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Night Soldiers #12
Mission to Paris
Late summer, 1938. Hollywood film star Fredric Stahl is on his way to Paris to make a movie. The Nazis know he’s coming—a secret bureau within the Reich has been waging political warfare against France, and for their purposes, Fredric Stahl is a perfect agent of influence. What they don’t know is that Stahl, horrified by the Nazi war on Jews and intellectuals, has become part of an informal spy service run out of the American embassy. Mission to Paris is filled with heart-stopping tension, beautifully drawn scenes of romance, and extraordinarily alive characters: foreign assassins; a glamorous Russian actress-turned-spy; and the women in Stahl’s life. At the center of the novel is the city of Paris—its bistros, hotels grand and anonymous, and the Parisians, living every night as though it were their last. Alan Furst brings to life both a dark time in history and the passion of the human hearts that fought to survive it.
255 pages, Paperback
First published June 12, 2012
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4944 people want to read
About the author
Alan Furst
38 books1,557 followersAlan Furst is widely recognized as the current master of the historical spy novel. Born in New York, he has lived for long periods in France, especially Paris. He now lives on Long Island.
Night Soldiers novels
* Night Soldiers (1988)
* Dark Star (1991)
* The Polish Officer (1995)
* The World at Night (1996)
* Red Gold (1999)
* Kingdom of Shadows (2000)
* Blood of Victory (2003)
* Dark Voyage (2004)
* The Foreign Correspondent (2006)
* The Spies of Warsaw (2008)
* Spies of the Balkans (2010)
* Mission to Paris (2012)
* Midnight in Europe (2013)
* Under Occupation (2019)
Stand-alone novels
* Your day in the barrel (1976)
* The Paris drop (1980)
* The Caribbean Account (1981)
* Shadow Trade (1983)
For more information, see Wikipedia.
Night Soldiers novels
* Night Soldiers (1988)
* Dark Star (1991)
* The Polish Officer (1995)
* The World at Night (1996)
* Red Gold (1999)
* Kingdom of Shadows (2000)
* Blood of Victory (2003)
* Dark Voyage (2004)
* The Foreign Correspondent (2006)
* The Spies of Warsaw (2008)
* Spies of the Balkans (2010)
* Mission to Paris (2012)
* Midnight in Europe (2013)
* Under Occupation (2019)
Stand-alone novels
* Your day in the barrel (1976)
* The Paris drop (1980)
* The Caribbean Account (1981)
* Shadow Trade (1983)
For more information, see Wikipedia.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 1,261 reviews
January 12, 2023
One of the things we enjoy most about spy stories is when a non-pro gets caught up in international intrigue. Richard Hannay in The Thirty Nine Steps (The film, of course. Yes, I know he was an intel-guy in the book) and Roger Thornhill
Robert Donat as Hannay in Hitchcock’s classic
in North by Northwest pop immediately to mind. While our everyman in Mission to Paris may not exactly be just anyone, Frederic Stahl, a B-list movie star in Paris for a shoot, is, by virtue of his profession, a person of influence. (I see Mads Mikkelsen as Frederic, and yes, I know he is Danish)
It is 1938, and Paris is a place where influence and propaganda are manifestations of war by other means. Stahl is targeted by the Nazi propaganda machine, looking to use his renown to help put a reassuring face on their particular brand of unpleasantness. Baronness Maria Von Reschke, the dragon lady hostess of a local and notorious salon, invites him to stop by and hob nob with the rich and Hitlerian. When she is not busy ordering the help around, she passes the time facilitating Nazi intel activities in France.
No introductions necessary
We know what lies ahead, and most of the characters in the story know what is coming, but no one can prevent the inevitable. However, the Americanized Stahl (born in Austria to an Austrian mother and Slovenian father, but now a Tinsel Town resident), eager to prove his loyalty, is responsive when the American consul asks for his help. He accepts the odd Reichian offer or two at the behest of the diplomat, hoping to use the users to good purpose.
Furst populates his tales with an array of fun characters and MtP is no exception. There are bug-eyed Nazi fanatics, contract killers, kidnappers, a Russian intel source, a honey-pot siren, and an entire, colorful cast for the film Stahl is actually making. I quite enjoyed this lineup. There is even a legit love interest for our hero.
Mads about Paris?
One of the things Furst does best is create a feel for the time and place. And he is particularly fond of Paris. You will have no trouble at all mentally slapping on a beret, lighting up a Galoise and heading out for a nice bowl of potage du l'oignon. We are also treated to a few sidetrips. These include Berlin, a filming in Morocco, along with a bit of intrigue and a murder, another location shoot in Hungary, with a resident count (no, not that one) and a few more for good measure. All the locales are fun in their own way. Furst is economical and effective in depicting place and setting moods, in this case imminent peril, rising international tension, and, on occasion, romance.
There is only the rare bit of comic relief in Mission to Paris, but I warn you there is one scene near the end that might cause you to shoot your Moët out your nose.
The author
Mission to Paris is hardly high literature, but it does not pretend to be. It is a historical spy novel that offers a bit of intel on what was going on at the time. You will definitely learn a thing or two, and get a feel for the political atmosphere of Paris during the buildup to World War II. The politics of funding the Maginot Line is fascinating. The pretext used by the Nazis to organize Krystallnacht is alarming, and will feel familiar. Some detail on the use of sand in Parisian war preparations is surprising. And a very personal motivation for the Warner Brothers Studio’s antipathy to De Fuehrer comes into play. Mostly, though, Mission to Paris is top notch entertainment, a classic, rip-roaring spy novel that you will put down only grudgingly, maybe if you spot someone in the shadows pointing a luger at your head.
And while it makes a perfect summer read, I see it more as filling a rainy autumn afternoon, ingested with a warm cup of your favorite liquid at hand, as you race through the pages, a throw over your lap and legs, a fire in a hearth, and if you are very, very lucky, an eyeful of tower in your line of sight.
Mission to Paris is the twelfth volume in Furst’s Night Soldiers series. I received this book through the GoodreadsFurstFirstReads program. It was released a year before this review was first posted, so an unusual FirstReads item. Furst had a new one just out, Midnight in Europe. No doubt sending a few extra copies of MtP into the world was intended to encourage readers to check out the new one. I know I wanted to. And in the years since the above was written Furst has released two more in the Night Soldiers series, A Hero of France and Under Occupation. The new one may or may not live up to Furst’s high standard, but one thing is for sure. We’ll always have Mission to Paris.
Review first posted – July 11, 2014
Publication date - 7/4/2013
=============================EXTRA STUFF
Links to the author’s personal and FB pages
Here is a wonderful piece on Furst in the Wall Street Journal. Definitely worth a look. Wall Street Journal
NY Times profile of Furst from 2008
Robert Donat as Hannay in Hitchcock’s classic
in North by Northwest pop immediately to mind. While our everyman in Mission to Paris may not exactly be just anyone, Frederic Stahl, a B-list movie star in Paris for a shoot, is, by virtue of his profession, a person of influence. (I see Mads Mikkelsen as Frederic, and yes, I know he is Danish)
It is 1938, and Paris is a place where influence and propaganda are manifestations of war by other means. Stahl is targeted by the Nazi propaganda machine, looking to use his renown to help put a reassuring face on their particular brand of unpleasantness. Baronness Maria Von Reschke, the dragon lady hostess of a local and notorious salon, invites him to stop by and hob nob with the rich and Hitlerian. When she is not busy ordering the help around, she passes the time facilitating Nazi intel activities in France.
No introductions necessary
We know what lies ahead, and most of the characters in the story know what is coming, but no one can prevent the inevitable. However, the Americanized Stahl (born in Austria to an Austrian mother and Slovenian father, but now a Tinsel Town resident), eager to prove his loyalty, is responsive when the American consul asks for his help. He accepts the odd Reichian offer or two at the behest of the diplomat, hoping to use the users to good purpose.
Furst populates his tales with an array of fun characters and MtP is no exception. There are bug-eyed Nazi fanatics, contract killers, kidnappers, a Russian intel source, a honey-pot siren, and an entire, colorful cast for the film Stahl is actually making. I quite enjoyed this lineup. There is even a legit love interest for our hero.
Mads about Paris?
One of the things Furst does best is create a feel for the time and place. And he is particularly fond of Paris. You will have no trouble at all mentally slapping on a beret, lighting up a Galoise and heading out for a nice bowl of potage du l'oignon. We are also treated to a few sidetrips. These include Berlin, a filming in Morocco, along with a bit of intrigue and a murder, another location shoot in Hungary, with a resident count (no, not that one) and a few more for good measure. All the locales are fun in their own way. Furst is economical and effective in depicting place and setting moods, in this case imminent peril, rising international tension, and, on occasion, romance.
There is only the rare bit of comic relief in Mission to Paris, but I warn you there is one scene near the end that might cause you to shoot your Moët out your nose.
The author
Mission to Paris is hardly high literature, but it does not pretend to be. It is a historical spy novel that offers a bit of intel on what was going on at the time. You will definitely learn a thing or two, and get a feel for the political atmosphere of Paris during the buildup to World War II. The politics of funding the Maginot Line is fascinating. The pretext used by the Nazis to organize Krystallnacht is alarming, and will feel familiar. Some detail on the use of sand in Parisian war preparations is surprising. And a very personal motivation for the Warner Brothers Studio’s antipathy to De Fuehrer comes into play. Mostly, though, Mission to Paris is top notch entertainment, a classic, rip-roaring spy novel that you will put down only grudgingly, maybe if you spot someone in the shadows pointing a luger at your head.
And while it makes a perfect summer read, I see it more as filling a rainy autumn afternoon, ingested with a warm cup of your favorite liquid at hand, as you race through the pages, a throw over your lap and legs, a fire in a hearth, and if you are very, very lucky, an eyeful of tower in your line of sight.
