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Dark Arena
The Frenchman Returns
By Jack Beaumont
Published by: Allen & Unwin
ISBN: 8781761066689
Based on true events, the story begins as a former air force fighter pilot and later, flying special operations and intelligence missions, Jack Beaumont joins 'The Company' as they call the secret service. This experience gives his book, and his previous book "The Frenchman", the authenticity that not many other spy thrillers can muster.
Jack Beaumont is the pseudonym of a former operative in the clandestine operations branch of the French foreign secret service, the DGSE.
The reader is plunged into the dark underworld of espionage in the first few paragraphs, as Jack explains certain words and phrases that are referred to throughout the story, such as a fully commissioned case officer - or officier traitant (OT) and the Direction du Renseignement (DR), the Intelligence Division of the Company.
We follow the operative through the streets of Prague as he covers his tracks and makes sure he is not being followed. He is on his way to a drop, where he will collect some information from a contact. The drop has been arranged to take place in a café and he is sitting at a table where he is in full view of the door and the room.
The operative waits while another man enters and sits at a table close to the door. The other man takes off his hat and places it on the table and then places a packet of cigarettes at the edge of the table, next to his hat.
Our man closes the magazine that he is reading, folds it under his arm, gets up to leave and, as he passes the other man's table, he drags his 'magazine' hand across the table and lifts the packet of cigarettes as he is walking out. The other man does not react. He quickly places the packet into his pocket. The whole movement is so swift and no one else notices what has just occurred.
Jack spends some time wandering the streets like a tourist, taking photos and doubling back on his route to ensure no one is following him. Next, he finds a toilet where he locks the door, so he can examine the contents of the package.
He takes photographs of the documents he has collected and then deletes them on his camera. The photographs of the documents will be retrieved from the camera's memory by the tech guys of The Company, when he returns to Paris.
Quite a thrilling start to the story, which turns up several notches as we are introduced to the hero, De Payns, in the next chapter. De Payns is attending a meeting in Geneva and he is involved in another aspect of the story. He finishes his business, supported by his 'team' and heads back to Paris.
As I was reading this story I could imagine it would make a good movie.
De Payns reports back to the office, which is the HQ of Y division, the clandestine department, where he is briefed on the contents of the package from Prague.
There are email copies which appear to be about a meeting between a few Russians and other people, when he mentions the name Azzam. They soon find out that Azzam is a super yacht from the UAE (United Arab Emirates) and there are phone numbers they need to trace. They will work on the information to find out more.
Meanwhile, the reader is introduced to De Payns' family. His wife works as an economist with an environmental organisation and they have two young boys. The family regularly features in the story.
De Payns is told to contact a Corsican in Genoa. He travels to the meeting and arranges to get a contact onto the boat.
Meanwhile back in Paris, De Payns' boss decides this is too important and tells De Payns to brush up on his skills as a waiter, a convenient cover for which he already has a 'legend', because he will be acting as a member of the catering crew on-board.
Once onboard the boat, he manages to do several things, including eavesdropping and downloading all the files from a laptop of one of the attendees. He discovers a plot, where the parties involved include Putin, the Wagner Group, the Ukranians, the various Muslim terrorist groups, the British secret service, the French secret service, the Israeli secret service and renegade agents from the German secret service and the CIA.
The Frenchman Returns is an exceptionally well-written thriller which I found it difficult to put down. The way in which he describes details is so explicit, you feel that you are practically there in the scenes and hanging off the edge of your seat with excitement and anticipation.
I recommend this book to anyone who enjoys reading good spy stories, intrigue, undercover work and thrillers. The fact that the author advises that this story is based on truth makes even more enjoyable.
There is also a huge sting in the tail near the end. Enjoy.
The author
ack Beaumont is the pseudonym of a former operative in the clandestine operations branch of the French foreign secret service, the DGSE. He joined 'The Company' after being an air force fighter pilot and later flying special operations and intelligence missions. Beaumont's background gives his novels a level of authenticity that few other spy thrillers have been able to achieve.
Reviewed by Ken
This is independent review, I am not paid by the publishers, so.If you
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