History Literature / HendersonsBoys

* TheChick: Somewhat inverted. Rosie, described on the [[http://www.hendersonsboys.com/rosieclarke.html official website]] as "The one who isn't a boy," is actually a tough, bossy, capable character who contributes to the team. However, the gender roles of the 1940's means that many characters persist in viewing her as TheChick.

* HarmfulToMinors: Children are fully exposed to the horrors of war and Nazi occupation. One shot kill contains [[spoiler: a pretty brutal description of a 14 year old girl getting tortured nearly to death and sent for execution before being rescued.]]

* HarmfulToMinors: Children are fully exposed to the horrors of war and Nazi occupation. One shot kill contains [[spolier: a pretty brutal description of a 14 year old girl getting tortured nearly to death and sent for execution before being rescued.]]

* HarmfulToMinors: Children are fully exposed to the horrors of war and Nazi occupation

* RewardedAsATraitorDeserves: Occurs twice in ''Scorched Earth'':
** Firstly, Gaspard, the leader of the Bordeaux resistance, collaborates with the Nazis and helps repress any actual resistance attempts in the hope of being made mayor. Henderson is not amused, and [[spoiler:carries out a bombing that kills several Nazis and frames Gaspard. The Nazis fall for it and hang him]].
** And later on, Henderson captures a polish collaborator and interrogates him. The collaborator tells him what he wants to know, and Henderson snaps his neck, reasoning that traitors don't deserve to live.

* YourCheatingHeart: Charles Henderson is a serial adulterer to his wife. [[spoiler: PT Bivott cheats on Rosie with a prostitute]] in ''Grey Wolves''.

* TrainingFromHell: The training that ERU-B agents undergo

** Simalarly, Lanier, Marc's arch-nemesis at the orphanage, isn't defeated after ruining Marc's reputation in ''The Escape'', but [[spoiler:returns in ''The Prisoner'', when it's revealed that he too now works for the Nazis and Marc challenges him to a fight in front of all the other kids from the orphanage and easily defeats him and punches him out.]]

** Happens on two occasions in ''Grey Wolves'', first when Marc and Henderson come across a Nazi officer trying to force himself on a French woman, and then again when [[spoiler:Marc is molested and implied almost raped by a convicted sex murdered while imprisoned for black market trading.]] On both occasions, [[spoiler:either Marc or Henderson knocks the would-be rapist out and kills them by force feeding them a cyanide pill]].

** Happens on two occasions in ''Grey Wolves'', first when Marc and Henderson come across a Nazi officer trying to force himself on a French woman, and then again when [[spoiler:Marc is molested and implied almost raped by a convicted sex murdered while imprisoned for black market training.]] On both occasions, [[spoiler:either Marc or Henderson knocks the would-be rapist out and kills them by force feeding them a cyanide pill]].

* KarmaHoudiniWarranty: Mr. Tomas, the abusive orphanage director, isn't really punished in ''The Escape'' beyond one of the nuns blackmailing him and Marc robbing his house. It's later revealed in ''The Prisoner'' that [[he's now a Nazi collaborator and the head of the Bordeaux Requisition Authority in charge of confiscating crops for the Nazis. Due to his position, Marc never has the chance to get revenge on him here either, but later returns in ''One-Shot Kill'' and [[spoiler:finds out that he's going to requisition his girlfriend Jae's farm for the Nazis, prompting him to break into Tomas's house, beat him to a pulp, force-feed him a cyanide pill and pour boiling water over him to MakeItLookLikeAnAccident.]]

* FreeRangeChildren: Rosie and Paul spend some time as free range children in ''The Escape''. PT Bivott also spends times a free range child. The training exercise in ''Secret Army'' involves the children performing a simulated mission that involves traveling through [[TheHomeFront England]] without adult supervision or help.

* TeenSuperSpy: The entire point of ERU-B is to use teens and even preteens as spies. Nevertheless, this is very much a Stale Beer version of the teen spy rather than something along the lines of ''Literature/AlexRider'' or the ''SpyKids'' movies.