Mission to Paris is the twelfth volume in Furst’s Night Soldiers series. I received this book through the Goodreads
Review first posted – July 11, 2014
Publication date - 7/4/2013
=============================EXTRA STUFF
Links to the author’s personal and FB pages
Here is a wonderful piece on Furst in the Wall Street Journal. Definitely worth a look. Wall Street Journal
NY Times profile of Furst from 2008
June 23, 2012
2.5 stars
This is a bland treatment of an intriguing plot idea. Fredric Stahl is an American movie star with Austrian roots. In the fall of 1938, he goes to Paris for a film shoot. The Nazis railroad him into serving as propaganda to boost their image.
Furst spends the first 200 pages or so introducing an endless array of new characters, treating us to boring descriptions of various films, and taking us through tedious days on the movie set with Stahl and the film crew. The last 50 pages are more suspenseful, but it's not enough to redeem the book as a whole, especially with the puzzling element on the last couple of pages that made no sense to me.
This could have been so much more exciting, given the reality of the German use of political warfare to shape public opinions and lull people into believing their intentions were peaceable. Olga Orlova's story was more interesting than Fredric Stahl's. Furst would have done well to make more use of her role in the novel.
This is a bland treatment of an intriguing plot idea. Fredric Stahl is an American movie star with Austrian roots. In the fall of 1938, he goes to Paris for a film shoot. The Nazis railroad him into serving as propaganda to boost their image.
Furst spends the first 200 pages or so introducing an endless array of new characters, treating us to boring descriptions of various films, and taking us through tedious days on the movie set with Stahl and the film crew. The last 50 pages are more suspenseful, but it's not enough to redeem the book as a whole, especially with the puzzling element on the last couple of pages that made no sense to me.
This could have been so much more exciting, given the reality of the German use of political warfare to shape public opinions and lull people into believing their intentions were peaceable. Olga Orlova's story was more interesting than Fredric Stahl's. Furst would have done well to make more use of her role in the novel.
March 5, 2021
In this 12th book in the 'Night Soldiers' series, a popular Hollywood actor is asked to spy on Germany in the days leading up to WWII. The book can be read as a standalone.
*****
It's the late 1930s and Warner Brothers sends Austrian-born Hollywood actor Frederic Stahl to Paris to star in a movie.
During this time Hitler is waging a propaganda and intimidation campaign across Europe, meant to expand Germany's power without war.
To this end Hitler's minions plan to rope in the popular, well-known Stahl - have him hobnob and be photographed with Nazis and so on - to make it seem that Stahl agrees with Hitler's philosophy.
Stahl resists these tactics and wants to just make his movie, eat some good meals, and have some romances.
It's not to be, however, and Stahl soon finds that he's spied on, followed, pressured, and threatened.
Meanwhile, an American diplomat suggests that Stahl play along with the Nazis so that he can help with a spot of espionage.
It's all quietly exciting and makes for a good story.
You can follow my reviews at https://reviewsbybarbsaffer.blogspot....
January 13, 2013
Furst again mines well that sweet spot for personal moral drama: in the face of the impending Nazi domination of Europe in the late 30’s, what would you, an ordinary person, do to contribute to countering the threat?
In this case, the “ordinary” person takes the form of Fredric Stahl, a Hollywood movie star on location in Paris in 1938 to make a film, ironically about Foreign Legionnaires making their way home after World War 1. He soon becomes a target to become a player in the Nazi propaganda war, which stands to gain much from legitimizing their government and policies. Because of his Austrian upbringing and past immigrant period living in Paris, he is not your typical naïve American. He is shocked by the complacency of much of the population and at the power of the media and political factions that support compromise and conciliation. As Czechoslovakia falls and Poland in threatened, he becomes eager to help thwart the Nazi agenda in some way. But in this pre-OSS era, America has no espionage network. Fortunately, Stahl learns that private U.S. funds are being channeled to the scene, and he jumps at an opportunity to serve as a courier to a seductive Russian émigré in Hitler's circle while he plays along with the Nazi’s use of him as a judge at a film festival in Berlin.
This is not great literature, but a special class of entertaining storytelling with an artful, atmospheric style. Fans of thrillers, historical romance, and noir will largely be disappointed, although there are elements of these genres in this tale. The prose is largely invisible and spare, never leaning to the melodramatic, and it doesn’t manipulate your feelings or tell you what to feel.
We get the pleasures of settings in fancy hotels, restaurants, and night clubs without glorifying such a life (Stahl is beyond being impressed by luxury). The heroism Stahl shows is not of the intense, action-oriented variety, yet the dangers and his heroism are made to feel real. Nazi evil and brutality are evident at times, but are largely resigned to a looming reality already in the background of the reader’s mind. For example, the smashing of Jewish temples and businesses and mass arrests known as Kristallnacht takes place during his trip to Berlin, but no direct portrayal is rendered, only the smell of smoke and broken glass the next day. There are lots of colorful characters rendered deftly with Furst’s special skill, including two major female love interests, the rich socialite Kiki and the more plebian, Renate, a costume designer and German émigré. Love and lust are played out nicely in the story, yielding that special pleasure that comes with times of darkness and threats of mortality.
[image error]
Claridge's Hotel (Stahl's residence in Paris near the Champs Elysées) and Maxim's (site of Stahl's wooing by Nazi factions)
Potential new readers of Furst would not suffer from starting with this book. His work is not a series, although a few characters pop up in more than one book. Still I would recommend ones I found to be specially compelling, such as The Polish Officer, The World at Night, and The Spies of Warsaw. The latter has been serialized for TV by BBC (beginning Jan. 19, 2013 in the U.S.).
In this case, the “ordinary” person takes the form of Fredric Stahl, a Hollywood movie star on location in Paris in 1938 to make a film, ironically about Foreign Legionnaires making their way home after World War 1. He soon becomes a target to become a player in the Nazi propaganda war, which stands to gain much from legitimizing their government and policies. Because of his Austrian upbringing and past immigrant period living in Paris, he is not your typical naïve American. He is shocked by the complacency of much of the population and at the power of the media and political factions that support compromise and conciliation. As Czechoslovakia falls and Poland in threatened, he becomes eager to help thwart the Nazi agenda in some way. But in this pre-OSS era, America has no espionage network. Fortunately, Stahl learns that private U.S. funds are being channeled to the scene, and he jumps at an opportunity to serve as a courier to a seductive Russian émigré in Hitler's circle while he plays along with the Nazi’s use of him as a judge at a film festival in Berlin.
This is not great literature, but a special class of entertaining storytelling with an artful, atmospheric style. Fans of thrillers, historical romance, and noir will largely be disappointed, although there are elements of these genres in this tale. The prose is largely invisible and spare, never leaning to the melodramatic, and it doesn’t manipulate your feelings or tell you what to feel.
We get the pleasures of settings in fancy hotels, restaurants, and night clubs without glorifying such a life (Stahl is beyond being impressed by luxury). The heroism Stahl shows is not of the intense, action-oriented variety, yet the dangers and his heroism are made to feel real. Nazi evil and brutality are evident at times, but are largely resigned to a looming reality already in the background of the reader’s mind. For example, the smashing of Jewish temples and businesses and mass arrests known as Kristallnacht takes place during his trip to Berlin, but no direct portrayal is rendered, only the smell of smoke and broken glass the next day. There are lots of colorful characters rendered deftly with Furst’s special skill, including two major female love interests, the rich socialite Kiki and the more plebian, Renate, a costume designer and German émigré. Love and lust are played out nicely in the story, yielding that special pleasure that comes with times of darkness and threats of mortality.
[image error]Claridge's Hotel (Stahl's residence in Paris near the Champs Elysées) and Maxim's (site of Stahl's wooing by Nazi factions)
Potential new readers of Furst would not suffer from starting with this book. His work is not a series, although a few characters pop up in more than one book. Still I would recommend ones I found to be specially compelling, such as The Polish Officer, The World at Night, and The Spies of Warsaw. The latter has been serialized for TV by BBC (beginning Jan. 19, 2013 in the U.S.).
June 21, 2012
I am a huge Alan Furst fan. I look forward to all of his new books with great anticipation and am always rewarded with a great read. That is why this book is a big disappointment. It has many of the same elements of Furst's previous novels, including the Paris bistro with the bullet hole in the wall. However, it is painfully slow, almost plotless with terribly undeveloped characters who utter inane lines. Alan, did you really write this book? I don't believe it!
October 16, 2012
Jeepers, what a tough review to write. It's that 3-star curse: "I liked it just fine, thank you, Ma'am." My literary passions were neither inflamed nor offended, but I was happily entertained. And sometimes that's all I need from a read: an escape.
And if it comes in a package of sublimely crafted settings that conjure from history's clouds the darkening heart of 1938-39 Europe, with characters rendered as precisely as wood-block prints ("He was about fifty, Stahl guessed, with the thickening body of a former athlete and a heavy boyish face. He might be cast as a guest at one of Jay Gatsby's parties, scotch in hand, flirting with a debutante.") and a quietly simmering plot, well, Bob's your uncle and I'm your girl.
My hesitation to wax more enthusiastic is that I've been gobsmacked by Alan Furst's novels. The characters smoldered, the plots stole the breath, the thriller in "historical thriller" sent the spine a-tingle. It feels as if Furst approached Mission to Paris with tenderness and affection, both for his beloved City of Lights and for his Cary Grant-inspired leading man, Frederic Stahl. The soft-focus lighting on the characters and setting may have smoothed the sharp edge of tension found in his earlier works.
This is cinema-ready, just like its stars, character actors, and picture-postcard settings. Settle in with a big bowl of buttered popcorn and enjoy the show.
And if it comes in a package of sublimely crafted settings that conjure from history's clouds the darkening heart of 1938-39 Europe, with characters rendered as precisely as wood-block prints ("He was about fifty, Stahl guessed, with the thickening body of a former athlete and a heavy boyish face. He might be cast as a guest at one of Jay Gatsby's parties, scotch in hand, flirting with a debutante.") and a quietly simmering plot, well, Bob's your uncle and I'm your girl.
