Mission to Paris

Reviews / Votes

Mission to Paris is as intricate and enjoyable as anything Furst has written... Furst's high level of surface preiod detail is expertly deployed to make us feel as if we're stranded in the past without a guide. Nothing is needlessly explained; it just happens quickly and thrillingly -- John O'Connell THE GUARDIAN Alan Furst's subject is the death of old Europe. His books are spy novels told in a style that is at once meticulously detailed - the complete menu, the vintage of the champagne, the colour of the tablecloths - and impressionistic... brilliantly captures the tense and frightening atmosphere during the last days of free Paris -- Jessica Mann LITERARY REVIEW The writing in Mission to Paris, sentence after sentence, page after page, is dazzling. If you are a John le Carre fan, this is definitely a novel for you. James Patterson a solid, serious book - thrilling, evocative and full of subtle nuance VOYAGER magazine Those who haven't yet discovered the addictive pleasures of [Furst's] elegant and evocative prose, beautifully drawn characters and skillful plots have a real treat in store. Unreservedly recommended IRISH INDEPENDENT a smooth elegantly written spy story THE SUNDAY HERALD (Glasgow) a romantic, elegantly written espionage thriller notable for its exciting, straightforward plot and characters who are definitely on either the right or the wrong side MORNING STAR Mission to Paris, the 12th novel in the series, contains some of Furst's best writing to date...Furst is a romantic moralist working in a version of the realist tradition...line-for-line he beats his rivals hands down THE INDEPENDENT Alan Furst cannot disappoint. With an iron grasp on his historical setting (Europe just before WWII) and his ability to create characters or atmospheres economically and without pretension, he once again gives a master class in spare thriller writing which those of us with lesser talents can only gawp at, slack-jawed. Mission to Paris is almost like watching Casablanca. Hardly a line seems out of place, there is romance, heroism, humanity and a noble cause. -- Mike Ripley 'Getting Away With Murder' SHOTS a crackerjack tale of spies and a subtle meditation on the mood of Europe in the shadow of Hitler's rise. Furst gives you both panoramic view and detail shots, a unique gift for a writer of historical fiction...with the pacing and suspense you'd expect from one of the very best. To do this, and to suffuse his novel with history and ambiance that feel so authentic you are almost breathing it, is a tremendous feat THE WASHINGTON POST (USA) Alan Furst's Mission to Paris is a brilliant thriller noir of Second World War espionage -- Simon Sebag Montefiore THE DAILY TELEGRAPH Paris in 1938 is cleverly evoked in this tale of a Hollywood actor who is drawn into a web of international espionage and pitted agains Hitler's worst. The French capital is the real star, partying hard with a sense that the lights are about to go out SUNDAY EXPRESS This is a world filled with a rich cast of characters from an old central Europe - a half-continent we are only now getting to know again - already haunted by the spectre of impending doom. A great read THE TIMES memorable and wonderfully readable. It also leaves you hungry for more THE SPECTATOR Set around the Second World War, Alan Furst's novels are steadily making their way into the public's affections - and not before time... the characters and setting are beautifully realised THE MAIL ON SUNDAY The latest instalment of Furst's brilliant Second World War novels finds Hollywood star Frederic Stahl returning to his native Europe to make a movie...Like all Furst's books it's less an action packed thriller than a study of characters under pressure. And as always, the period setting is perfect. THE SUN