Shadow Over Paris

by Michael Parker

Charlotte de la Cour returns to France in the late Spring of 1940 having been recruited as an SOE agent to be embedded in Paris before the expected occupation by Nazi Germany.

Her work as a waitress at the Hotel Metropole brings her face-to-face with many senior German Officers where her lip-reading and language skills are used to learn as much as she can from their unguarded loose talk. But she gets drawn deeper and closer to the growing resistance movement in France where she learns what living on the edge is really like and what price she will pay if she fails.

Genres: Historical Fiction

332 pages, Kindle Edition

Published November 13, 2024

About the author

Michael Parker writes World War Two historical thrillers set in the shadows of
occupied Paris. His debut, Shadow Over Paris, follows a waitress at the Hotel
Metropole, who uses her lip-reading skills to spy on Nazi officers before the French
Resistance even existed. Macmillan has published his work, and he has
achieved over one million page reads as an independent author. He is currently
completing the Shadow Over Paris trilogy. When not writing, he lives in West Sussex. Start the trilogy today with Shadow Over Paris.

Reviews

[KD · Rating 3 out of 5]

The plot, as much as there was one, was simplistic and unimaginative. The book was poorly edited and included phrase and situations not appropriate for the era, ie a working class bar with air conditioning in 1940 Paris. There was also some very odd English grammar. The book ended with a whimper.

[Dan · Rating 4 out of 5]

I had expected this to be the beginning of a series, and was surprised it wasn't. There seemed to be a lot of political and personal conflicts set in motion. Thus the ending (no spoilers) seemed abrupt.

There's promise here but the story doesn't always hang together well. Charlotte de la Cour, Franco-British and just out of university, is rapidly trained as a British agent and inserted into France as it's falling to Germany in 1940. Her cover is a last-minute effort to get her French aunt out of the country.

Through the story, though, at times she seems more like a ditzy college girl, swooning over the men she meets. She emotionally swirls around in ways that don't really fit her spy persona. Are spies real people subject to real emotions? Yes. Would a brand-new young one maybe not have that under control yet? Sure.

But she seems to think little about either the war's progress or the Resistance work she's now tied in to.

Instead, her thoughts are of being bored because nothing's happening. She's a hotel waitress charged with eavesdropping on German officers. Or she's focused on the competing attractions of a Communist-aligned young Frenchman and a polite German officer (horrors) billeted in her aunt's house.

Historically, more mention should be made of the Battle of Britain and German plans to invade England. You'd think this would have injected some urgency into the SOE that they'd pass on to Charlotte in fall 1940.

Parker stretches to make German officer Hans Gruber a captain in the SD. The SD was the SS's security service, and it's unlikely anyone this lukewarm about the Nazis would be in it. In the Wehrmacht, maybe, or perhaps the Abwehr.

For his plot Parker needs Gruber to be tied into the German security apparatus making its weight felt on the people of Paris. But this didn't work for me.

Gruber is initially referred to as "Grunberg" several times. I assume Parker may have started with that name, changed his mind, but missed correcting all previous uses of it. (Better editing, please.) 'Grunberg' sounding kind of Jewish, I wondered if he'd initially thought to write him with secret Jewish background, but decided against it. Good move. Again, unlikely for an SD officer.

Parker also drops in Charlotte's Jewish background of some sort. In a war story like this, it matters, and it indeed factors into the plot. He should have developed that more. How Jewish is she? Was she brought up that way? Or is it just some minor lineage, a grandparent perhaps?

It doesn't seem to weigh on Charlotte's mind much, and you have to wonder why not. Living under German occupation, she ought to be terrified.

[Nancy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Subjugation of Paris

Intriguing personal relationships build as German brutality builds against the populace. Resistance begins to bring brave patriotic French from all walks of life together. As the reality of The danger and terror actually implementing resistance demands of the human lives, relationships and hearts reality strengthens resolve and heartache.
Note: The manuscript is needing a more critical look at the Proofreading. Or, the ethnic vernacular is brought out poorly.

[John Upper · Rating 1 out of 5]

grammar check for this author is a must

This poorly edited tale is also replete with editorial lapses: the name of the German savior is variously Gruber am others names beginning with G. What nobody read the story before revisions? Were there revisions?
Lack of proper grammar (notably using "was " for "were" consistently) was distracting and lowered the overall quality of this novel.

[Margaret Wray · Rating 3 out of 5]

The concept was good but fell short of gripping time. Charlotte was all over the place in her role. Some character were interesting like Jacques but he just disappeared. Hans seemed to good to be true but you never know. Living under Nazi rule would not have been all that great. No mention of the round up of the Jewish people and placed in the Vendome and the tragedy that followed.
Could have been so much more.

[Sam Fox · Rating 5 out of 5]

I don’t want this book to finish! I was constantly checking how much there was left to read. To me the ending came rather abruptly but what I read leading up to this was heart stopping! If I woke up during the night and couldn’t get back to sleep I would get my kindle out and carry on reading. The plot was great with not too many people in it and by the end I felt like I was missing them. I tried to purchase the next book in the series but unfortunately wasn’t available on kindle yet.

[Mary Ellen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good storyline / several gramerical errors.

Enjoyed the storyline. As a British agent seem unbelievable they sent her to Paris with so little field training. Looking forward to next book.

[sally crowell · Rating 5 out of 5]

Resistance in Paris

The SOE trained various people to spy on the Germans in France. This is about one of them trying to send messages back to Briton. The struggle to live and report is terrifying. It’s about one woman and her work.

[Susan J. Campbell · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love “Shadow Over Paris“and I wish there was to be a sequel! My only criticism is that a proofreader was definitely needed before the book went to print. Lots of errors in spelling, punctuation, and homonyms (too instead of two, etc).

[kathryn lanciano]

Disappointing. A stay about sending an SOE agent to France with little training And then as a waitress to listen to the Germans talk and getting virtually little information and saying she is bored and more interested in her boyfriend does not make a good story.

[PaPa · Rating 5 out of 5]

WOW

Throughly enjoyed this book . Very interesting and captivating from start to finish. A realistic story laced with drama , shock and Surprise. Warm and Heartfelt sadness too.
Bravo Michael, Bravo

[Lynn · Rating 4 out of 5]

interesting take in this genre, a little disappointed there isn't a 2nd book