Binding: Paperback
Dewey Decimal Number: 813.54
EAN: 9780812968729
ISBN: 0812968727
Label: Random House Trade Paperbacks
Manufacturer: Random House Trade Paperbacks
Number Of Items: 1
Number Of Pages: 272
Publication Date: 2003-05-13
Publisher: Random House Trade Paperbacks
Release Date: 2003-05-13
Studio: Random House Trade Paperbacks

In the autumn of 1940, Russian émigré journalist I. A. Serebin is recruited in Istanbul by an agent of the British secret services for a clandestine operation to stop German importation of Romanian oil—a last desperate attempt to block Hitler’s conquest of Europe. Serebin’s race against time begins in Bucharest and leads him to Paris, the Black Sea, Beirut, and, finally, Belgrade; his task is to attack the oil barges that fuel German tanks and airplanes. Blood of Victory is a novel with the heart-pounding suspense, extraordinary historical accuracy, and narrative immediacy we have come to expect from Alan Furst.

Customer Rating:
Summary: Pretty Thin Stuff
Comment: I really wanted to like this book and this writer. After all he is prolific, with many more books in the same vein. But, alas, it was not to be. This is pretty thin gruel. Yes it is heavily atmospheric, but it is also superficial, contrived and predictible. Hungarian counts, delicate, seductive, married French women with understanding husbands; exotic locations such as Istanbul and Odessa; lots of journeys by train and freighter. It all merges together into one dark, over-written rainy night. I longed for the sun to rise and put an end to it all. I closed the book for good around page 100 because I could not get myself to care about what might happen next.

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Customer Rating:
Summary: Very atmospheric, Furst repeats his winning formula
Comment: The protagonist of this novel, an emigre Russian writer A. A. Serebin, finds himself in Istanbul at the beginning of this fine suspense novel. War is raging through Europe, the Nazis have occupied Paris and our hero faces the usual choice that Furst always places before his characters -- to get involved in fighting the evil or not to get involved.
Of course the answer is clear. Serebin contacts British intelligence and soon finds himself trying to reactivate an old spy network in Bucharest, where fascist-anti-Semitic militias are fighting for control against the Nazi-backed forces of Antonescu, himself an ultra-nationalist and no angel. Having spent nine months in Bucharest, I especially enjoyed the descriptions of the city in this horrible period of its history.
Serebin becomes involved in a plot to sink barges loaded with metal in an especially shallow stretch of the Danube River to block exports of crucial Romanian oil to Germany.
I won't spoil things for readers by divulging what happens but I actually found the climax here a little disappointment. Furst has a way of jumping through crucial pieces of action with phrases like -- "it was an uncomfortable night."
My other criticism is that once you've read one Furst, you've kind of read them all. The characters and plots are all remarkably similar. Yes, Furst is a master of atmosphere and his research is formidable but I'd like to see him stretch himself a little in future books.
Having said that, still a great few hours of top-class entertainment and fascinating history.
For more on me and my book The Nazi Hunter: A Novelgo to www.alanelsner.com.

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Customer Rating:
Summary: Into Romania
Comment: Another of Furst's reluctant spy novels. Serebin has enough of the history of inter-war Europe wrapped up in him to ensure that he has already seen most of what is to come, but continues to strive forward. Again, the motivation is not ideology, but a personal sense of right and wrong.

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Customer Rating:
Summary: Blood of Victory
Comment: I don't read these books, but my dad sure seemed excited. He is a Tom Clancy fan and has read all of his books. This author had good reviews so I gave him a shot

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Customer Rating:
Summary: The worst one from A.Furst
Comment: I do like A.Furst novels, but this one should be avoided. The main character is completely unbelievable, there are tons of errors in historic environment, and the story is unbelievable too. In addition to this it is boring and predictable.

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