Under Occupation by Alan Furst

 

Under Occupation by Alan Furst

 

I don’t usually offer two book reviews so close together.  My three faithful readers may disapprove….until they see this is another Alan Furst World War II spy novel!  Then, they’ll pour a generous snifter of Cognac, settle into a comfortable chair, and, be swept back to the cold, rainy, maelstrom in unsafe, cobbled streets of occupied Paris, 1942.

 

The main character, Paul Ricard , is not a spy, he’s a spy novelist, at least  until one dark and stormy night, on his way to the café Saint-Germain, one of his countrymen streaks past him, a shot rings out, then another.  Ricard rushes to help the fallen stranger, and before the man dies, he manages to thrust a folded piece of paper into Ricard’s coat pocket.

 

Two things about Alan Furst. He doesn’t leave your conscience alone, with the twists and turns of uncertainty.  His sense of time and place become a web that captures your imagination.  Ricard is only one of the sharply drawn characters that suffer under the pressing heel of the Nazi  jackboots  Listen closely.  Do you hear the crack of their pistol shots, the shrill blast of the sirens, shiver when they are arrested, thrown in the back of a black Citroen, and taken to the basement of Paris’ infamous Gestapo Headquarters?

 

At war with a heartless enemy, intent on silencing decent, and killing all opposition. Parisians lived in a bitter world of mistrust, gathering the mental strength to fight back in a desperate city, where a neighbor’s or a colleague’s smile and handshake could be the poisonous fangs that send you to a slow and torturous death, exposing your friends , colleagues, and even your family, just to put an end to your gut wrenching pain.

 

And yet, writers, shop keepers, normal men and women still stood proudly in opposition to the overpowering enemy, meeting at night in quiet, smoke filled bars and cold apartments, gaining and passing secrets, organizing routes of safe passage, and continuing to bring the fight to the Nazi war machine that terrorized one of the most beautiful and civilized of cities.

 

Furst leads the reader on a remarkable journey of dark alleys, and nights of thinking any moment could bring a knock on the door that spells doom.  He brings home high voltage fear, raw courage, and the bravery it takes to persevere despite the cost.

 

Alan Frust will take you to 1942’s Paris, if you can stand the journey.