Binding: Paperback
Dewey Decimal Number: 813.54
EAN: 9780375758263
ISBN: 0375758267
Label: Random House Trade Paperbacks
Manufacturer: Random House Trade Paperbacks
Number Of Items: 1
Number Of Pages: 272
Publication Date: 2001-10-09
Publisher: Random House Trade Paperbacks
Release Date: 2001-10-09
Studio: Random House Trade Paperbacks

In spymaster Alan Furst's most electrifying thriller to date, Hungarian aristocrat Nicholas Morath—a hugely charismatic hero—becomes embroiled in a daring and perilous effort to halt the Nazi war machine in eastern Europe.


From the Hardcover edition.

Customer Rating:
Summary: Not my favorite Furst, but still mighty good
Comment: Alan Furst does his usual great job of evoking a particular time and place, due to either fantastic research or a brilliant imagination or both. (Did you know the Austro-Hungarian Empire had 10 official languages ? Me neither.) My quibble is with the plot, which meanders quite a bit. The main character performs various risky tasks for his rather mysterious uncle Janos, but it's not clear whether these fit into some overall plan. Perhaps that was Furst's idea, to portray Morath as a tiny cog in great events. The bottom line though is that it's still a great read for any fan of historical fiction set in the 1930's.

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Customer Rating:
Summary: gripping peri-war drama
Comment: I am eagerly looking forward to reading more books by Furst. Set in Europe at the start of WW2, this is a well-fashioned story of bravery and idealism.

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Customer Rating:
Summary: A Light in the Kingdom
Comment: This is my favorite Alan Furst novel. I think what makes this book stand out from his others is that Morath is, if not willing, an accepting spy. There is some ideological moivation behind what he does. Overall he feels to be a more generous person, but his status as part of the Hungarian aristocracy plays into that. He has the means to be more generous.

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Customer Rating:
Summary: Kingdom of Shadows
Comment: Kingdom of Shadows is the second Alan Furst novel I've read. This one follows the opening days of the war with Hitler's rise to power but from the point of view of the owner of an advertising agency in Paris who is balancing his time between work, his mistress and some espionage for his Hungarian uncle.

Nicholas Morath and his small group of friends remind me of the idle and bored characters of F. Scott Fitzgerald's, with Tender is the Night coming specifically to mind. The only difference is that their parties are set against the backdrop of the early days of WWII. Family duty forces Morath to attempt heroic acts at a time when he (and most of the rest of Paris) is having trouble believing what is on the horizon.

As with Dark Voyage, the middle section of the book drags a bit as Hurst pauses to let the historical events play out. The characters step aside and the book becomes more of a book report than a novel. While it's good to get things in context, these interludes are best when skimmed.

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Customer Rating:
Summary: Didactic
Comment: Sorry -- a quick judgment. I only read a bit. The author seems very inent, and heavy-handedly so, on filling us in on details of Hungarian culture. This gave every sign of weighing the plot down so that it could barely move. Two of the principals are having lunch in a seedy cafe. They talk about a friend who died and they take the opportunity to review Hungarian customs and beliefs surrounding dealing with the dead. Of course, we will pay close attention to their eating habits, too -- equally well researched. If I were very particularly interested in or attached to things Hungarian, I might like this, and I can imagine sensible people who would enjoy it, but it isn't what I was after.

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