David King (2) (1970–)

Death in the City of Light by David King A sordid true story that never really gets going and never really gets anywhere either.
 
Main characters just drift off in to the side stories and the never ending names can take a bit of following. The real villain of the story comes across not so much as a monster as a slightly misguided half decent bloke. If you get the chance, don't bother.What I did enjoy in this book though, was the description of life in Paris under the Third Reich. I had previously read a few things like the (unsanctioned) biography of CoCo Chanel and her fraternising during the occupation. It makes it sound slightly dodgy using that word but in reality she and lots of others were really on the Nazi side through and through. Bad things were done in full view and good folk turned their eyes away. English folk too were on that side including a fair chunk of the British Royal Family. Anti-Semitism was rife, Eugenics too, I bet it was an interesting time to be alive in and just bloody bad luck if you backed the wrong side.Personally, I don't judge anyone and I wonder what any human would do in those situations, what never ceases to amaze me is how simple it seems for all the rules of civilised society to just disappear so bloody quickly.… (more)