I read this one in spanish, thus "La Red Aquila" instead of "The Aquila Network"(?)..or whatever the original title was in French.

It's a fun WWI-era spy story in which the main character (who's investigating what's going on) is Silas Corey. Unlike other stories of this kind, Silas is not really a hero in any traditional sense. He's closer to being a sneaky mercenary who'll work for whoever pays the most and is willing to get everyone to pay for his services (playing rivals off each other). This gives the story a bit of an awkward taste (to me) because he isn't really likable - Silas is pretty full of himself. That being said, I think it straddles the line between "greedy mercenary jerk with no conscience" and "rogue with a heart of gold" in a way I don't recall experiencing. So, while I wasn't "heck yeah this book is great" I was quite definitely "huh, that was more interesting than I though".

I think the book probably makes more sense if I had a deeper French context. Mine is shallow to non-existent. I wonder, as I write this, is Silas Corey a new character or is he a "traditional" French character? (e.g. is he like Holmes to the english, or Arsenne Lupin to the french?). Similarly, the book depends, I think, on some sense of what was going on in WWI such that the intrigue that drives the book might seem to "who cares?" for someone without the context of having greater depth of knowledge of French history. I personally appreciated how it was not about the war in the trenches but about political intrigues, power moves, and also regular old war profiteering.

Fun read. I have no idea if it's out in english.