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quigs07's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
informative
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
feoh's review against another edition
5.0
This book is a sure fire winner for anyone who enjoys truly compelling story set against a lushly detailed historical back drop.
Alan Furst really has an incredible talent for bringing history alive and this book is a fine example.
Generalities aside for the moment, I particularly enjoyed the Russian/Eastern European bent of this story. Our protagonist is a Polish born Russified Jew who begins the tale as a fiery, empassioned writer for Pravda but is slowly sucked into the ravening maw of the NKVD (Precursor to the KGB) as Hitler devours Europe and the region is sucked inexorably towards war.
The intensity and poignancy of this story make it a definite stand out. The all too up close and personal encounters with anti-antisemitism and life under Stalin's purges are just heartrending and left me unable to put this one down. Highly recommended.
Alan Furst really has an incredible talent for bringing history alive and this book is a fine example.
Generalities aside for the moment, I particularly enjoyed the Russian/Eastern European bent of this story. Our protagonist is a Polish born Russified Jew who begins the tale as a fiery, empassioned writer for Pravda but is slowly sucked into the ravening maw of the NKVD (Precursor to the KGB) as Hitler devours Europe and the region is sucked inexorably towards war.
The intensity and poignancy of this story make it a definite stand out. The all too up close and personal encounters with anti-antisemitism and life under Stalin's purges are just heartrending and left me unable to put this one down. Highly recommended.
leavingsealevel's review against another edition
2.0
Done for a while. Too many (male) spies/too many plotlines/too much USSR/too many pages/not enough women who exist as things other than than sex objects.
The later books are much better in all those areas.
The later books are much better in all those areas.
heritage's review against another edition
3.0
A Polish Jew, who is a reporter for Pravda, is asked by competing members of the Soviet secret police to carry out a few espionage-related operations in the lead-up to World War II.
Alan Furst is a master of atmosphere. Few authors, regardless of genre, have his sense of time and place. From the buildings to the clothes to the attitudes, he nails it all. It is the single greatest aspect of his writing that everyone comments on, and with good reason. Reading one of his earlier works is a master class in setting and certainly worth the cover price alone.
The plot of this novel, however, is rather ho-hum. It can mostly be summed up this way: a guy does some things. That is a bit harsh, because we do learn a lot about espionage during that time period, but it's not far off the truth. Furst, in his early works, didn't really have much idea how to tie his characters' actions together. It really isn't random what the reporter is doing in this story, but you'd never know that from the way Furst writes it. He gets it right in later books, but it's still an oversight in this one. The last one-third of the novel is better, but you sort of have to go through the first two-thirds wondering how it all relates. It just doesn't have that feeling of connection that other thriller writers automatically imbue their novels with.
As the second novel in a series, it's nice to see some of the crossover characters from his first one. It isn't a sequel at all, just a shared world with characters who happen to be on the same journey. Sometimes these secondary characters even outshine the main ones, but that's part of the fun of reading his books.
For people new to reading Furst, I wouldn't really recommend this one to start with. It is easily his most quotable one, and the invasion of Poland is really well done, but it's just too different from his others. I'd rate it 3 1/3 stars--3 for the first two-thirds, and 4 for the last one-third. He found his stride by book four, The World at Night, so that's where I'd start. Then read, in any order, through to book nine, The Foreign Correspondent. After that you can continue on or else to back to book one. The quality of book 12, Mission to Paris, and onward is pretty atrocious, though, so I wouldn't recommend those.
Alan Furst is a master of atmosphere. Few authors, regardless of genre, have his sense of time and place. From the buildings to the clothes to the attitudes, he nails it all. It is the single greatest aspect of his writing that everyone comments on, and with good reason. Reading one of his earlier works is a master class in setting and certainly worth the cover price alone.
The plot of this novel, however, is rather ho-hum. It can mostly be summed up this way: a guy does some things. That is a bit harsh, because we do learn a lot about espionage during that time period, but it's not far off the truth. Furst, in his early works, didn't really have much idea how to tie his characters' actions together. It really isn't random what the reporter is doing in this story, but you'd never know that from the way Furst writes it. He gets it right in later books, but it's still an oversight in this one. The last one-third of the novel is better, but you sort of have to go through the first two-thirds wondering how it all relates. It just doesn't have that feeling of connection that other thriller writers automatically imbue their novels with.
As the second novel in a series, it's nice to see some of the crossover characters from his first one. It isn't a sequel at all, just a shared world with characters who happen to be on the same journey. Sometimes these secondary characters even outshine the main ones, but that's part of the fun of reading his books.
For people new to reading Furst, I wouldn't really recommend this one to start with. It is easily his most quotable one, and the invasion of Poland is really well done, but it's just too different from his others. I'd rate it 3 1/3 stars--3 for the first two-thirds, and 4 for the last one-third. He found his stride by book four, The World at Night, so that's where I'd start. Then read, in any order, through to book nine, The Foreign Correspondent. After that you can continue on or else to back to book one. The quality of book 12, Mission to Paris, and onward is pretty atrocious, though, so I wouldn't recommend those.
jefecarpenter's review against another edition
5.0
A powerful book, subtly enchanting me into its spell, inconspicuously recruiting me to reckon with the sophisticated evil and the unpredictable passions of that time, and see it from the perspective of unique characters, living their lives in so many different ways.
sebb0's review against another edition
dark
informative
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Diverse cast of characters? No
4.5
librarian_lisa_22's review against another edition
4.0
Very rich and complex. Furst paints such a vivid and terrifying picture of Europe in the pre World War II years.
majkia's review against another edition
5.0
Second in Furst’s Night Soldier series follows a Soviet Jew newspaper man through the rise of Hitler, and the beginning of WWII. At first a spy for the Russians based in Germany when war begins his world is turned inside out and he flees through Europe.
I love how Furst shows what little control people in those circumstances have over their lives. At the mercy of powerful elements shoving them and forcing them this way and that. I also love that Furst downplays the horrors you know are going on around his characters. He keeps the focus on the story rather than the horror.
A terrific series with insights into the mood, realpolitik and underside of the run up to war.
mulveyr's review against another edition
4.0
A fascinating book, not at all like a typical spy thriller. The author did an excellent job of creating an atmosphere that makes you feel like you're in the last days of pre-war Europe in the 30's.