a superb mystery involving looted art and a gang of thieves designated as The Syndicate, which is active in the recently liberated city of Paris and made up of deserters from both armies and resistance fighters alike. As always, Benn uses little-known aspects of the war as a staging point for his story, sending his investigators into the thick of it. The Phantom Patrols were small British units that visited the front in order to report back on the activities and actions taking place along the strung-out line of troops. Moving from Paris, to the front lines, to headquarters of both British and American generals, to small French country villages and through the fields and forests where the fight is raging, Billy Boyle and his good friend, Kaz experience much of what historically occurred in the Battle of the Bulge.
I love how Benn enhances his stories by introducing at least one famous historical figure whose presence is plausible and who was known to participate in that time and place during the war. In The Phantom Patrol, two celebrities make appearances including future author and American CIC special agent J. D. Salinger, and movie star, Major David Niven who worked in British Intelligence and later spoke little about the war. Both my husband, who also read this book, and I enjoyed the addition of Salinger and Niven to the cast of characters.
I highly recommend this book and this series overall for the history, for shining a spotlight on little known events and strategies of WWII, for the mysteries that keep you guessing throughout each story, and for the endearing and entertaining characters who star in each adventure.

[Michael Bertrand · Rating 4 out of 5]

Phantom Patrol tells the story of Captain William "Billy" Boyle, a officer in the Office of Special Investigation, as he and his partner Lieutenant Piotr Augustus "Kaz" Kazimierz investigate a gang of thieves in Paris during WWII.

Boyle's investigation leads him to the front lines, where he and Kaz get stuck in the Battle of the Bulge.

I'm not sure why I picked this book up. I like historical fiction, but I avoid novels with an American WWII setting. Since Saving Private Ryan and Band of Brothers there's been a nostalgic view of WWII that doesn't sit right with me. From what I've heard from veterans, that nostalgic attitude has been around much longer- but the point is that I don't like American WWII era stories. They're usually too heavy on the gee-shucks-ma heroism and too light on the dirt-grime-war-is-Hell realism.

I almost quit Phantom Patrol in the first twenty pages because:

1. Even with the violence and death of the opening murder, it felt too clean and neat.
2. The main characters talk in a stilted, formal manner that sounded unnatural.
3. There was no profanity.
4. The Americans are the good guys. The Germans are entirely evil. And the French... surrendered.

I stuck with it and discovered:
1. The author doesn't revel in the violence, but he also doesn't downplay it. Phantom Patrol is not a cozy mystery.
2. One of the main characters, Kaz, is Polish and talks that way because English is not his first language. Billy's dialogue fits once you learn his background.
3. There's not a lot of profanity, but there *is* some.
4. The author does a good job of developing nuance and showing real people in horrible circumstances. The Americans aren't pure as the driven snow. The Nazis, especially the groups featured in Phantom Patrol, *were* evil and did the evil things shown in the novel. The French are also shown in greater detail- from remnants of the Vichy government down to members of the Resistance.

All in all, this is a really enjoyable novel with exceptionally good action sequences.

Note: Phantom Patrol is book #19 in a series. I haven't read anything else by the author and I had no trouble enjoying the book once I got past my issues. Don't hesitate in picking up Phantom Patrol.

[Thomas Watson · Rating 5 out of 5]

James Benn is back with another thrilling “Billy Boyle” wartime murder mystery – “The Phantom Patrol,” and although one reviewer or another says something similar every year, “this may be the best one yet!” I am not sure how he keeps “topping” himself, but this one -- #19 in the series -- certainly deserves all the applause and appreciation it gets!

In this exciting tale, our heroes – Billy Boyle and his friends Kaz and Big Mike – are stationed in France. It’s December, 1944, the Germans are in retreat – and are trying desperately to escape back to the Fatherland with as many art treasures and other items of value as they can take. Billy quickly encounters “the Monuments Men,” a group of American, English and French servicemen dedicated to returning such treasures to their rightful owners.

Benn is an amazingly assured writer, drawing on a vast knowledge base about World War II that allows him to mix his fictional tales with true-to-life backgrounds and situations – making his books as informational as they are entertaining. His crisp, first-person narrative and pitch-perfect dialogue make it possible for all of us to experience these mysteries first hand.