My hesitation to wax more enthusiastic is that I've been gobsmacked by Alan Furst's novels. The characters smoldered, the plots stole the breath, the thriller in "historical thriller" sent the spine a-tingle. It feels as if Furst approached Mission to Paris with tenderness and affection, both for his beloved City of Lights and for his Cary Grant-inspired leading man, Frederic Stahl. The soft-focus lighting on the characters and setting may have smoothed the sharp edge of tension found in his earlier works.
This is cinema-ready, just like its stars, character actors, and picture-postcard settings. Settle in with a big bowl of buttered popcorn and enjoy the show.
January 8, 2018
Καλοδουλεμένοι χαρακτήρες, αρκετά ιστορικά στοιχεία για τημ κυριαρχία του Χίτλερ στην Ευρώπη, αλλά τόσο μα τόσο κουραστική και αργή πλοκή. Δεν μου προξένησε κανένα συναίσθημα το βιβλίο διαβάζοντάς το. Κρίμα
July 3, 2012
I’ve been spying on (pun intended) Alan Furst’s delicious looking WW2 noir fiction for quite some time now. The front covers with the old black and white photographs of dark alleys and stairwells of old Europe look irresistible to me. It instantly reminds me of the classic black & white Noir film, the Third Man, which is one of my favorite films.
This new book, Mission to Paris, is the twelfth in Furst’s Night Soldiers series which all follow separate plots concerning different characters and setting before or after World War II. Yet, after doing a little research on the author, I discovered that none of his books really appear to be superior to the others. Everybody seems to have their own favorite so I wasn’t quite sure where to start. To my luck, Mission to Paris was released just as I was preparing to enter Alan Furst’s world of dark alleys, Nazis, and chilling suspense.
After finishing Mission to Paris, I thought that Furst’s new additional to Night Soldiers was a pretty good read. Is it a classic? Well, no. I believe that all of his novels will have a similar feel and, over time will seem to blend together. But did I enjoy it? Yes, very much so. I can’t wait to return to the Night Solders world. I believe Furst is so well researched on the topic that he makes the characters, the settings, and the suspense very believable. This author has a talent for drawing the reader into the tension of one of the most uncertain periods in modern history.
This new book, Mission to Paris, is the twelfth in Furst’s Night Soldiers series which all follow separate plots concerning different characters and setting before or after World War II. Yet, after doing a little research on the author, I discovered that none of his books really appear to be superior to the others. Everybody seems to have their own favorite so I wasn’t quite sure where to start. To my luck, Mission to Paris was released just as I was preparing to enter Alan Furst’s world of dark alleys, Nazis, and chilling suspense.
After finishing Mission to Paris, I thought that Furst’s new additional to Night Soldiers was a pretty good read. Is it a classic? Well, no. I believe that all of his novels will have a similar feel and, over time will seem to blend together. But did I enjoy it? Yes, very much so. I can’t wait to return to the Night Solders world. I believe Furst is so well researched on the topic that he makes the characters, the settings, and the suspense very believable. This author has a talent for drawing the reader into the tension of one of the most uncertain periods in modern history.
July 23, 2014
Read Mission to Paris and it was vintage Furst with a return to the non-pro agent (an Austrian-American actor) like in Blood of Victory or Dark Voyage. Of the two more recent ones, I loved the Warsaw novel but the Balkans one was less interesting for some reason; this one was excellent and while Dark Star is still Furst supreme and one of the best ever pre-WW2 novels I've read, this is top tier; a lot of predictability true but still very enjoyable as character and atmosphere rather than action of which is generally little, are Furst strong points
Again full review in due time but if you read the latest 3-4 Furst novels (especially Blood of Victory, Dark Voyage, Spies of Warsaw) you will recognize the themes - relatively successful and charismatic male lead, femme fatale(s), less glamorous but more intellectual woman as main attraction, the dangerous spying game against the Nazis, the quiet assassins, the well meaning but unable to do too much officially persons of importance, the Balkan corruption and of course here Paris is as much a star as the main characters and we get too see a movie production to boot too.
Full FBC Rv below:
"It is the late summer of 1938, Europe is about to explode, the Hollywood film star Fredric Stahl is on his way to Paris to make a movie for Paramount France. The Nazis know he’s coming—a secret bureau within the Reich Foreign Ministry has for years been waging political warfare against France, using bribery, intimidation, and corrupt newspapers to weaken French morale and degrade France’s will to defend herself.
For their purposes, Fredric Stahl is a perfect agent of influence, and they attack him. What they don’t know is that Stahl, horrified by the Nazi war on Jews and intellectuals, has become part of an informal spy service being run out of the American embassy in Paris."
INTRODUCTION: Alan Furst is the acclaimed author of the Night Soldiers cycle of novels that mostly take place during the late 1930's and the early 1940's. The novels are all standalone except for a pair that follows the same main character, a small time French businessman/crook who becomes a Resistance hero, but they tend to cross-pollinate with secondary characters, places and events in common.
Actually, Night Soldiers, the first novel in the cycle and which gave its title, is a little different as the main hero, a Bulgarian waiter in Paris (and many other things, but as a waiter he participates in an event that sort of resonates throughout all the 12 novels to date) starts relatively young and green and the action follows him to the end of the war, but the rest of the novels tend to have older men - late 30's to late 40's - as heroes, of different nationalities (Polish, Italian, French, Russian, Bulgarian, Greek, Italian, Austrian-American) all pretty accomplished in a way or another, with a taste for sophisticated and interesting women and who are mostly civilian - journalists, diplomats, navy captains, the small time businessman/crook mentioned above and the actor in the blurb here, though there are a few professionals too like the French intelligence officer in The Spies of Warsaw or the Greek policeman in Spies of the Balkans.
The books take place all over Europe - again the titles are pretty indicative of that and I can safely say that we get to see most of Europe in that crucial 1937-1940/1 period, though Paris plays the role of the positive attraction pole of the series, with Nazi Germany its dark opposite. The women of the series are also quite interesting - while none of the books features a female lead, there are a lot of very important women in the books, both as spies and event manipulators on their own as well as participants in the heroes' adventures and intrigue. Finally the bad guys tend to be mostly crude and arrogant but not stupid Nazis and their tools, though of course corrupt politicians, businessmen and Stalinist executioners populate the books also.
I have read all 12 novels in the series so far, the first few in the late 90's when I discovered this wonderful author and the rest on publication and these books are of three kinds: pretty good, very good and superb, with Dark Star being on my all time favorite lists as one of those "read and read again and still want to read it another time novels" that populate that list.
At various times in the past several years, I planned to do an overview of the series and I hope this introduction will entice you to check the books especially that they can be read in pretty much any order except for the "duology" mentioned above.
OVERVIEW/ANALYSIS: After the lengthy introduction above I could do a one paragraph review of Mission to Paris: top-tier Furst with a return to the non-pro agent (an Austrian-American actor) like in Blood of Victory or Dark Voyage. Relatively successful and charismatic male lead, the femme fatale who competes for his attention with ulterior motives, the less glamorous but more intellectual woman as main attraction, the dangerous spying game against the Nazis, game including a successful Russian emigre actress who walks on a knife's edge in the Nazi leaders lair, the quiet assassins, the well meaning but unable to do too much officially persons of importance, the Balkan corruption and of course here Paris is as much a star as the main characters and we get too see a movie production to boot too.
However let me add a few more details. Mission to Paris actually starts with a minor French bureaucrat who realizes his grave mistake in trying to cheat his Nazi masters of a good sum of money and then his bumbling attempts to escape their retribution give us the first view of some of the main villains of the piece, Nazi executioners Herbert and Lothar; the quote below should give you the first idea why Alan Furst's prose is so successful in its quiet understated way:
"Slim, well-dressed, quiet, Herbert made no particular impression on anybody he met, probably he was some kind of businessman, though he never quite got around to saying what he did. Perhaps you’d meet him again, perhaps you wouldn’t, it didn’t particularly matter. He circulated comfortably at the mid-level of Berlin society, turning up here and there, invited or not—what could you do, you couldn’t ask him to leave."
After this interlude we start with the main story and our hero, Frederic Stahl, makes his apparition on a liner that sails the Atlantic between America and France.
"It was true that he’d “wandered about the world.” The phrase suggested romance and adventure—something like that had appeared in a Warner Bros. publicity bio—but it didn’t tell the whole story. In fact, he’d run away to sea at the age of sixteen. He was also not really “Fredric Stahl,” had been born Franz Stalka, forty years earlier in Vienna, to a Slovenian father and an Austrian mother of solidly bourgeois families resident in Austria-Hungary for generations.
...
It was said of him by those who made a living in the business of faces and bodies that he was “a very masculine actor.” Stahl wasn’t sure precisely what they meant, but he knew they were rich and not for nothing. It referred, he suspected, to a certain inner confidence, expressed by, among other things, a low-pitched voice—assurance, not just a bass register—from an actor who always sounded “quiet” no matter how loudly he spoke. He could play the sympathetic lawyer, the kind aristocrat, the saintly husband, the comforting doctor, or the good lover—the knight not the gigolo."
Why would such a successful Hollywood actor come to Europe in 1938 when the dark clouds are evident to anyone? Well, we immediately see some hints - what Jack Warner wants, Jack Warner gets - and from there the book just rolls and I simply could not put it down till the end. The loving descriptions of Paris and its high life in which Frederic is soon co-opted is definitely part of the attraction, but the novel also moves to Berlin, North Africa and even Hungary and Romania, so we cover quite a lot of territory physically too.
Frederic Stahl starts quietly as almost literally the cliche American uninterested in Europe's troubles - despite his heritage, Frederic is content to be the good "quiet" American - but his distaste for the Nazi brutalities soon gets amplified when he is confronted directly with their unsubtle attempts to "recruit" him to do their PR and from there he is "in" the direct opposition game, but the question of "can he get out" becomes paramount as the pressure ratchets up...
