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Liked It1 of 1 members found this review helpful “Alan Furst's thing is immersing his readers in the strange world of espionage in Europe between WWI and WWII. The atmosphere is terrific!” see full review » see other reviews » |
Didn’t Like It“WHile the writing is good, I just didn't think there was much too it. I don't know if I was supposed to be feeling suspense when Mercier goes on his spying missions but I didn't feel much of anything. Never seemed like he was in danger. His love affair with Anne wasn't very compelling either or...” see full review » see other reviews » |
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“Furst's latest novel is sure to be counted as one of the very best of the historical espionage genre. Literate, admirably plotted, and featuring a memorable protagonist, it is realistic and sad, but hopeful and romantic. A highly competent French army officer, Jean-François Mercier is assigned in 1937 to military attaché duty in Warsaw, a position recognized by all as an opportunity, if not a duty, to engage in spying. Mercier is a World War I combat-wounded hero, a widower whose behavior reveals a nobility and a sense of honor mostly lacking in today's fiction heroes. Using Polish and German agents, he engages in thrilling derring-do and soon recognizes the sinister intentions of the Nazis, which the French high command apparently chooses to ignore. He does his best to alert the French General Staff, especially as to German invasion strategy. Furst brilliantly captures the setting, along with the cynicism of the Warsaw sociopolitical scene. His presentation of Mercier's romantic interludes with a Parisian woman of Polish heritage is sophisticated, elegant, and discreet. If you have never read this author who is known as the thinking-person’s thriller writer, you’re in for a treat. This is his best yet.
NCSLibrary wrote this review Thursday, October 8 2009. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No
Compiled from various reviews by K. Craver 10/2009”
“One of the best of Alan Furst's central European spy novels. Characters you can care about and who act morally. Good spycraft. Excellent, believable period piece. ”
Harley M wrote this review Tuesday, October 6 2009. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No“Solid entry in Alan Furst's body of work about regular people getting caught up in World War II spying. Setting is Warsaw and protagonist a French Colonel, military attache, who inherits a "contact". I really like this historical piece, but I like historical and I like Furst. Always a lot of humanity, usually a romance and some suspense.”
Jean L wrote this review Thursday, August 6 2009. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No“Anything from this skilled writer is worth reading. His expert details are the perfect backdrop for the moral quandaries those in the world of espionage, even in "the good war," confront.”
Kathy R wrote this review Tuesday, August 4 2009. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No
“Wonderful story. Great characters. Important historical backdrop.”
Dawn W wrote this review Sunday, June 14 2009. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No
“Alan Furst creates another little gem of WW II fiction.”
radnor wrote this review Friday, May 22 2009. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No“WHile the writing is good, I just didn't think there was much too it. I don't know if I was supposed to be feeling suspense when Mercier goes on his spying missions but I didn't feel much of anything. Never seemed like he was in danger. His love affair with Anne wasn't very compelling either or very drawn out. It does provide a brief window on the history leading up to World War II and the unwillingness of the French to face the real threat from Germany”
Mary v wrote this review Wednesday, May 13 2009. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No
“This is a really good story about espionage and intrigue among the French, the Poles and the Nazis in Poland in the year or two before the start of the war.
John S wrote this review Thursday, March 12 2009. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No
It's a good read plus the reader gets the arousing bonus of a wonderfully steamy shower scene involving the protagonist and a Polish countess.”
“Absolutely engaging, riveting, astonishingly well written, detailed, Furst manages to weave romance, adventure, suspense, humor, tragedy, and the triumph of human spirit into his tapestries. The best of the genre.”
Mark H wrote this review Monday, November 24 2008. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No