As always, Benn interweaves real people into his fiction, and here Billy and Kaz encounter both future-writer J. D. Salinger and actor David Niven… Rather than have them make simple “walk on” cameo appearances, Benn allows both become important supporting players in the story. Niven, in fact, nearly “steals the show.”

Newcomers to the “Billy Boyle” series need not worry: Benn cleverly fills in readers on all the background information they need to know. This fine book stands very much on its own!

In short, “The Phantom Patrol” is another winner!

[Hanna · Rating 3 out of 5]

Starting the Billy Boyle series at #19, I'm sure I have missed much in the way of character development from the previous stories. I'd guess that's not primarily why my interest was lacking at times, though; character development in this story was acceptable, and if one can easily understand, practically, the technical military terms, rankings, and procedures, one will be able to follow the storyline as it plays out, from one mission (and reveal) to the next.

It's written in first-person, which resulted in a more distant familiarity with "Billy." His core motivations are somewhat unclear, and he seems to be most worried about getting sleep and food. Somehow the deprivations fail to stir my sympathies for him--I chalk it up to the writing style, which is excellent in terms of keeping action going and describing the important facts of a setting, but is clunky in other ways.

Content-wise, the story is mild in describing the horrors of war; certainly events occur with horrific deaths, and they affect the MC significantly; but it is handled for the reader in non-graphic details. Billy Boyle both witnesses his comrades being killed and causes gruesome deaths of the enemy. Such are the essentials of war. Swearing also punctuates the story, both in dialogue and in the MC's descriptive perspective. I regret any instances, but it does not overwhelm the story. Crude actions and thoughts specific to men are included, but these are hinted at or mentioned implicitly, and not graphically.

A fast-paced plot - a mystery surrounded by artwork - a non-soldier forced into combat at every turn - an exciting climax even if one hasn't been convinced of Billy's tenuous theory - all this makes for a solid good read for its target readers.

[Viva · Rating 5 out of 5]

I've followed Billy Boyle from book 1 and these can be a hit or a miss. If you are a new reader, it's best to start from the beginning. The premise is that Boyle is a NYPD detective seconded to Ike in the European theatre for special tasks. The writing is easy to read and follow but the plots mostly aren't that exciting and sometimes downright slow. I do like them for the characters and the settings. One of the problems of that, of course, is that you pretty much need to read the books in series to know who the characters are as they come and go from one book to the next. Spoilers ahead.

The end of the European war (and the series?) is nearing as the Allies liberate Paris. Boyle is now trying to stop a Parisian gang (Syndicat du Renard) from trafficking artworks, of which there are a lot, since the Nazis have been plundering wherever they go and France and Paris is one of the places that teem with valuable pieces of art.

The book starts off with a raid in the famous Père Lachaise Cemetery where they hope to catch members of the Syndicat headed by the Fox, an unknown figure. But the raid seems to have been informed by a mole in the French police and fails. The brass next puts Boyle in touch with the Monuments Men (the Monuments, Fine Arts, and Archives (MFAA) men) a real unit tasked with finding and saving Nazi loot in WW2 to sniff out more leads.

The trail of suspects and witnesses leads Boyle all over the front lines where he sees real action such as the Battle of the Bulge and the Malmedy Massacre. This plot in this series is one of the rare ones where the author mixes detective work with real war fiction and does a good job of it.

[Becky · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Phantom Patrol (Billy Boyle World War II #19) James R. Benn. 2024. 352 pages. [Source: Library] [4 stars] [adult historical; adult mystery; world war II]

First sentence: The night was cold, cloaked in a deep darkness brought on by a bank of clouds sailing in on the winds and vanquishing the moonlight. Dead leaves, crisp and brittle, swirled in man-sized cyclones on the cobblestones, one so dense that I mistook it for someone sauntering through the graveyard.

Premise/plot: Billy Boyle and friends return for their NINETEENTH mystery. This one is set in France in December of 1944. This mystery starts out as an investigation of art thieves, and, the body count quickly starts mounting. So in part this one is art-related but also espionage and war-war. It has some INTENSE scenes, for sure. All of the Billy Boyle books feature cameos (for lack of a better word) of real life men and/or women. This one features J.D. Salinger and David Niven...as well as Eisenhower.