Mission to Paris (top 25 novel of 2012) is vintage Furst and among his best work in the series, while being a good starting point for people not familiar with the wonderful world of Night Soldiers!
Again full review in due time but if you read the latest 3-4 Furst novels (especially Blood of Victory, Dark Voyage, Spies of Warsaw) you will recognize the themes - relatively successful and charismatic male lead, femme fatale(s), less glamorous but more intellectual woman as main attraction, the dangerous spying game against the Nazis, the quiet assassins, the well meaning but unable to do too much officially persons of importance, the Balkan corruption and of course here Paris is as much a star as the main characters and we get too see a movie production to boot too.
Full FBC Rv below:
"It is the late summer of 1938, Europe is about to explode, the Hollywood film star Fredric Stahl is on his way to Paris to make a movie for Paramount France. The Nazis know he’s coming—a secret bureau within the Reich Foreign Ministry has for years been waging political warfare against France, using bribery, intimidation, and corrupt newspapers to weaken French morale and degrade France’s will to defend herself.
For their purposes, Fredric Stahl is a perfect agent of influence, and they attack him. What they don’t know is that Stahl, horrified by the Nazi war on Jews and intellectuals, has become part of an informal spy service being run out of the American embassy in Paris."
INTRODUCTION: Alan Furst is the acclaimed author of the Night Soldiers cycle of novels that mostly take place during the late 1930's and the early 1940's. The novels are all standalone except for a pair that follows the same main character, a small time French businessman/crook who becomes a Resistance hero, but they tend to cross-pollinate with secondary characters, places and events in common.
Actually, Night Soldiers, the first novel in the cycle and which gave its title, is a little different as the main hero, a Bulgarian waiter in Paris (and many other things, but as a waiter he participates in an event that sort of resonates throughout all the 12 novels to date) starts relatively young and green and the action follows him to the end of the war, but the rest of the novels tend to have older men - late 30's to late 40's - as heroes, of different nationalities (Polish, Italian, French, Russian, Bulgarian, Greek, Italian, Austrian-American) all pretty accomplished in a way or another, with a taste for sophisticated and interesting women and who are mostly civilian - journalists, diplomats, navy captains, the small time businessman/crook mentioned above and the actor in the blurb here, though there are a few professionals too like the French intelligence officer in The Spies of Warsaw or the Greek policeman in Spies of the Balkans.
The books take place all over Europe - again the titles are pretty indicative of that and I can safely say that we get to see most of Europe in that crucial 1937-1940/1 period, though Paris plays the role of the positive attraction pole of the series, with Nazi Germany its dark opposite. The women of the series are also quite interesting - while none of the books features a female lead, there are a lot of very important women in the books, both as spies and event manipulators on their own as well as participants in the heroes' adventures and intrigue. Finally the bad guys tend to be mostly crude and arrogant but not stupid Nazis and their tools, though of course corrupt politicians, businessmen and Stalinist executioners populate the books also.
I have read all 12 novels in the series so far, the first few in the late 90's when I discovered this wonderful author and the rest on publication and these books are of three kinds: pretty good, very good and superb, with Dark Star being on my all time favorite lists as one of those "read and read again and still want to read it another time novels" that populate that list.
At various times in the past several years, I planned to do an overview of the series and I hope this introduction will entice you to check the books especially that they can be read in pretty much any order except for the "duology" mentioned above.
OVERVIEW/ANALYSIS: After the lengthy introduction above I could do a one paragraph review of Mission to Paris: top-tier Furst with a return to the non-pro agent (an Austrian-American actor) like in Blood of Victory or Dark Voyage. Relatively successful and charismatic male lead, the femme fatale who competes for his attention with ulterior motives, the less glamorous but more intellectual woman as main attraction, the dangerous spying game against the Nazis, game including a successful Russian emigre actress who walks on a knife's edge in the Nazi leaders lair, the quiet assassins, the well meaning but unable to do too much officially persons of importance, the Balkan corruption and of course here Paris is as much a star as the main characters and we get too see a movie production to boot too.
However let me add a few more details. Mission to Paris actually starts with a minor French bureaucrat who realizes his grave mistake in trying to cheat his Nazi masters of a good sum of money and then his bumbling attempts to escape their retribution give us the first view of some of the main villains of the piece, Nazi executioners Herbert and Lothar; the quote below should give you the first idea why Alan Furst's prose is so successful in its quiet understated way:
"Slim, well-dressed, quiet, Herbert made no particular impression on anybody he met, probably he was some kind of businessman, though he never quite got around to saying what he did. Perhaps you’d meet him again, perhaps you wouldn’t, it didn’t particularly matter. He circulated comfortably at the mid-level of Berlin society, turning up here and there, invited or not—what could you do, you couldn’t ask him to leave."
After this interlude we start with the main story and our hero, Frederic Stahl, makes his apparition on a liner that sails the Atlantic between America and France.
"It was true that he’d “wandered about the world.” The phrase suggested romance and adventure—something like that had appeared in a Warner Bros. publicity bio—but it didn’t tell the whole story. In fact, he’d run away to sea at the age of sixteen. He was also not really “Fredric Stahl,” had been born Franz Stalka, forty years earlier in Vienna, to a Slovenian father and an Austrian mother of solidly bourgeois families resident in Austria-Hungary for generations.
...
It was said of him by those who made a living in the business of faces and bodies that he was “a very masculine actor.” Stahl wasn’t sure precisely what they meant, but he knew they were rich and not for nothing. It referred, he suspected, to a certain inner confidence, expressed by, among other things, a low-pitched voice—assurance, not just a bass register—from an actor who always sounded “quiet” no matter how loudly he spoke. He could play the sympathetic lawyer, the kind aristocrat, the saintly husband, the comforting doctor, or the good lover—the knight not the gigolo."
Why would such a successful Hollywood actor come to Europe in 1938 when the dark clouds are evident to anyone? Well, we immediately see some hints - what Jack Warner wants, Jack Warner gets - and from there the book just rolls and I simply could not put it down till the end. The loving descriptions of Paris and its high life in which Frederic is soon co-opted is definitely part of the attraction, but the novel also moves to Berlin, North Africa and even Hungary and Romania, so we cover quite a lot of territory physically too.
Frederic Stahl starts quietly as almost literally the cliche American uninterested in Europe's troubles - despite his heritage, Frederic is content to be the good "quiet" American - but his distaste for the Nazi brutalities soon gets amplified when he is confronted directly with their unsubtle attempts to "recruit" him to do their PR and from there he is "in" the direct opposition game, but the question of "can he get out" becomes paramount as the pressure ratchets up...
Mission to Paris (top 25 novel of 2012) is vintage Furst and among his best work in the series, while being a good starting point for people not familiar with the wonderful world of Night Soldiers!
January 2, 2018
Mission to Paris is the twelfth spy thriller by American author / journalist Alan Furst. The scene is Paris, on the eve of World War II. Hollywood actor Frederic Stahl (born Franz Stalka, in Vienna) has been sent to Paris by Jack Warner to play the lead role in a European production. From the outset he is drawn into intrigue from Nazi sympathizers, wanting to exploit his celebrity status. Between filming he is coerced into flying to Berlin as guest judge of a German mountain film festival, where he meets the actress Olga Orlova, spying for her Russian masters while selling secrets to western powers…
In Stahl’s Hollywood world, only the émigrés – the studio violinist from Germany, the make-up woman from Roumania, the scene painter from Hungary – followed European politics and the miseries of European Jews and communists and intellectuals. But the talk at a Warner commissary table, much of it heated leftist, quietened down when a ‘real’ American came by. Americans didn’t want to worry about foreign troubles, they had plenty of their own.
This is the first of Alan Furst’s works I have read and was immediately drawn into the story of actor Stahl, seemingly manipulated by all, from studio producers to a society hostess. Beautifully illustrated with a map of the time of the Arrondissements 1 – 20 in Paris, this is a thoughtful, well-researched spy thriller that I would recommend to anyone with an interest in Europe.
In Stahl’s Hollywood world, only the émigrés – the studio violinist from Germany, the make-up woman from Roumania, the scene painter from Hungary – followed European politics and the miseries of European Jews and communists and intellectuals. But the talk at a Warner commissary table, much of it heated leftist, quietened down when a ‘real’ American came by. Americans didn’t want to worry about foreign troubles, they had plenty of their own.
This is the first of Alan Furst’s works I have read and was immediately drawn into the story of actor Stahl, seemingly manipulated by all, from studio producers to a society hostess. Beautifully illustrated with a map of the time of the Arrondissements 1 – 20 in Paris, this is a thoughtful, well-researched spy thriller that I would recommend to anyone with an interest in Europe.
June 18, 2013
Mission to Paris is an Alan Furst production, which should, by now, tell you everything you need to know about it: interwar European intrigue, a morally compromised milieu, atmospheric settings sketched with the lightest touch, buckets of research made to look effortless. His novels take place in a world in which cocktail parties and dinners happen every night, every man has at least one mistress, and the main characters smoke Gauloises and say smart things and have a je ne sais quoi you might expect from upper-caste Europeans on the eve of World War Two.
Yes, all that’s here. But as I read more of these, I’ve come to notice something else: not only does Furst get huge mileage out of reusing his research, he’s also reusing his story devices. Let’s go down the checklist for Mission.
Privileged hero with a complex past, naïve in the ways of espionage: Check. In this case, Frederic Stahl (a Paul Henreid type), a successful Hollywood actor who is also an Austrian émigré.
Small, quick, voracious sex interest for the privileged hero: Check. In this case, with the added bonus of having a burlesque name (Kiki de Saint-Ange). Furst apparently has a thing for petite, small-breasted, oversexed women, because pretty much all his male leads do, too.
Mature love interest for the privileged hero, also with a complex past: Check. Also to type, this character is physically the opposite of the small, quick, voracious sex interest, but the hero finds her equally irresistible. I believe this character is a sop to Mrs. Furst.
