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Walking the Shadows
His past was a lie -- his present a mystery.There is a drowned village in the South of France called St. Juste, a village where secrets were buried in the Second World War; a village swiftly coming back into the light of day as a summer drought empties the reservoir that hides it.Tom Chappel comes to St. Juste to discover why a local man, Marcel Coultard, has left his 28 million dollar fortune to his daughter Romilly, and why shortly after his bequest, Romilly was abducted and attacked, and left in a life-threatening coma. The local police are not there is a code of silence about Romilly and another dead girl, a silence which suggests a deeper and abiding mystery that Tom must uncover.His search takes him back to when this part of France was ruled by the Vichy government, at odds with the Resistance fighters who tried to smuggle Jews away to Tom included. Yet not all the women made some were but by who? Who amongst the French people he meets could be harbouring a cold-blooded killer who forty years later is prepared to kill and kill again to preserve his secret?
400 pages, Paperback
First published March 6, 2003
1 person is currently reading
34 people want to read
About the author
Donald James
58 books18 followersDonald James (born Donald James Wheal) was a British television writer, novelist and non-fiction writer.
Educated at Sloane Grammar School and Pembroke College, Cambridge (where he read history), James completed his National Service in the Parachute Regiment before returning to London to work as a supply teacher.
He was the author of the best-selling novels Vadim, Monstrum, The Fortune Teller and The Fall of the Russian Empire, as well as non-fiction books such as The Penguin Dictionary of the Third Reich. He wrote under a number of pseudonyms, notably Thomas Dresden and James Barwick (originally in collaboration with fellow writer Tony Barwick, another long-term contributor to the various television productions of Gerry and Sylvia Anderson and their company, AP Films/Century 21).
James's career as a scriptwriter included work on TV series such as The Adventurer, The Avengers, The Champions, Department S, Joe 90, Mission: Impossible, The Persuaders!, The Protectors, Randall and Hopkirk (Deceased), The Saint, The Secret Service, Space: 1999, Terrahawks and UFO. He wrote for a total of 22 titles, including the Century 21 film Doppelgänger, and acted in small three roles between 1961 and 1962.
After spending periods in France and Ireland, he returned to London. His autobiographical account of London life during World War II, World's End, was published in 2005. A second volume of memoirs, White City, was published in March 2007.
James died in London on 24 April 2008. Married three times and divorced once, he is survived by twin daughters
Educated at Sloane Grammar School and Pembroke College, Cambridge (where he read history), James completed his National Service in the Parachute Regiment before returning to London to work as a supply teacher.
He was the author of the best-selling novels Vadim, Monstrum, The Fortune Teller and The Fall of the Russian Empire, as well as non-fiction books such as The Penguin Dictionary of the Third Reich. He wrote under a number of pseudonyms, notably Thomas Dresden and James Barwick (originally in collaboration with fellow writer Tony Barwick, another long-term contributor to the various television productions of Gerry and Sylvia Anderson and their company, AP Films/Century 21).
James's career as a scriptwriter included work on TV series such as The Adventurer, The Avengers, The Champions, Department S, Joe 90, Mission: Impossible, The Persuaders!, The Protectors, Randall and Hopkirk (Deceased), The Saint, The Secret Service, Space: 1999, Terrahawks and UFO. He wrote for a total of 22 titles, including the Century 21 film Doppelgänger, and acted in small three roles between 1961 and 1962.
After spending periods in France and Ireland, he returned to London. His autobiographical account of London life during World War II, World's End, was published in 2005. A second volume of memoirs, White City, was published in March 2007.
James died in London on 24 April 2008. Married three times and divorced once, he is survived by twin daughters
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
November 16, 2010
Tom Chapel is a middle-aged rich American. He is a philanderer who’s wasted his life doing this and that – including carrying on an incestuous relationship with his sister. He’s also trying to establish himself as a writer.
Chapel and his awful autocratic mother are on a plane to San Francisco. The plane’s landing gear has failed to drop and the passengers believe that they are about to die. Tom’s mother chooses to announce that Tom is not, as he has believed all this life, the son of the late General J Dwight Chapel. Then the undercarriage drops, the plane lands safely and the real story begins.
Chapel’s mother refuses to reveal the identity of Tommy’s father. And then his ex-wife, Elaine summons him to a village in France. St Juste is a drowned village where secrets were buried in the Second World War. A summer drought empties the reservoir that hides it.
Tom travels to St Juste to discover why a local man, Marcel Coultard left $28 million to his and Elaine’s daughter, Romilly. Romilly’s been abducted and attacked, and left in a life-threatening coma.
We find out it’s not the first time a young girl’s been abducted in the area. Another young girl was found dead. Police suspect a man posing as a priest. But Tom believes the affair has something to do with the money. Coulthard’s decision to leave Romilly a fortune is not popular with either his daughter, Claire or his son, Sebastien,
Perhaps there is there another explanation that lies in Marcel’s role in the Resistance during the Second World War. Tom’s search takes him back to when St Juste was ruled by the Vichy government. The puppet government was at odds with the Resistance fighters who tried to smuggle Jewish Women and children to safety. Tom was one of those children. Not everyone made it. Some were betrayed - but by who? Who could be harbouring a cold-blooded killer forty years on? Who is prepared to kill to preserve his secret?