[[quoteright:350:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/s_Boys-_The_Escape_8722.jpg]]

[[quoteright:316:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/s_Boys-_The_Escape_8722.jpg]]

A British spy series set in UsefulNotes/WorldWarII. ''Henderson's Boys'' concerns the activities of the last active British agent in Nazi-occupied France, and the children he adopts/recruits to assist him. It's sold as a prequel to the author's bestselling ''Literature/CherubSeries'', but has a significantly darker tone and a very different setting. Main characters include Charles Henderson, an adult British spy, Marc Kilgour, a young French orphan, Paul and Rosie Clark, who are British kids orphaned in the first book, and PT Bivott, a young French American thief that fled American for France, only to arrive in time for UsefulNotes/WorldWarII. Other agents are added in ''Secret Army'', including Luc, Joel, Troy, Sam and Yves.

The books try to keep things fairly realistic, and is very much in the Stale Beer category of SpyFiction. There are no over the top supervillians that can only be defeated by bullet dodging tux wearing super spies. The series makes it clear that one mistake, one stray bullet, or one unlucky event could doom the entire group.

* AnyoneCanDie - Including young children. Also, WordOfGod has said that at least one of the main characters will die before the end of the series.
* SomethingOnlyTheyWouldSay - Not exactly, but in ''Grey Wolves'' an RAF pilot tries to find out if Charles Henderson is really English by asking him things only an Englishman would know. It doesn't work, because their lack of a common social class meant that their cultural frames of reference were too different.
* BrotherSisterTeam - Paul and Rosie.
* TheBully - Luc, whose favorite target is Paul.
* BullyHunter - [[spoiler: Several of the students retaliate against Luc's bullying]].
* ChildrenForcedToKill - First Marc Kilgour and latter many of the other agents kill Germans as part of their operations.
* ChildSoldiers - Because it is wartime, the role of the ERU-B is even more soldier-like than their CHERUB successors.
* CloakAndDagger - ERU-B is very much in the CloakAndDagger tradition of British spy fiction and the RealLife UsefulNotes/WorldWarII era British Special Operations Executive and Commandos.
* TheChick - Somewhat inverted. Rosie, described on the [[http://www.hendersonsboys.com/rosieclarke.html official website]] as "The one who isn't a boy," is actually a tough, bossy, capable character who contributes to the team. However, the gender roles of the 1940's means that many characters persist in viewing her as TheChick.
* DeathFromAbove - Both German and British bombing raids play an important part of the stories.
* DrillSergeantNasty - Mr. Takada, a Japanese national who is training the children as an alternative to being in a prisoner of war camp.
* EverybodyWasKungFuFighting - Mr. Takada is teaching martial arts to ERU-B trainees.
* FreeRangeChildren - Rosie and Paul spend some time as free range children in ''The Escape''. PT Bivott also spends times a free range child. The training exercise in ''Secret Army'' involves the children performing a simulated mission that involves traveling through [[TheHomeFront England]] without adult supervision or help.
* GovernmentAgencyOfFiction - ERU and ERU-B, the predecessor to [[Literature/CherubSeries CHERUB]]
* HarmfulToMinors - Children are fully exposed to the horrors of war and Nazi occupation
* HistoricalFiction - The series is set during UsefulNotes/WorldWarII. So far, all the books have taken place on the Western Front of the European Theater.
* HomeBase - ERU-B has a training center established by the beginning of ''Secret Army''.
* TheInfiltration - The mission in ''Eagle Day'' and no doubt future missions
* JustAKid - The premise of ERU-B is that ThoseWackyNazis will underestimate young agents because they are JustAKid.
* KidsAreCruel - Well, not all, but several are, especially Luc.
* ParentalAbandonment - All of the children in ERU-B are either [[ConvenientlyAnOrphan orphans]] or otherwise separated from their parents.

* SpyFiction - Charles Henderson is a British spy and begins training children to act as spies.
* TheSpymaster - Charles Henderson and his superiors.
* SpySchool - ERU-B trains children to be spies and saboteurs. The term "spy school" is used in ''Grey Wolves''.
* StuffBlowingUp - It is the middle of a war after all...
* TeenSuperSpy - The entire point of ERU-B is to use teens and even preteens as spies. Nevertheless, this is very much a Stale Beer version of the teen spy rather than something along the lines of ''Literature/AlexRider'' or the ''SpyKids'' movies.
* ThereAreNoTherapists - While [[Literature/CherubSeries CHERUB]] averts this by providing mental health services to their young agents, UsefulNotes/WorldWarII era Britain does not have such things high on their priority list.
* ThoseWackyNazis - Including, of course, [[StateSec SS]] officers
* TrainingFromHell - The training that ERU-B agents undergo
* YourCheatingHeart - Charles Henderson is a serial adulterer to his wife. [[spoiler: PT Bivott cheats on Rosie with a prostitute]]