Hero’s socially high-flying mentor in the ways of espionage: Check. To Furst’s credit, in Mission this character is only somewhat more wise, rather than being Yoda as usual.
A risky trip into the Heart of Evil: Check. Stahl goes to Berlin, on Kristallnacht, no less.
A desperate train trip through the Balkans: Check. Romanian and Bulgarian trains also consistently suck. The border guards remain flexible in their work practices.
Fleeing (or attempting to flee) to Istanbul on a steamer across the Black Sea: Check. Sometimes (not here) the Aegean stands in for the Black Sea. Extra credit given if the voyage continues to Lisbon (as it does here).
As you can see, all the essential Furstian elements are here. Is this bad? Not necessarily. A similar list can be ginned up for nearly every genre series, and it usually includes all the things that fans most love about the series. However, like any series, it can leave loyal readers wondering from time to time, “Did I already read this one?” And at a certain level of abstraction, the answer is, of course, yes.
If you haven’t read Furst before, Mission to Paris (his latest effort) is a fast and pleasant introduction to his world, worthy of four stars. If you have read his previous works, fear not; you’ll find nothing startling or uncomfortable here. You’ll have to decide how you feel about that prospect. I’m ready to see how well Furst can handle something new; pre-WWI Europe, for example, or Cold War Eastern Europe. As a result, I feel just around three stars about Mission, and wish I could remember whether I’ve read it before.
Yes, all that’s here. But as I read more of these, I’ve come to notice something else: not only does Furst get huge mileage out of reusing his research, he’s also reusing his story devices. Let’s go down the checklist for Mission.
Privileged hero with a complex past, naïve in the ways of espionage: Check. In this case, Frederic Stahl (a Paul Henreid type), a successful Hollywood actor who is also an Austrian émigré.
Small, quick, voracious sex interest for the privileged hero: Check. In this case, with the added bonus of having a burlesque name (Kiki de Saint-Ange). Furst apparently has a thing for petite, small-breasted, oversexed women, because pretty much all his male leads do, too.
Mature love interest for the privileged hero, also with a complex past: Check. Also to type, this character is physically the opposite of the small, quick, voracious sex interest, but the hero finds her equally irresistible. I believe this character is a sop to Mrs. Furst.
Hero’s socially high-flying mentor in the ways of espionage: Check. To Furst’s credit, in Mission this character is only somewhat more wise, rather than being Yoda as usual.
A risky trip into the Heart of Evil: Check. Stahl goes to Berlin, on Kristallnacht, no less.
A desperate train trip through the Balkans: Check. Romanian and Bulgarian trains also consistently suck. The border guards remain flexible in their work practices.
Fleeing (or attempting to flee) to Istanbul on a steamer across the Black Sea: Check. Sometimes (not here) the Aegean stands in for the Black Sea. Extra credit given if the voyage continues to Lisbon (as it does here).
As you can see, all the essential Furstian elements are here. Is this bad? Not necessarily. A similar list can be ginned up for nearly every genre series, and it usually includes all the things that fans most love about the series. However, like any series, it can leave loyal readers wondering from time to time, “Did I already read this one?” And at a certain level of abstraction, the answer is, of course, yes.
If you haven’t read Furst before, Mission to Paris (his latest effort) is a fast and pleasant introduction to his world, worthy of four stars. If you have read his previous works, fear not; you’ll find nothing startling or uncomfortable here. You’ll have to decide how you feel about that prospect. I’m ready to see how well Furst can handle something new; pre-WWI Europe, for example, or Cold War Eastern Europe. As a result, I feel just around three stars about Mission, and wish I could remember whether I’ve read it before.
June 3, 2013
Another excellent story, set mostly in 1938 Paris, with some scenes in Berlin and some in a Hungarian palace. Furst describes vicious and thorough Nazi political espionage efforts to demoralize France and convince them of the futility of fighting. Needless to say, it worked. When the Nazis invaded, France gave up after 5 weeks.
The story is told around the making of a movie, a plot device Furst has used before, and one which works well here. My only complaint is the wrap-up at the end, which I thought was done too quickly and was not totally convincing.
There was one historical issue I want to read more about. Furst presents the French as knowing the Maginot line was incomplete and that the Germans could easily go around it through Belgium, which they later did. I had read that the French thinking was the forest would stop the German advance in that area. Maybe that was just the public excuse.
The story is told around the making of a movie, a plot device Furst has used before, and one which works well here. My only complaint is the wrap-up at the end, which I thought was done too quickly and was not totally convincing.
There was one historical issue I want to read more about. Furst presents the French as knowing the Maginot line was incomplete and that the Germans could easily go around it through Belgium, which they later did. I had read that the French thinking was the forest would stop the German advance in that area. Maybe that was just the public excuse.
May 9, 2016
In the years just before WWII broke out in Europe, Warner Bros. loans movie star and leading man Frederic Stahl to a Parisian film studio. Born in Vienna, Stahl speaks English, French, and German. He becomes a reluctant messenger to power brokers in Berlin as the Nazis prepare to unleash their plan. He's a kind of double agent, because the Germans think he's working for them.
Mission to Paris is more of a love story than a spy thriller, perhaps because its main character is more lover than spy. He has a girlfriend who looks like a starlet, but his true love turns out to be a plain-faced émigré who sews costumes.
The remarkable thing about this book is its insight into the mood of the times. Remembering the horrors of the first war, many of the French are eager to accommodate the Germans, who are pretending they will play nice with everybody. It's chilling to think how tempting that accommodation must have been. The Vichy government, of course, was a huge mistake, but it was far from obvious at the time.
Mission to Paris is more of a love story than a spy thriller, perhaps because its main character is more lover than spy. He has a girlfriend who looks like a starlet, but his true love turns out to be a plain-faced émigré who sews costumes.
The remarkable thing about this book is its insight into the mood of the times. Remembering the horrors of the first war, many of the French are eager to accommodate the Germans, who are pretending they will play nice with everybody. It's chilling to think how tempting that accommodation must have been. The Vichy government, of course, was a huge mistake, but it was far from obvious at the time.
May 1, 2012
"When Paris sneezes, Europe catches cold." Prince Metternich
It is autumn 1938 and the German government has decided to make Paris sneeze violently as it carries on its preparations for war. Determined to avenge the ignominy of Versailles, the German Foreign Ministry seeks to destabilize the already fragile French Third Republic by co-opting willing and unwilling fifth columnists to do their bidding. It was a cold war designed to soften the French before the onslaught of the real war that everyone seemed to know was coming. That is the historical back drop for Alan Furst's new novel, "Mission to Paris."
Furst comes from a line of writers that can be traced back to both Graham Greene and Eric Ambler. Like Ambler, Furst often takes an unassuming, or unwitting civilian and immerses him in a world of mystery and intrigue in pre-World War II Europe. Mission to Paris follows this format and Furst does it in such a masterful way that I think it fair to say that Furst truly is worthy of the comparison to Ambler. He stands on his own now and really does not need to be compared to anyone to establish his bona fides.
Mission to Paris is set (as the title suggests) in Paris with side-trips to Berlin, Morocco, and Hungary. The unwitting protagonist is one Fredric Stahl. Born in Austria, Stahl made his way to California as a young man and is now one of Hollywood's leading men. He is sent to Paris by his studio head Jack Warner to do a movie with an international cast. The German foreign ministry has decided that Stahl should be enlisted to aid them in their cause and that sets up the story to follow.
I think it unwise to get into plot details so I'll simply state that Furst's strong point has always been how he sets the scene. His descriptions of the streets of Paris and Berlin reek of authenticity. Similarly, Furst has a keen eye for the inner life of his protagonists. Almost invariably Furst manages to convey a real sense of how those protagonists think and feel. Both of these elements of his writing generally dominate his plotting and are primarily responsible for getting the reader to turn to the next page. In this instance, Furst takes a frog in the pot of water approach to his story. Stahl's introduction to the dark world of Germany's `political cold warfare' is set on low and finally brought to a boil. Stahl's reactions to the heat being turned up is handled exceptionally well. The story kept me engaged and the ending was very well done.
In addition to Stahl, Furst introduces us to a very well-drawn cast of characters, especially that of Olga Orlova. Orlova, a Russian émigré living in Berlin is reputed to be Russian novelist Mikhail Lermontov's daughter. A film star in Germany she is known to be on of Hitler's favorite actresses. She may or may not be everything she appears to be and Stahl's relationship with her is one of the keys to the plot. This was of particular interest to me because it appears clear that Orlova is based on the very real Olga Chekhova, Anton Chekhov's niece, a well-known actress in pre-war Germany and quite likely a Soviet spy. In my 2004 review of historian Anthony Beevor's excellent The Mystery of Olga Chekhova I noted that the real Olga's story reminded me "of the noir-like novels of Alan Furst, whose tales of Soviet espionage and counter-espionage center on tales of similar acts of espionage taken on by Russian and other East European émigrés in the 1930's and 1940's". Needless to say I was delighted by this coincidence and it confirmed for me what I always suspected, that Furst's attention to historical detail is very strong.
Ernest Hemingway once said that "[I]f you are lucky enough to have lived in Paris as a young man, then wherever you go for the rest of your life it stays with you, for Paris is a moveable feast." Alan Furst's "Mission to Paris" is a moveable feast in its own right. Enjoy
It is autumn 1938 and the German government has decided to make Paris sneeze violently as it carries on its preparations for war. Determined to avenge the ignominy of Versailles, the German Foreign Ministry seeks to destabilize the already fragile French Third Republic by co-opting willing and unwilling fifth columnists to do their bidding. It was a cold war designed to soften the French before the onslaught of the real war that everyone seemed to know was coming. That is the historical back drop for Alan Furst's new novel, "Mission to Paris."
