Review: The Deserter by Wayne Turmel

 

The Deserter by Wayne Turmel

 

Author Wayne Turmel returns to his historical fiction roots after a brilliant foray into urban fantasy. The Deserter is an intense story set in Algeria in 1908. We meet Gil Vincente in Marseille, France, running for his life, as he signs up for the French Foreign Legion and immediately finds himself on a freighter bound for a port on the Algerian coast. This is not Vincente’s first foray into military life as he served during the Boer Wars in South Africa. And the legion offers him something he desperately needs in his chaotic life: order, structure, and regimen. He keeps his head down, trains hard and tries his best to remain aloof from the men in his regiment, a mixed bag of Europeans running from their own personal demons.

Turmel’s passion for this project is evident in the meticulous research and attention to detail. The descriptions of the Algerian towns, the forts, life in the French Foreign Legion drop the reader right into the action. What I really enjoyed was the character development as Gil and his squad mates face the harsh realities of war in a desert where the enemy included the unforgiving landscape and the blazing sun. When Gil is assigned to care for the mules on which the legion depends, he bonds with the ornery creatures in a way he can’t with the men who march beside him. In the end, it’s his need for order that is his undoing in a dramatic final scene.

The Deserter harkens back to an earlier age of military historical fiction when there was no glory in war, only survival. This is not a fun read, but it is gripping and I know I’ve got a good book in my hands when I want to start looking up details to learn more about the action. I would recommend this gritty book to lovers of military history, who fell in love with the French Foreign Legion and enjoy a superbly researched tale.

I give this book 5 ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐stars