MISSION TO PARIS

By Alan Furst

Europe in the summer of 1938 is a flame about to burst. Arriving in Paris to film a movie, Hollywood film star, Fredric Stahl is seen by the Nazis as the perfect agent of influence and is approached by Nazi sympathizers. Horrified by the Nazi war on Jews and intellectuals he becomes part of an informal spy service run out of the American embassy.

Alive with plot, characters and atmosphere, our hero meets a countess who is a famous hostess and a Nazi supporter, two assassins, a Russian film actress and spy and also a Hungarian diplomat and spy. Added to this list of characters are the magnetic women he is drawn to, a socialite and an émigré. The author expertly deals with the terror and absurdity of spying.

Paris almost becomes a character in this novel as the author describes the eternal enchanting and fascinating city with its bistros, alleys, hotels (big and small and anonymous), and the indomitable Parisians living a full life despite the threat of an ominous future.

The book is rich with beautifully drawn scenes of romance and intimacy with extraordinary characters encompassing several genres. But, most of all, the heart of the novel is the passion of man’s ability to fight to survive.