Furst comes from a line of writers that can be traced back to both Graham Greene and Eric Ambler. Like Ambler, Furst often takes an unassuming, or unwitting civilian and immerses him in a world of mystery and intrigue in pre-World War II Europe. Mission to Paris follows this format and Furst does it in such a masterful way that I think it fair to say that Furst truly is worthy of the comparison to Ambler. He stands on his own now and really does not need to be compared to anyone to establish his bona fides.
Mission to Paris is set (as the title suggests) in Paris with side-trips to Berlin, Morocco, and Hungary. The unwitting protagonist is one Fredric Stahl. Born in Austria, Stahl made his way to California as a young man and is now one of Hollywood's leading men. He is sent to Paris by his studio head Jack Warner to do a movie with an international cast. The German foreign ministry has decided that Stahl should be enlisted to aid them in their cause and that sets up the story to follow.
I think it unwise to get into plot details so I'll simply state that Furst's strong point has always been how he sets the scene. His descriptions of the streets of Paris and Berlin reek of authenticity. Similarly, Furst has a keen eye for the inner life of his protagonists. Almost invariably Furst manages to convey a real sense of how those protagonists think and feel. Both of these elements of his writing generally dominate his plotting and are primarily responsible for getting the reader to turn to the next page. In this instance, Furst takes a frog in the pot of water approach to his story. Stahl's introduction to the dark world of Germany's `political cold warfare' is set on low and finally brought to a boil. Stahl's reactions to the heat being turned up is handled exceptionally well. The story kept me engaged and the ending was very well done.
In addition to Stahl, Furst introduces us to a very well-drawn cast of characters, especially that of Olga Orlova. Orlova, a Russian émigré living in Berlin is reputed to be Russian novelist Mikhail Lermontov's daughter. A film star in Germany she is known to be on of Hitler's favorite actresses. She may or may not be everything she appears to be and Stahl's relationship with her is one of the keys to the plot. This was of particular interest to me because it appears clear that Orlova is based on the very real Olga Chekhova, Anton Chekhov's niece, a well-known actress in pre-war Germany and quite likely a Soviet spy. In my 2004 review of historian Anthony Beevor's excellent The Mystery of Olga Chekhova I noted that the real Olga's story reminded me "of the noir-like novels of Alan Furst, whose tales of Soviet espionage and counter-espionage center on tales of similar acts of espionage taken on by Russian and other East European émigrés in the 1930's and 1940's". Needless to say I was delighted by this coincidence and it confirmed for me what I always suspected, that Furst's attention to historical detail is very strong.
Ernest Hemingway once said that "[I]f you are lucky enough to have lived in Paris as a young man, then wherever you go for the rest of your life it stays with you, for Paris is a moveable feast." Alan Furst's "Mission to Paris" is a moveable feast in its own right. Enjoy
June 6, 2016
“Without giving up anything on the plane of justice, yield nothing on the plane of freedom”
― Albert Camus, Resistance, Rebellion and Death: Essays
This is my first introduction (other than by reputation) to Alan Furst, and while the novel was interesting and well-researched from a historical perspective -- it just wasn't a great spy thriller. Perhaps, I was hoping Mission to Paris would be grittier, but it seems like Furst was more interested in telling this pre-WWII spy novel in the tone and style of a Cary Grant/Gary Cooper movie script.
Stahl is a pawn in a political/spy/war game between big power; a lover of a lot of attractive and dangerous women; a reluctant hero, a smoldering spy. Yeesh. It wasn't THAT over-the-top, but it just wasn't what I expected. Predicable, and almost throw-away, Mission to Paris is a good vacation or beach read, just not a spectacular spy novel.
For reference, I've included below the 14 books of the Night Soldiers series along with my star rating:
1. Night Soldiers (1988) - 4 stars
2. Dark Star (1991) - 5 stars
3. The Polish Officer (1995) - 4 stars
4. The World at Night (1996) - 3 stars
5. Red Gold (1999) - 3 stars
6. Kingdom of Shadows (2000) - 3 stars
7. Blood of Victory (2003) - 4 stars
8. Dark Voyage (2004) - 4 stars
9. The Foreign Correspondent (2006) - 3 stars
10. The Spies of Warsaw (2008) - 4 stars
11. Spies of the Balkans (2010) - 3 stars
12. Mission to Paris (2012) - 3 stars
13. Midnight in Europe (2013) - 3 stars
14. A Hero of France (2016) - 3 stars
― Albert Camus, Resistance, Rebellion and Death: Essays
This is my first introduction (other than by reputation) to Alan Furst, and while the novel was interesting and well-researched from a historical perspective -- it just wasn't a great spy thriller. Perhaps, I was hoping Mission to Paris would be grittier, but it seems like Furst was more interested in telling this pre-WWII spy novel in the tone and style of a Cary Grant/Gary Cooper movie script.
Stahl is a pawn in a political/spy/war game between big power; a lover of a lot of attractive and dangerous women; a reluctant hero, a smoldering spy. Yeesh. It wasn't THAT over-the-top, but it just wasn't what I expected. Predicable, and almost throw-away, Mission to Paris is a good vacation or beach read, just not a spectacular spy novel.
For reference, I've included below the 14 books of the Night Soldiers series along with my star rating:
1. Night Soldiers (1988) - 4 stars
2. Dark Star (1991) - 5 stars
3. The Polish Officer (1995) - 4 stars
4. The World at Night (1996) - 3 stars
5. Red Gold (1999) - 3 stars
6. Kingdom of Shadows (2000) - 3 stars
7. Blood of Victory (2003) - 4 stars
8. Dark Voyage (2004) - 4 stars
9. The Foreign Correspondent (2006) - 3 stars
10. The Spies of Warsaw (2008) - 4 stars
11. Spies of the Balkans (2010) - 3 stars
12. Mission to Paris (2012) - 3 stars
13. Midnight in Europe (2013) - 3 stars
14. A Hero of France (2016) - 3 stars
May 16, 2012
Hurray for Hollywood
In “Mission to Paris” Furst writes a story of an actor, Fredric Stahl, who goes to Paris in 1938 to star in a film and slowly gets lured into taking sides between Germany, his old homeland, and the rest of Europe. Even before he arrives both Germany and France are subtly vying for his loyalty. Though he left Germany for America many years ago he’d still been sucked into World War I working as a desk clerk. The more he explores the Paris of 1938 the more he begins to loathe the Germans with their hierarchical structure with Hitler and his minions, of course, at the top. The threats become less and less veiled and not just for Fredric. The Parisians are scared, trying not to be noticed in any way by the Germans; they want to get on with their daily routines but the Germans become more menacing.
Stahl meets a politically ambiguous but beautiful socialite and then a free thinking German Jewish expatriate and his outlook begins to be clearer about his political stance if not his love life. He came overseas feeling thoroughly American and wanting to stay out of the war but learns that’s not possible in Europe. Things climax when he and the film crew head to Hungary for location work. No one has the luxury of being unaffiliated on German soil. Though the place and setting is turbulent this is a fairly sweet story with lots of atmosphere. Furst makes it clear Europe felt at war long before guns were fired. And America was enticed by both totalitarian Germany and Democratic Europe to join one cause or the other cause. There are some fascinating tidbits of 1930’s Hollywood included. This is a first rate thinking person’s thriller.
In “Mission to Paris” Furst writes a story of an actor, Fredric Stahl, who goes to Paris in 1938 to star in a film and slowly gets lured into taking sides between Germany, his old homeland, and the rest of Europe. Even before he arrives both Germany and France are subtly vying for his loyalty. Though he left Germany for America many years ago he’d still been sucked into World War I working as a desk clerk. The more he explores the Paris of 1938 the more he begins to loathe the Germans with their hierarchical structure with Hitler and his minions, of course, at the top. The threats become less and less veiled and not just for Fredric. The Parisians are scared, trying not to be noticed in any way by the Germans; they want to get on with their daily routines but the Germans become more menacing.
Stahl meets a politically ambiguous but beautiful socialite and then a free thinking German Jewish expatriate and his outlook begins to be clearer about his political stance if not his love life. He came overseas feeling thoroughly American and wanting to stay out of the war but learns that’s not possible in Europe. Things climax when he and the film crew head to Hungary for location work. No one has the luxury of being unaffiliated on German soil. Though the place and setting is turbulent this is a fairly sweet story with lots of atmosphere. Furst makes it clear Europe felt at war long before guns were fired. And America was enticed by both totalitarian Germany and Democratic Europe to join one cause or the other cause. There are some fascinating tidbits of 1930’s Hollywood included. This is a first rate thinking person’s thriller.
October 29, 2019
I've now read three of Alan Furst's novels and conclude that he's a good writer. He tells some pretty good stories set in Europe during the '20s or '30s with the same general themes: Nazis and Fascists are bad, so are Communists except when they're fighting the Nazis, and we must have faith because the good guys will prevail.
Furst does a great job with atmosphere, especially in Paris, where I kept expecting to bump into Bogey and Bergman on their way to Casablanca. He describes the weather, the buildings, the neighborhoods, the cuisine, the vehicles, the clothing, even the underwear with the perfect amount of detail. He also sets the time well. The protagonist, while enroute to Europe in September, 1938, reads the steamship line's daily news bulletin detailing numerous actual occurences, unrelated to the plot, of the previous day.
My favorite feature of Furst's novels is that in addition to the general themes each one develops a different specific theme that tends to be glossed over in history texts. In Mission to Paris we read that the Germans, and Frenchmen opposed to the Socialist/Liberal governments then in power in Paris, spent a considerable amount of money to generally help facilitate a German victory.
I don't think I'll start another Alan Furst novel in the near future, but it's a safe bet that I won't stay away forever.
Furst does a great job with atmosphere, especially in Paris, where I kept expecting to bump into Bogey and Bergman on their way to Casablanca. He describes the weather, the buildings, the neighborhoods, the cuisine, the vehicles, the clothing, even the underwear with the perfect amount of detail. He also sets the time well. The protagonist, while enroute to Europe in September, 1938, reads the steamship line's daily news bulletin detailing numerous actual occurences, unrelated to the plot, of the previous day.
