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No Second Take: A WW2 novel set among filmmakers on the French Riviera
A classic French movie is being filmed in wartime NiceA deadly game is playing out behind the scenesBut there are no second takes in real life
Hollywood veteran Martin Harris is an electrician at Les Victorines studios in Nice where celebrated director Marcel Carne is filming one of his classics, Les Visiteurs du Soir.Harris still enjoys living in Nice in spite of the wartimes tensions. With his own secret past, he remains aloof from them. But his detachment unravels when his girlfriend Solange is falsely accused of having an abortion -- a capital crime in Vichy France.He seeks the help of a police acquaintance but the tables are quickly turned on him. The secret police want information on communist activities at the studio. And he knows they include a plot to assassinate the German Luftwaffe officer who is having a highly visible collaborationist affair with leading France's leading actress.Caught between protecting his girlfriend and informing on his friends, Harris is forced also to confront the secrets of his own past that led him to France.For readers of Alan Furst's and Joseph Kanon's World War Two novels
Hollywood veteran Martin Harris is an electrician at Les Victorines studios in Nice where celebrated director Marcel Carne is filming one of his classics, Les Visiteurs du Soir.Harris still enjoys living in Nice in spite of the wartimes tensions. With his own secret past, he remains aloof from them. But his detachment unravels when his girlfriend Solange is falsely accused of having an abortion -- a capital crime in Vichy France.He seeks the help of a police acquaintance but the tables are quickly turned on him. The secret police want information on communist activities at the studio. And he knows they include a plot to assassinate the German Luftwaffe officer who is having a highly visible collaborationist affair with leading France's leading actress.Caught between protecting his girlfriend and informing on his friends, Harris is forced also to confront the secrets of his own past that led him to France.For readers of Alan Furst's and Joseph Kanon's World War Two novels
304 pages, Kindle Edition
Published September 27, 2021
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About the author
Joe Joyce
14 books20 followersJoe Joyce is the author of five thrillers: ECHOLAND, ECHOBEAT and ECHOWAVE (spy novels set during the Second World War in neutral Dublin), THE TRIGGER MAN (set during the Irish 'Troubles' in the late 1980s) and OFF THE RECORD (set in the 1970s world of Irish journalism), as well as a history/biography of THE GUINNESSES and a critically acclaimed play,THE TOWER, about James Joyce and Oliver St John Gogarty. He is co-author with Peter Murtagh of THE BOSS, the classic account of Irish politician Charles Haughey in power, and BLIND JUSTICE, about a celebrated miscarriage of justice. He has worked as a journalist for The Irish Times, The Guardian, and Reuters news agency.
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
October 12, 2021
The tale of a veteran of the Irish Civil War working in Nice as electrician in film studio as a major movie is being made. Nice is surrounded by Vichy France, not far away is Fascist Italy. And the mix of people is incredible and quite unique for World War 2 fiction. There are Germans, Irish expatriates, Fascist French, Marshall Petain supporters, Jews, Communist trade unionist, Irish diplomats, American diplomats, refugees, Free French sympathisers, spies, some corrupt police officers, and just ordinary apolitical gangsters. Food shortages and other scarcity, an underlying feeling of being trapped both by physical location and geography.
The plot and characters are largely convincing and the storyline has some great twists. A complex storyline which never gets too bogged down . Enjoyed this immensly.
The plot and characters are largely convincing and the storyline has some great twists. A complex storyline which never gets too bogged down . Enjoyed this immensly.
January 18, 2022
Most of us have our knowledge of the Second World War through fairly narrow lenses. Joe Joyce gives us something different.
In his recent “Echo” trilogy, he created beautifully crafted thrillers set in neutral Ireland, where the wartime intrigue was high. In his latest thriller, we are immersed in the wartime intrigue of Southern France, where the Nazi collaborators of the Vichy regime are in power and ordinary residents — like Irish expat Marty Harris, a film technician at a Nice studio — have to navigate through dangerous and unpredictable times.
Joyce has created a wonderful array of characters to drive his smartly paced plot. And his setting, the streets of Nice in both wintry sun and dark shadows, draws you into a strange and exciting world you probably never knew.
No Second Take is a fine read.
In his recent “Echo” trilogy, he created beautifully crafted thrillers set in neutral Ireland, where the wartime intrigue was high. In his latest thriller, we are immersed in the wartime intrigue of Southern France, where the Nazi collaborators of the Vichy regime are in power and ordinary residents — like Irish expat Marty Harris, a film technician at a Nice studio — have to navigate through dangerous and unpredictable times.
Joyce has created a wonderful array of characters to drive his smartly paced plot. And his setting, the streets of Nice in both wintry sun and dark shadows, draws you into a strange and exciting world you probably never knew.
No Second Take is a fine read.
March 10, 2023
What a fascinating and surprising tale. I learned so much about life in France during the Second World War! Life was very complicated! Especially for foreigners, which our protagonist was. He did a good job to fit in, but kept finding himself entangled with others who did not. There was always a lot of suspicion of others. Many lies and withheld truths from everyone because you just didn't know who to trust! This made relationships especially difficult.
The story includes both violence and romance. Way too many twists and turns to begin to describe them all. Many people were not who they appeared to be. Spies? You bet! Informers? Of course. Turncoats? More than a few. The reader should be prepared to be surprised in almost every chapter. It's good reading!
The story includes both violence and romance. Way too many twists and turns to begin to describe them all. Many people were not who they appeared to be. Spies? You bet! Informers? Of course. Turncoats? More than a few. The reader should be prepared to be surprised in almost every chapter. It's good reading!
August 2, 2022
Entertaining and well written
An interesting story set on the French Riviera during WWII. Intrigue, spies, resistance fighters,movie stars aet the stage for a story about a former Irish
freedom fighter with ties to Hollywood trying to survive the war while learning there is no place to hide from the realities of war.
An interesting story set on the French Riviera during WWII. Intrigue, spies, resistance fighters,movie stars aet the stage for a story about a former Irish
freedom fighter with ties to Hollywood trying to survive the war while learning there is no place to hide from the realities of war.
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews