A somewhat dense, well-written, slowish, compelling book. I'll go out on a limb and say that Alan Furst doesn't suffer fools; this book doesn't pander. I guess I'm somewhat disappointed in myself that I found it somewhat slow, maybe because of its episodic nature. Maybe it was just TOO realistic, not giving readers satisfying beginnings-middles-and-ends in the episodes. I mean, I wasn't there, but my understanding is that much of the time during World War II there weren't episodes with delightful endings and satisfying bows on top. Especially during the resistance movements within Nazi-occupied Europe. But I could be wrong.

I hesitate to say that this is a "fun" read, given the grim subject matter and time-period, but it was certainly an engrossing reading experience. Also illuminating to read stories of tiny victories, ground-level struggles, and small-scale battles of occupied Europe, rather than the well-worn ground of your Pattons, Eisenhowers, Churchills, etc. In fact, none of the characters in the book are American, and the European characters with European perspectives I especially enjoyed exploring.

Overall, a thoughtful, well-crafted book about the critical, behind-the-scenes, ground-level work that went on behind enemy lines during WWII. This isn't your James-Bond style spy novel. This shows the dirty, gritty, sometimes unsatisfying underbelly of resistance work, which is to say, probably the real work.