The two stories are somehow tied to the drowned village. I’d like to say that I cared what happened next but I can’t. I found the book contrived and the characters unpalatable. The opening chapter certainly hooks but after James milks the clichéd shock of incest and reveals that a Tom’s father is not quite that, I felt jaded.
The book is well written but I found that I did not particularly care for Tom and it weakened the enjoyment for me. Or maybe the incestuous thread was too unpalatable for me to accept and move on. It was a bit like reading a sophisticated Jerry Springer script.
Chapel and his awful autocratic mother are on a plane to San Francisco. The plane’s landing gear has failed to drop and the passengers believe that they are about to die. Tom’s mother chooses to announce that Tom is not, as he has believed all this life, the son of the late General J Dwight Chapel. Then the undercarriage drops, the plane lands safely and the real story begins.
Chapel’s mother refuses to reveal the identity of Tommy’s father. And then his ex-wife, Elaine summons him to a village in France. St Juste is a drowned village where secrets were buried in the Second World War. A summer drought empties the reservoir that hides it.
Tom travels to St Juste to discover why a local man, Marcel Coultard left $28 million to his and Elaine’s daughter, Romilly. Romilly’s been abducted and attacked, and left in a life-threatening coma.
We find out it’s not the first time a young girl’s been abducted in the area. Another young girl was found dead. Police suspect a man posing as a priest. But Tom believes the affair has something to do with the money. Coulthard’s decision to leave Romilly a fortune is not popular with either his daughter, Claire or his son, Sebastien,
Perhaps there is there another explanation that lies in Marcel’s role in the Resistance during the Second World War. Tom’s search takes him back to when St Juste was ruled by the Vichy government. The puppet government was at odds with the Resistance fighters who tried to smuggle Jewish Women and children to safety. Tom was one of those children. Not everyone made it. Some were betrayed - but by who? Who could be harbouring a cold-blooded killer forty years on? Who is prepared to kill to preserve his secret?
The two stories are somehow tied to the drowned village. I’d like to say that I cared what happened next but I can’t. I found the book contrived and the characters unpalatable. The opening chapter certainly hooks but after James milks the clichéd shock of incest and reveals that a Tom’s father is not quite that, I felt jaded.
The book is well written but I found that I did not particularly care for Tom and it weakened the enjoyment for me. Or maybe the incestuous thread was too unpalatable for me to accept and move on. It was a bit like reading a sophisticated Jerry Springer script.
July 4, 2022
This book comprises three stories in one:
1. A "present day" murder mystery
2. A puzzle involving what really happened in Vichy France in 1942
3. A self development struggle by the narrator of the story.
The narrator is "an addict, a hopeless pathetic (individual) .. quite incapable of rising to the opportunities his family had provided". Throughout, the narrator struggles to become a better person. I leave it to the reader to decide if he succeeds by the end.
I gave it five stars because after the first few chapters the story is gripping and well written and works on all three levels. However, I doubt that you will be a better person having read it and so I do NOT recommend that you read it.
1. A "present day" murder mystery
2. A puzzle involving what really happened in Vichy France in 1942
3. A self development struggle by the narrator of the story.
The narrator is "an addict, a hopeless pathetic (individual) .. quite incapable of rising to the opportunities his family had provided". Throughout, the narrator struggles to become a better person. I leave it to the reader to decide if he succeeds by the end.
I gave it five stars because after the first few chapters the story is gripping and well written and works on all three levels. However, I doubt that you will be a better person having read it and so I do NOT recommend that you read it.
August 2, 2020
2.5 stars
November 15, 2020
Suspenseful and dark, a great mystery. Donald James was one of the best.
September 14, 2007
This was a pleasant change from the traditional "who done it" type of book.
The main character is a man very down on his luck -- without much to live for when he discovers his daughter ( out of wedlock) had received a very large inheritance from someone he doesn't know and he is the executor.
The story kept unfolding and taking you off into different avenues including a bit of mystery, folk lore and WW1 history.
You come away recognizing how many untold stories there are in the lives of those that lived through the war or any war. There are heros and villians and sometimes they are the same person from a different perspective.
I enjoy fiction, but sometimes it is just the same old thing. This one was definitely more interesting.
The main character is a man very down on his luck -- without much to live for when he discovers his daughter ( out of wedlock) had received a very large inheritance from someone he doesn't know and he is the executor.
The story kept unfolding and taking you off into different avenues including a bit of mystery, folk lore and WW1 history.
You come away recognizing how many untold stories there are in the lives of those that lived through the war or any war. There are heros and villians and sometimes they are the same person from a different perspective.
I enjoy fiction, but sometimes it is just the same old thing. This one was definitely more interesting.
August 15, 2012
Definitely a skimmer.
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews