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heritage's review
2.0
Part of me wants to write a review about this book, because that's what I try to do for every book I read. However, I've decided to put as much effort into this review as Alan Furst put into writing the novel.
There is a fair amount of convenience and contrivance in this one, which I thought was unusual for Furst. The characters are less interesting than his usual. The narrative was still fine, but that may be the only positive. I'm not even sure we learn anything new about the lead-up to WWII or the times.
I'm guessing he either wrote it too quickly or he's trying for a wider audience and tried to make it more exciting. What he did was make it less Furst. Read it if you're a completist, otherwise seek out one of his better novels.
There is a fair amount of convenience and contrivance in this one, which I thought was unusual for Furst. The characters are less interesting than his usual. The narrative was still fine, but that may be the only positive. I'm not even sure we learn anything new about the lead-up to WWII or the times.
I'm guessing he either wrote it too quickly or he's trying for a wider audience and tried to make it more exciting. What he did was make it less Furst. Read it if you're a completist, otherwise seek out one of his better novels.
jamiezaccaria's review
4.0
This was a great spy thriller set in the Spanish Civil War with the early rumblings of the rest of WWII across Europe. The characters were great to follow and the author did a good job building the tension of the environment. The last chapter was a bit lackluster but that's just nitpicking. I would definitely read more spy tales from Alan Furst.
cook_memorial_public_library's review
4.0
Recommended by Becky K. Check our catalog: http://encore.cooklib.org/iii/encore/search/C__Smidnight%20in%20europe%20furst__Orightresult__U?lang=eng&suite=pearl
tuomosuominen's review
4.0
I found "Midnight in Europe" a back to form for Alan Furst. The novel is set around the efforts of the Republican Spanish government's efforts to obtain badly needed armaments during the end of the Spanish Civil War, countered by Franco's Nationalists and their German and Italian supporters. The plot takes the protagonists to the U.S., France, Germany, Poland, U.S.S.R. and Turkey, and in true Alan Furst tradition, involves an international gallery of arms dealers and gangsters, femme fatales, the Parisian Brasserie Heininger, the Hungarian Count Polanyi and naval adventures. Very well researched, and very enjoyable. Recommended!
majkia's review
5.0
Furst is in his element in painting the febrile underside of life in Europe in the late 1930s as everyone knows a war is coming. He focuses in this book on expats from Spain who are attempting to send armament to the Republic despite the efforts of a number of countries to interfere in their efforts. Russia and Germany are both building up their own armaments so do not want those resources sent to Spain.
Furst is very good at atmosphere and tension, and as usual downplays the violence, although there is some. He creates believable and complex characters who are multi-faceted and nowhere near what 007 taught us to expect of our spies.
Furst is very good at atmosphere and tension, and as usual downplays the violence, although there is some. He creates believable and complex characters who are multi-faceted and nowhere near what 007 taught us to expect of our spies.