My favorite feature of Furst's novels is that in addition to the general themes each one develops a different specific theme that tends to be glossed over in history texts. In Mission to Paris we read that the Germans, and Frenchmen opposed to the Socialist/Liberal governments then in power in Paris, spent a considerable amount of money to generally help facilitate a German victory.
I don't think I'll start another Alan Furst novel in the near future, but it's a safe bet that I won't stay away forever.
August 20, 2012
Read all of Alan Furst's earlier books. Liked the earlier novels a lot. Immensely, to be honest. Finally someone writing about the period with subtlety and insight. But the last couple--and especially this one--were disappointing. "Mission to Paris" often reads like Harlequin romance schtick aimed at male readers (no, and that ain't me, as you might guess). The protagonist, an Austrian-Slovenian-born actor who now takes the name "Stahl," is never in serious jeopardy, in fact, if it can be believed, Furst actually writes him out of danger, leaving him behind to (inconsequential spoiler alert) guard the boat while everyone else goes off to defend him. Even more distressing, a long journey to safety with his amour which cries out for some wonderful Furstian intrique is thrown away in a few sentences-cum-dustbin.
And, yes, this is really a minor point, a small matter only of the title of a mountain-film flick in German, but it's "der Berg," not "das Berg," as written, and the use of syntax is also incorrect. Visiting a web site like "Leo" and typing "Berg" in the query box would have easily cleared up the first error, and I might have forgiven the second, although it did break the mood. More to the point: Doesn't he think his readers might care as much for period detail as he does--or did? Perhaps the series has jumped the shark (as they say of series television,) and the author should look for a new angle from which to display his considerable talent. I, for one, am glad I didn't purchase Furst's latest, but instead borrowed it from my local library.
And, yes, this is really a minor point, a small matter only of the title of a mountain-film flick in German, but it's "der Berg," not "das Berg," as written, and the use of syntax is also incorrect. Visiting a web site like "Leo" and typing "Berg" in the query box would have easily cleared up the first error, and I might have forgiven the second, although it did break the mood. More to the point: Doesn't he think his readers might care as much for period detail as he does--or did? Perhaps the series has jumped the shark (as they say of series television,) and the author should look for a new angle from which to display his considerable talent. I, for one, am glad I didn't purchase Furst's latest, but instead borrowed it from my local library.
June 2, 2013
I enjoy Alan Furst's books for their atmospherics and tremendous sense of time and place. They're great escapes, often set across stunning swathes of wartime Europe and when they hit the sweet spot, they can be spine-tinglingly realistic and gripping.
I'll not summarise the plot, there are plenty of plot summaries around. I'll just get straight onto the experience if you don't mind.
This was an easy enough read, generally delivered on the grimy sepia vignettes but seemed somewhat aimless. It meandered between scenes, never really getting up a head of steam and yet never really failing anywhere.
Mind you, if the bloody bullet-marked mirror in the Cafe Heininger in Paris gets mentioned in another Furst book I'm going to do something desperate. Okay, you found a nice piece of colour, Alan - but in every single book? Really?
I'm not so sure one of us doesn't need a change. I serially read three of Furst's books, this was the second. That's never a good idea, really, it's unfair to the author. But I found this formulaic, a sort of 'ho hum, better write another atmospheric Europe at war spy thriller' and because of that it never really does, well, thrill.
It just chunders along, doing very nicely and never being offensive. But at no point does it break sweat. And a little sweat would have been nice to encounter...
I'll not summarise the plot, there are plenty of plot summaries around. I'll just get straight onto the experience if you don't mind.
This was an easy enough read, generally delivered on the grimy sepia vignettes but seemed somewhat aimless. It meandered between scenes, never really getting up a head of steam and yet never really failing anywhere.
Mind you, if the bloody bullet-marked mirror in the Cafe Heininger in Paris gets mentioned in another Furst book I'm going to do something desperate. Okay, you found a nice piece of colour, Alan - but in every single book? Really?
I'm not so sure one of us doesn't need a change. I serially read three of Furst's books, this was the second. That's never a good idea, really, it's unfair to the author. But I found this formulaic, a sort of 'ho hum, better write another atmospheric Europe at war spy thriller' and because of that it never really does, well, thrill.
It just chunders along, doing very nicely and never being offensive. But at no point does it break sweat. And a little sweat would have been nice to encounter...
November 28, 2016
This book had languished on my TBR list for far too long. I had taken too much notice of poor reviews. I should have known better. I have long been a fan of Alan Furst although my last read was several years ago. Mission To Paris is a slow-burner. There are pages where nothing much seems to happen. But throughout there is a palpable sense of menace in the autumn of 1938 in Paris where the possibility of war appeared unavoidable.
Frederic Stahl, a Hollywood film star born in Vienna, travels from California to the boulevards of Paris. He is to star in a film Après La Guerre. He is ill-prepared for the circumstances that overtake him as he is drawn into a clandestine world of espionage and overt propaganda from the Nazi organisation and the chilling heart of the Third Reich. Will Stahl inadvertently become an agent of influence? Will he put himself in harm’s way as German operatives track him across Paris? To what end?
Furst’s knowledge of this period of history is second to none. His familiarity with Paris is comprehensive. His ability to instil a simple sentence with a whiff of something sinister is pitch-perfect.
If you are a fan of Alan Furst and you haven’t yet read Mission To Paris I would recommend that you do. I loved it.
Frederic Stahl, a Hollywood film star born in Vienna, travels from California to the boulevards of Paris. He is to star in a film Après La Guerre. He is ill-prepared for the circumstances that overtake him as he is drawn into a clandestine world of espionage and overt propaganda from the Nazi organisation and the chilling heart of the Third Reich. Will Stahl inadvertently become an agent of influence? Will he put himself in harm’s way as German operatives track him across Paris? To what end?
Furst’s knowledge of this period of history is second to none. His familiarity with Paris is comprehensive. His ability to instil a simple sentence with a whiff of something sinister is pitch-perfect.
If you are a fan of Alan Furst and you haven’t yet read Mission To Paris I would recommend that you do. I loved it.
June 15, 2020
I wanted to take a trip to Paris and my bookshelves weren't giving me many unread options. How I got this book, from 2012, I have no idea; I'd never read Furst, but I'm hooked now. An American actor who is Viennese by birth travels to Paris in 1938 to make a movie, and finds himself the target of both overt and covert forces who want to co-opt him into the German machine as war marches inexorably toward France. The first two pages are masterful and the rest of the story absorbing, unnerving, and romantic all at once. Although I know Paris some, I very much appreciated the map in the front of the book -- it complements the story beautifully.
February 25, 2018
Ενδιαφέρον στην αρχή , ανιαρό στη μέση και με αρκετή αγωνία πια στο τέλος.... για δυαρι πήγαινε αλλα το έσωσε το ενδιαφέρον τελος... κ η νύχτα των Κρυσταλλων
July 12, 2016
Furst’s books are billed as World War II historical thrillers. The “thriller” label is a bit of a stretch, which is not a knock. His books are character driven and “cerebral” tales, rather than one heart thumping chase scene or shoot-out after another. Furst’s protagonists are on the fringe of the war, battling Nazi Germany one day at a time, against incredible odds, staying just one step ahead of apprehension and are not your stereotypical heroes.
Mission To Paris, the author’s 12th novel, follows this formula. Our hero, Viennese born Franz Stalka, is a Hollywood film star known to the movie watching public as Frederic Stahl. “On loan” from his studio, Stahl is filming on location in Paris in the autumn of 1938 – The Munich Pact and Kristallnacht in the background. While enjoying the splendors of Paris Stahl is “approached” by the Nazis who want to use his name, face and fame for propaganda purposes. After some wrestling with his conscience and a meeting at the American embassy, Fred becomes an amateur spy which really doesn’t entail a whole lot – specifically not interfering with Stahl’s job, night-life or romantic interludes.
And unfortunately that’s the problem; there simply isn’t much depth to this very superficial story-line. The author, as we’ve come to expect, does an excellent job painting his setting(s) – mainly in Paris, but also Hungary and Berlin – the smoke-filled cafes and bars, the streets and hotels and apartments. Unfortunately the story is populated with a cast of not so well developed characters, many of them blending together – particularly the Nazis. And the “twists and turns” here are both ho-hum and predictable.
There are also some extraordinarily cheesy – and un-Furst-like – lines/narration - “When you are in Paris, you have to make love to somebody.” (Pepe Le Pew, cue the accordion music.)
And this one – “He was in danger, so his intuition told him, yet not so much now.” (I’m not even sure what that means.)
I am a big fan of this author – and I know I won’t be the only person to utilize this pun – but Mission To Paris just isn’t first-rate Furst. There is a great story outline here, including 1930’s movie-making, and the pre-war Paris setting is a winner – unfortunately the story never gains enough speed for take-off. A quick read that is quickly forgotten.
Mission To Paris, the author’s 12th novel, follows this formula. Our hero, Viennese born Franz Stalka, is a Hollywood film star known to the movie watching public as Frederic Stahl. “On loan” from his studio, Stahl is filming on location in Paris in the autumn of 1938 – The Munich Pact and Kristallnacht in the background. While enjoying the splendors of Paris Stahl is “approached” by the Nazis who want to use his name, face and fame for propaganda purposes. After some wrestling with his conscience and a meeting at the American embassy, Fred becomes an amateur spy which really doesn’t entail a whole lot – specifically not interfering with Stahl’s job, night-life or romantic interludes.
And unfortunately that’s the problem; there simply isn’t much depth to this very superficial story-line. The author, as we’ve come to expect, does an excellent job painting his setting(s) – mainly in Paris, but also Hungary and Berlin – the smoke-filled cafes and bars, the streets and hotels and apartments. Unfortunately the story is populated with a cast of not so well developed characters, many of them blending together – particularly the Nazis. And the “twists and turns” here are both ho-hum and predictable.
