THE FRENCHMAN, a debut thriller by Jack Beaumont, grabbed my attention before I even began reading it. How? With this biographical preface: Jack Beaumont is the pseudonym of a former operative in the clandestine operations branch of the French foreign secret service, the Direction Générale de la Sécurité Extérieure (DGSE).
A former spy whose background is so sensitive that he writes under a pseudonym? I’m all in.
THE FRENCHMAN revolves around the triumphs and trials of Alec de Payns, a counterterrorism operative with France’s version of the CIA–the DGSE. When a counterterrorism operation goes horribly wrong, de Payns learns that there is a traitor within his close-knit cadre of fellow spies. De Payns must try to uncover the traitor without jeopardizing operations against dangerous enemies or the security of his family. It’s a precarious balancing act, one that seems on the precipice of collapse throughout the narrative. Beaumont keeps the tension high and the reader guessing about both the identity of the traitor and whether de Payns will be able to stop a terrorist plot before it’s too late.
Authentic, tense, and compelling, THE FRENCHMAN ought to be a must-read for every spy thriller fan. Jack Beaumont’s insider knowledge and masterful story-telling skills put him in league with the genre’s best writers. I look forward to what comes next for this talented debut author.