My thoughts: I absolutely LOVE, LOVE, LOVE, LOVE the series. I do. If I didn't love the series, chances are I wouldn't still be incredibly eager and excited for each new release. Seriously, I start thinking about "the new Billy Boyle" book in mid-summer. (It always releases in the fall). I ADORE the characters. I am deeply invested in ALL of the characters--and there are MANY side characters. All that being said, I don't love all nineteen books equally. This one wasn't my favorite of the nineteen. However, I do love the characters in general. His writing is always compelling.

[Darius Ostrowski · Rating 4 out of 5]

James R. Benn continues his recent renaissance of his Billy Boyle series with another fine outing in "The Phantom Patrol". This one is quite action-packed as Billy goes right into the teeth of what has become known as The Battle of the Bulge, Germany's last big campaign of WWII.

It starts out in Paris, recently liberated, but still full of intrigue. Billy and Kaz are after art thieves, opening in a shootout at the Père Lachaise Cemetery, pursuing leads for the Syndicat du Renard, led by a thief known only as the Fox, a possible Nazi hiding from the law. This gang is smuggling stolen art out of the country and is killing anyone who gets in the way. Billy and Kaz follow the clues to the frontlines, right as the Germans launch one of the bloodiest attacks of the war. Can Billy and Kaz survive the final Nazi push as well as the Fox and his henchmen?

More thrilling and action-oriented then usual, Billy and Kaz find themselves actually doing quite a bit of fighting. Other than the cameos of famous people (this time it's David Niven and J.D. Sallinger both playing major roles) which tend to distract, this is a great addition to the long-running series.

[George · Rating 5 out of 5]

#19 in the former Boston cop Billy Boyle WW II mystery series.
December, 1944 and Billy is back in Paris laying a trap for a group called the Syndicat made up of deserters from everyone's armies who are stealing all kinds of things, especially art, and selling it for profit. The trail leads to the front lines in Belgium and the Battle of the Bulge.

Billy is in very early 20's, Boston Irish with a cocky attitude and had just made detective when the war started. His parents used their connections to keep him out of combat by getting him a staff job on cousin's Dwight Eisenhower's staff who at the war's start was based in Washington, D.C. Ike is quickly transferred to London when Billy joins his staff. Billy's goal: stay out of any combat situation and get back to Boston. His investigative style is to poke a stick into things to see what happens. He is impertinent, has a Boston America Irish anti British huge chip on his shoulder, doesn't like superior officers, tends to disobeys orders, takes himself off on his own personal tasks without considering ramifications putting himself in serious situations, and, since he is hero, these personal tasks work.

[Libby · Rating 5 out of 5]

I am always excited when I learn there is a new Billy Boyle book. I sped through this well-plotted mystery which, like most in the series, also introduced me to aspects of World War II history that I was not familiar with, in this case, the beginning of the Battle of the Bulge. Billy, Kaz, and other now familiar characters interacted with famous names such as a young J. D. Salinger and the British actor, David Nivens. In addition, readers learn more about the Monuments, Fine Arts, and Archives program which worked to recover art looted by the Nazis. None of this history overrides the story in this thoroughly enjoyable read.

Review based on an eARC received from the publisher through NetGalley.

[Kristi Jones · Rating 5 out of 5]

Billy Boyle is back with his intriguing sidekick, Kaz, hunting for a gang of art thieves in Paris right before the start of the Battle of the Bulge. Benn brings back all the great historical detail, combined with a complex mystery set amid tense battle scenes. Actor David Niven plays a role and introduces some of the new technology used during WWII. I love Benn’s use of historical details to bring this time period to life and to heighten the tension in his mysteries. This is another great read with likable characters, lots of action, and details about the complicated and abhorrent crimes committed during wartime. Benn hits at the heart of what it means to be human when faced with the moral dilemmas of world conflict. I look forward to reading the next adventure!

[Tom Godfrey · Rating 3 out of 5]

I've read all of the books in this series, and while this one is fine, it doesn't feel as engaging as the previous outings. This time, Billy and Kaz are trying to track down an organized gang of art thieves who are managing to steal masterworks from liberated Paris, and Europe as a whole. Circumstance has the pair pursue their case in the area of the Ardenne at the exact time that the German army launches its last-gasp attack which came to be known as the Battle of the Bulge. The best thing about this is that our guys wind up dodging bullets in the company of David Niven, the actor, who comes across as extremely brave and competent, and still uttering dry brit witticisms. I don't know if he'll ever reappear, but I hope so.

[William Hogan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Love this series. The main characters are terrific and James R. Benn clearly knows and researches his particular subjects and little known or remembered actions in World War II.

My father was in the 791st AAA unit and he drove a deuce and a half in the Red Ball Express. Reading these books brings me a bit closer to my long-dead father. Viewing the war through Billy's eyes, and seeing the things that my father may have seen from a GI's perspective is something deeply personal for me.

I'm a bit worried as this book starts at the Battle of the Bulge. We are approaching the end of the war and I do not want this series to end.

[Jim Bogue · Rating 4 out of 5]

Our heroes, Gen. Eisenhower’s special agents US Captain Billy Boyle and Polish/British Lieutenant Kaz, are in Paris in winter 1944 hunting black market art smugglers. It’s a confusing time, with the remnants of the Vichy regime often kept in place. It’s hard to know whom to trust.
Hunting suspects leads the duo into the path of Germany’s last offensive, the Battle of the Bulge. Are the smugglers just hoodlums, or are they tied to German sabotage? And exactly where are the bad guys.?
This is number nineteen in the series. The main cast is well drawn and familiar. But coincidences seem to lay an awfully large role here, and the action gets a bit unlikely. Good but not the best.

[John Beaderstadt · Rating 5 out of 5]

Honoring the Dead of World War 2

Bully Boyle, a Boston cop turned Intelligence officer, has taken the reader to many of the battlefields and secret missions of World War 2. This book had special meaning for me because it chronicalled the Battle the Bulge. Both my parents served in the war but never discussed their experiences. Dad served as an engineer with Patton's Third Army; Mom was in the Women's Royal Air Force.

Reading the 19 books in this series has helped me understand the horrors they experienced and the honor in which they held the survivors and the dead. These books remind us that even a "good war" leaves indelible scars.

[Julia · Rating 4 out of 5]

Honestly, can't sing enough praises for this long running series. It's great to get back with these characters and the war time predicaments they find themselves in during the course of their investigations. This time, an art thief/smuggler is at large in Paris, where Billy and Kaz are charged with sussing out the bad guys. It's also December 1944. What will be known as the Battle of the Bulge is also occurring while the men, aided by a couple of rightly placed famous combatants, discover how the Nazi's are impersonating US MPs. Plus, the resistance isn't quite done with its resisting no matter what the government thinks, and the story plays out, not shying away from the atrocities of war.

[Dick Shea · Rating 3 out of 5]

I have loved many of the Billy Boyle books, but not this one. Benn does his research and sees what celebrities were in the locations that the books are set in. In some cases, they made the book more interesting, but this one was too ridiculous for me. J.D. Salinger saved by Billy? David Niven as their driver? Please Mr. Benn! Made it halfway through and gave up because story was so implausible.

[Bruce Nesset · Rating 5 out of 5]

Billy and Kaz are back in Paris, but all is not fun. they become involved trying to solve the mysterious death of an agent working on the return of looted art works. Their efforts are hampered by a minor incursion of the German Army, known as the Battle of the Bulge, as they travel between Paris and the 1st Army in Belgium. Along the way, J.D. Salinger and David Niven (in the British Army) become involve. Fast paced, and enjoyable.

[Paul · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Phantom Patrol by James R. Benn
B: Another outstanding entry in the Billy Boyle series with Boyle nipping around the edges of the Battle of the Bulge. Name dropping is a staple of this series with Billy and Kaz fighting alongside David Niven and J. D. Salinger in this mystery about art as well as the German commandos who impersonated American Military Police. Look forward to Boyle’s next adventure, probably in occupied Germany.

[David · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have enjoyed the entire series, with inevitably some better than others. I found the last book a bit formulaic, but this book was a story well told. Even when you know what's going to happen (Hmm, Bastogne at Christmas, 1944) it still held my interest as I was reading and waiting to see how our heroes were going to react and get involved with this crisis. I was not disappointed and glad to give this book 5 stars.