A review by jacki_f
Spies of the Balkans by Alan Furst

4.0

Set in Salonika, Greece during the early years of World War 2, this is the story of a police official called Costa Zannis who gets involved in helping Jews to escape from Germany through Greece into Turkey. There are also a number of sub-plots - a couple of which end inconclusively - and a semi-plausible romance. There are times that the narrative feels disjointed or bitsy. Nevertheless the reader's attention is held because the characters are so rich and the setting (both geographically and historically) are so interesting, with an undercurrent of menace throughout. Greece is on the cusp of invasion and tensions are high.

This is my first Alan Furst novel. I thought it was similar in style to Philip Kerr's excellent Bernie Gunther series and I thoroughly enjoyed it.