A British spy series set in WorldWarTwo. ''Henderson's Boys'' concerns the activities of the last active British agent in Nazi-occupied France, and the children he adopts/recruits to assist him. It's sold as a prequel to the author's bestselling ''Literature/CherubSeries'', but has a significantly darker tone and a very different setting. Main characters include Charles Henderson, an adult British spy, Marc Kilgour, a young French orphan, Paul and Rosie Clark, who are British kids orphaned in the first book, and PT Bivott, a young French American thief that fled American for France, only to arrive in time for WorldWarII. Other agents are added in ''Secret Army'', including Luc, Joel, Troy, Sam and Yves.

* CloakAndDagger - ERU-B is very much in the CloakAndDagger tradition of British spy fiction and the RealLife WorldWarII era British Special Operations Executive and Commandos.

* HistoricalFiction - The series is set during WorldWarTwo. So far, all the books have taken place on the Western Front of the European Theater.

* ThereAreNoTherapists - While [[Literature/CherubSeries CHERUB]] averts this by providing mental health services to their young agents, WorldWarII era Britain does not have such things high on their priority list.

----

A British spy series set in WorldWarTwo. ''Henderson's Boys'' concerns the activities of the last active British agent in Nazi-occupied France, and the children he adopts/recruits to assist him. It's sold as a prequel to the author's bestselling CherubSeries, but has a significantly darker tone and a very different setting. Main characters include Charles Henderson, an adult British spy, Marc Kilgour, a young French orphan, Paul and Rosie Clark, who are British kids orphaned in the first book, and PT Bivott, a young French American thief that fled American for France, only to arrive in time for WorldWarII. Other agents are added in ''Secret Army'', including Luc, Joel, Troy, Sam and Yves.

* GovernmentAgencyOfFiction - ERU and ERU-B, the predecessor to [[CherubSeries CHERUB]]

* ThereAreNoTherapists - While [[CherubSeries CHERUB]] averts this by providing mental health services to their young agents, WorldWarII era Britain does not have such things high on their priority list.

'''The series at present consists of five published books:'''

# ''The Escape'' (February 2009)
# ''Eagle Day'' (June 2009)
# ''Secret Army'' (February 2010)
# ''Grey Wolves'' (February 2011)
# ''The Prisoner'' (February 2012)
# ''One Shot Kill'' (November 2012)
# ''Scorched Earth'' (February 2013)

* BrotherSisterTeam - Paul and Rosie

* JustAKid - The premise of ERU-B is that ThoseWackyNazis will underestimate young agents because they are JustAKid
* KidsAreCruel - Well, not all, but several are, especially Luc

* SpyFiction - Charles Henderson is a British spy and begins training children to act as spies

* TeenSuperSpy - The entire point of ERU-B is to use teens and even preteens as spies. Nevertheless, this is very much a StaleBeer version of the teen spy rather than something along the lines of ''Literature/AlexRider'' or the ''SpyKids'' movies.
* TheBully - Luc, whose favorite target is Paul
* BullyHunter - [[spoiler: Several of the students retaliate against Luc's bullying]]
* TheInfiltration - The mission in ''Eagle Day'' and no doubt future missions

* TheSpymaster - Charles Henderson and his superiors

The books try to keep things fairly realistic, and is very much in the StaleBeer category of SpyFiction. There are no over the top supervillians that can only be defeated by bullet dodging tux wearing super spies. The series makes it clear that one mistake, one stray bullet, or one unlucky event could doom the entire group.

* TheBullyHunter - [[spoiler: Several of the students retaliate against Luc's bullying]]

'''The series at present consists of four published books:'''

* TeenSuperSpy - The entire point of ERU-B is to use teens and even preteens as spies. Nevertheless, this is very much a StaleBeer version of the teen spy rather than something along the lines of AlexRider or the SpyKids movies.