There are also some extraordinarily cheesy – and un-Furst-like – lines/narration - “When you are in Paris, you have to make love to somebody.” (Pepe Le Pew, cue the accordion music.)
And this one – “He was in danger, so his intuition told him, yet not so much now.” (I’m not even sure what that means.)
I am a big fan of this author – and I know I won’t be the only person to utilize this pun – but Mission To Paris just isn’t first-rate Furst. There is a great story outline here, including 1930’s movie-making, and the pre-war Paris setting is a winner – unfortunately the story never gains enough speed for take-off. A quick read that is quickly forgotten.
May 23, 2014
Another solid thriller from Alan Furst, a cut above the average. The characterisation is one stage improved on 'Spies of the Balkans' and the sexual relationships vastly so.
Furst is good at creating believable heroes - not so much likeable as manly and with existential integrity. His Austrian-turned-Hollywood star Frederic Stahl is in that mould. His woman are also well drawn.
The book is not subtle politically. Furst's history is accurately researched even if the Nazis are all straight out of New York cultural demonology but this is a thriller and to be judged as such.
A hidden pleasure is being taken through the making of a film of that era without really noticing it. And there is the usual - perhaps less necessary this time - map. Recommended.
July 11, 2012
normally i really like furst's spy novels, but this one took way too long to get going, and was basically pretty boring. it took until page 200 of a 255 page book, before any real espionage went on. prior to that, there was way too much time spent in building up the character of the main protagonist, a famous american actor, in france to film a movie, who eventually ( and i do mean eventually, gets dragged into the spying game. a very disappointing book.
July 20, 2019
Another really well written, intriguing story. I loved it.
March 4, 2018
I enjoyed my first experience with Alan Furst's writing. The story was well told, the characters were engaging and the writing was quite beautiful. I appreciated the clever and at times humorous dialogue and would share it with those sitting next to me. Always a good sign. I also reached for Google a lot, and that's a great sign- lifelong learning!
June 28, 2019
Δυστυχώς η αφήγηση του συγγραφέα δεν κατάφερε να κρατήσει το ενδιαφέρον μου ούτε και η υπόθεση θα έλεγα...πολύ flat..
December 30, 2014
I think if you’re going to start reading Alan Furst novels (and if you haven’t, why not?), you could do no better than start here. Though, as this is so good, maybe it would be better to start elsewhere and save this pleasure? Hard to decide how to recommend it best. It really is a summation of all his strengths, all his subtitles. The perfect place to start, the perfect place to carry on from.
A deceptively simple story - all the best are - and American movie star, Frederic Stahl agrees, at his studio’s prompting, to make a movie. In Paris. In 1939. Of course, we know now that that probably wasn’t the best idea the studio, or he, ever had, but it was back then. Though, and as you might have guessed from the spelling of his name, Stahl isn’t your typical American movie star. If there is, or was, such a thing. Anyway, Stahl is a movie star in America now, but began his life in Vienna, born into ‘intelligentsia,’ though at the age of 17 he ran away to sea. A ship took him to America, then his looks took him to Hollywood. Hollywood sent him to Paris to make a movie. He is 'hot property' in more ways than one, as he soon finds out. Not just to the party, wining and dining, cocktail and cafe-society, but also to the intelligence agencies. On both sides of the yet to be declared, but every one knows is coming, conflict. You can’t say ‘war’ because no one - with the possible exception of Berlin - knew if there’d be a war or not. Obviously, everyone (with the exception of Berlin) hoped it wouldn’t come to that, but the sense of it being the last dance for the Parisian society, the foreboding, the hidden - and not so hidden - threat of a mighty power finding it will not, and probably cannot, be opposed, is handled to perfection by Furst. Stahl, is knowingly or unknowingly more and more entwined by forces he knows he doesn’t and shouldn’t want to be entwined by. As a film star, his value to the Nazis is immense, they can justify their regime by using him. They invite him to Berlin, to a film competition. He knows he shouldn’t go. But he also knows that while it is just an invitation, it’s one he can't refuse. There will be 'consequences.'. However, by being used by the Nazis, he finds he is then making himself valuable to the American intelligence services. He can, as a still neutral American, go pretty much where he likes in Europe. As an American with a European past, he finds out different. All Stahl wants to do, is revisit the Parisian haunts of his youth, be wined, dined and partied by the hight society he once stood on the outside of, finish the film - and get his end away with the wardrobe mistress.
As an aside, if you’ve read any David Downing - if not, why not?! - you’ll recognise some of the places Stahl visits while in Berlin. At around the same time as the John Russell books too. I half expected them to bump into each other at the Adlon bar!
This is the perfect showcase for all Alan Fursts talents. The complete Furst. By turns slow, reflective, ordinary, tense, erotic and passionate. Light, dark and sometimes dangerous. And more. I’d have to put it way out in front the best Furst I’ve read so far. It has everything all his other novels have in parts, distilled in total. Beautifully well written, perfectly paced. Perfection on the page. Nothing less.
A deceptively simple story - all the best are - and American movie star, Frederic Stahl agrees, at his studio’s prompting, to make a movie. In Paris. In 1939. Of course, we know now that that probably wasn’t the best idea the studio, or he, ever had, but it was back then. Though, and as you might have guessed from the spelling of his name, Stahl isn’t your typical American movie star. If there is, or was, such a thing. Anyway, Stahl is a movie star in America now, but began his life in Vienna, born into ‘intelligentsia,’ though at the age of 17 he ran away to sea. A ship took him to America, then his looks took him to Hollywood. Hollywood sent him to Paris to make a movie. He is 'hot property' in more ways than one, as he soon finds out. Not just to the party, wining and dining, cocktail and cafe-society, but also to the intelligence agencies. On both sides of the yet to be declared, but every one knows is coming, conflict. You can’t say ‘war’ because no one - with the possible exception of Berlin - knew if there’d be a war or not. Obviously, everyone (with the exception of Berlin) hoped it wouldn’t come to that, but the sense of it being the last dance for the Parisian society, the foreboding, the hidden - and not so hidden - threat of a mighty power finding it will not, and probably cannot, be opposed, is handled to perfection by Furst. Stahl, is knowingly or unknowingly more and more entwined by forces he knows he doesn’t and shouldn’t want to be entwined by. As a film star, his value to the Nazis is immense, they can justify their regime by using him. They invite him to Berlin, to a film competition. He knows he shouldn’t go. But he also knows that while it is just an invitation, it’s one he can't refuse. There will be 'consequences.'. However, by being used by the Nazis, he finds he is then making himself valuable to the American intelligence services. He can, as a still neutral American, go pretty much where he likes in Europe. As an American with a European past, he finds out different. All Stahl wants to do, is revisit the Parisian haunts of his youth, be wined, dined and partied by the hight society he once stood on the outside of, finish the film - and get his end away with the wardrobe mistress.
As an aside, if you’ve read any David Downing - if not, why not?! - you’ll recognise some of the places Stahl visits while in Berlin. At around the same time as the John Russell books too. I half expected them to bump into each other at the Adlon bar!
This is the perfect showcase for all Alan Fursts talents. The complete Furst. By turns slow, reflective, ordinary, tense, erotic and passionate. Light, dark and sometimes dangerous. And more. I’d have to put it way out in front the best Furst I’ve read so far. It has everything all his other novels have in parts, distilled in total. Beautifully well written, perfectly paced. Perfection on the page. Nothing less.
July 18, 2012
In Mission to Paris, Alan Furst has a clever idea and a lot of potential with his story, but it lacks development and is far from the great spy novel that it could be. The story revolves around Fredric Stahl, a Hollywood actor, who has been sent to Paris to work on a film about World War I. The filming begins at the same time that the roots of World War II are being planted and Stahl is quickly invited to social engagements that are hosted by the richest and most powerful Germans in Paris. While he believes this to be part of a warm welcome, he soon begins to suspect that the Germans have other plans and would like to use him to influence the public opinion of the Nazi regime (and given Stahl's Austrian heritage, he would be accepted in Germany).
Stahl speaks to Wilkinson, a representative at the American embassy, and comes to realize that he could take advantage of an opportunity offered by the Nazis (to judge a mountain film festival) in order to gather information for the Americans. Under the pretenses of promoting his film, Stahl travels to Germany and sees the true state of affairs. After returning to Paris, he realizes he can no longer remain neutral and decides to do one more exchange while filming in Morocco. The tension mounts as the Germans begin to suspect Stahl's involvement and he must decide what to do in order to survive and return to America safely.
While the plot sounds solid from the outset, the first third of the book is a description of Stahl's character and focuses on his outlook as a movie star and his position in the social sphere. The spy situation, although seemingly the center of the story based upon the book jacket, only takes up a fraction of the story. The rest of the story focuses on Stahl's romantic interests and his endeavors to explore Paris. The characters are underdeveloped and the story overall is a slow read without the action and suspense that is expected in spy novels. The story ends rather suddenly and leaves the reader to tie up loose ends.
Stahl speaks to Wilkinson, a representative at the American embassy, and comes to realize that he could take advantage of an opportunity offered by the Nazis (to judge a mountain film festival) in order to gather information for the Americans. Under the pretenses of promoting his film, Stahl travels to Germany and sees the true state of affairs. After returning to Paris, he realizes he can no longer remain neutral and decides to do one more exchange while filming in Morocco. The tension mounts as the Germans begin to suspect Stahl's involvement and he must decide what to do in order to survive and return to America safely.
While the plot sounds solid from the outset, the first third of the book is a description of Stahl's character and focuses on his outlook as a movie star and his position in the social sphere. The spy situation, although seemingly the center of the story based upon the book jacket, only takes up a fraction of the story. The rest of the story focuses on Stahl's romantic interests and his endeavors to explore Paris. The characters are underdeveloped and the story overall is a slow read without the action and suspense that is expected in spy novels. The story ends rather suddenly and leaves the reader to tie up loose ends.
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