The Deserter
A Tale of the Foreign Legion
by Wayne Turmel
Algeria 1908.
Gil Vincente is a Boer War veteran, broken and adrift on the rough streets of Marseille. Desperate, he seeks discipline and renewed purpose in the unforgiving ranks of the French Foreign Legion. At first, he finds it, but not for long. When a treacherous soldier frames him for murder, it forces the new legionnaire to run for his life.
Now Gil must fight to clear his name while pursuing the real killer through the rugged Atlas Mountains. With the Legion on his heels and time running out, will he find justice or be forever branded a coward and deserter?
Praise for The Deserter:
'The Deserter evokes classic blood-and-sand adventures like Under Two Flags and Beau Geste. With meticulous research and compelling characters, Turmel has brought the desert saga back to thrilling life.'
~ Frank Thompson, author of The Compleate Beau Geste
'A two-fisted historical adventure that weaves visceral action, rugged landscapes, and raw emotional depth into a haunting tale of honor, betrayal, and the elusive hope of redemption.'
~ David Buzan, bestselling author of In the Lair of Legends
Meet Gil Vincente, protagonist in
The Deserter – a Tale of the Foreign Legion
The Deserter – a Tale of the Foreign Legion
I don’t know how it works for other writers, but I start every novel knowing only two things: the setting where the story takes place, and the main character. Sometimes it’s easy but silly: the modern Chicago setting for my werewolf / detective urban fantasies, for example. Other times, it is deadly serious, as is the case with Gil Vincente. He’s the main character in my latest novel, The Deserter.
I began by rereading some short stories set in the Foreign Legion. I’ve always loved the genre, even if unrepentant colonial aggression has fallen out of vogue, lol. I knew Gil would be signing up as a last chance at redemption. But from what did he need to be redeemed?
It took a bit of daydreaming, reading the pulp stories of Theodore Roscoe, and going on a Legion-movie spree that left my wife begging for just one romcom set in this century. Eventually the character emerged.
One thing was sure, he wasn’t going to be Cary Grant in a sanitized Beau Geste tale. It was always going to be more like a Sam Peckinpah, 70s anti-hero film. Gil was going to be complicated, dark and probably tragic. I needed to fill out what he was before he joined the Legion, what he wanted, and why he might or might not achieve his goal. After that it was just writing my way down a very dark (at least for me) rabbit hole.
Where did he come from? Gil is English, a poor boy from Newcastle who fled a violent father to join Her Majesty’s Army during the Boer War. In South Africa, he tended horses mostly, but also spent time at the concentration camps, an experience that haunts him throughout the story. After mustering out, he went to Marseille, where he fell into the criminal underworld.
One thing that makes him unique, is he joined the army because he craves structure. In today’s world, he’d probably be diagnosed with OCD, and probably neuro-divergent. In 1908, he was simply an odd duck who didn’t fit in.
More than anything, he craves structure and order. He found it in the British army but quickly discovered he couldn’t live that kind of life as a civilian. Throughout history, many men sought structure and an ordered life in the military. Some succeeded. My own father joined the Canadian navy under the “join the navy or go to jail plan.” It worked for him. He got his life on track and was a darned good man. We know that not everyone is so lucky.
The Legion was famous (still is) for giving people one last chance to get their acts together. However, a foreign army made up of ne’er-do-wells in a hostile, exotic land doesn’t work to Gil’s advantage.
What he seeks is structure and order. At first, he finds it. A perfectly made cot, a well-ordered pack, following orders without having to think about it is exactly what he thinks he needs. As the chaos of war and the unpredictability of humans take their toll, it’s harder for him to do what he needs. It helps that he’s assigned to the mule corps, where he finds out he works better with animals than people.
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| Foreign Legion & mules. |
A terrible betrayal pushes him close to madness and he finds himself on the wrong end of a manhunt, something he would have never imagined. As the clock ticks down, he needs to find the resources within himself to get his life back on track, or be forever lost.
I do something writers are told not to do, which is imagine the dream cast of the movie as I write. The character of Gil would be English, rugged, and more than a little tortured. Charlie Hunnam came to mind, but unfortunately he’s a little long in the tooth for the role. Then I settled on Jack Lowden of Slow Horses.
Then all I had to do was torture him until he looked beaten and weathered. I’m kind of good at that, if I do say so myself. Anyone know how to get a copy into his hands?
I take Gil down a rough road, from fleeing Marseille in the dead of night, to basic training in the desert heat, to endless marches and violent battles. I hope readers will go along for the ride and feel his pain and hope for redemption.
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| Algeria 1914, marching legionnaires. |
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Wayne Turmel
Wayne Turmel is a Canadian ex-pat now living and writing in Las Vegas. He’s the author of seven novels, the latest is The Deserter- a Tale of the Foreign Legion. His short stories have earned critical acclaim, including nominations for the prestigious Pushcart Prize. Turmel's longer works delve into the rich tapestries of history and the thrilling depths of urban fantasy, inviting readers into meticulously crafted worlds. At times humorous, sometimes dark but always with a careful eye for dialogue and detail. He lives with his wife, The Duchess, and Mad Max, most manly of poodles.
