A Hero of France

Hero In France – Brilliant Step Back In Time

Alan Furst has written yet another brilliant spy thriller set in the Second World War, and based in France and without saying as much points out not everyone acted honourably. This is about the very few heroes that were left in France after its fall in 1940 who helped the allied war effort by placing their lives in danger by running escape lines for downed airman from the RAF. While the majority did nothing but look the other way, while civil servants and police collaborated along with the Vichy Government, with the Nazis.

It is spring 1941, Britain seems to be losing the war and Paris is occupied by the Nazis while Marshall Petin is running the Vichy Government that is collaborating with the show more Nazi invaders. Paris is under curfew and the blackout is in place so as not to help the British bombers on their way to bomb Germany. When night time arrives, the leader of a small resistance cell, Mattieu, begins his work with a few trusted colleagues.

Smuggling airman along escape lines to Spain so that they can get back to Britain, needs a team that can be relied upon not to talk out of turn. The Vichy agents are not really trying to stop them but they will if the opportunity arises and make their German allies happy. Too many are escaping and the German’s are not happy, and they send one of their own to plan to capture and shut down these escape routes.

Mattieu and his cell also work with the British SOE getting agents in to France so that they made things more difficult for the Germans. But when Mattieu is informed against and made the subject of a man hunt, he and his team know that they have to get away before they end up in the hands of the Germans and the Gestapo. It still does not stop their work, which they started, but the ineptness of the Nazi collaborators may just be the saving grace.

A Hero in France is an excellent espionage thriller, which shows the excellence of Furst’s research and writing and getting under the skin of the very few that did work against the occupation. There are no wasted words no padding, Furst is short and straight to the point which makes for an enthralling read, that grips the reader from the beginning sentence to the last. show less

With this book now read, I am caught up with Furst's series set during World War II and am eagerly awaiting another. This one focuses on the French Resistance in 1941 and the covert work done by the leader of a Resistance cell who is known as Mathieu. He and his team specialize in getting downed British fliers out of occupied France so they can be returned to England to fight again. A few familiar characters from previous books show up and I admire Furst's ability to juggle all the characters' timelines as his books are not written in strict chronological order. This attention to continuity and connections add realism to the series and while each book stands on its own, reading all of them gives the reader a real sense of the concurrent show more events of a Europe in the midst of war.

There's plenty going on here: various missions, overtures from British intelligence to help and perhaps take over the running of the escape pipeline, and the German high command determined to break up the organized French resistance. But as usual, it's the characters who get under my skin more than the events. Furst bases his books on well-researched events and activities, bringing to life the simple bravery of people fighting for what they believe in. And in today's political climate, these books are a good reminder of how easy it is to lose one's freedoms. Highly recommended. show less

In this edition of the author's historical espinonage novels the protagonist known by his nom de guerre of Mathieu runs a small cell of Resistance members who concentrate on the rescue and exfiltration of downed British crews out of occupied France.

Furst is as always a master of character delineation and depiction of the shifting locales with a deft touch. There is just enough tension generated by the narrative detail and just enough erotic tension to keep the reader caring about the characters and their fates.

Unusual for Furst, he provides a nice wrap-up in the end that lets the reader in on the outcome for the more prominent members of his cast. It is more often the case that his novels conclude without a true denouement and just stop show more in the middle of things at the end of an episode, in a sense incomplete, just like real life.

Those who bring something to the table in the way of a familiarity with the history of Europe In the Thirties and Forties will profit a little more, perhaps, but in any event, I recommend it highly. As always his audience is both entertained and enlightened. show less

Powerful writing about a resistance fighter and the small group that rescued Allied soldiers in 1940 Paris and Vichy. Its realistic, as if you were there.

I'm a huge admirer of Alan Furst's novels. No one is more adept at creating atmosphere and evoking time and place. That being said, 'A Hero of France' is not up to his previous standards.

I don't think it's a typical Furst novel, and I wonder if that was intentional on his part. It's more a series of episodes tied together by the main character, the leader of a French Resistance cell responsible for smuggling downed British airmen out of occupied France. There is indeed a beginning and end, but not a whole lot tying the remainder of the plot together other than the cat & mouse games played with the German occupiers. It's an interesting look at a slice of the war that most Americans probably aren't familiar with, which is my favorite show more thing about Furst's novels. And again, his ability to make you feel like you're there is second to none.

For me, any Furst novel starts out at 3 stars, simply due to the exquisite writing. Alas, 'A Hero of France' pretty much stops there, though, since the lack of a cohesive story line makes this one a fine historical read but not much of a novel. If you enjoy Furst's writing, I'd definitely recommend reading it, though, just to enjoy his characteristic writing. show less

Once again, Alan Furst has excelled at recreating the tension in Europe in the 1930s and 40s. This novel follows the rise of the French Resistance in 1941 after Petain’s surrender to Germany and the division of France into Occupied and Vichy controlled zones. The book imaginatively describes one of the small groups in Paris as they attempt to save Allied airman who have been shot down over France and who they smuggle south to Vichy France and then onward to Spain and eventually to Britain to resume flying. The group members are drawn from a variety of backgrounds and are ever on their guard for German attempts to stop their escape lines. The characters, dangers and intrigues are fascinating and the writing has the feeling of capturing show more the authentic details of the war. show less

I always enjoy Alan Furst’s books, and this one was no exception. The plot was fascinating and moved along at a fast pace. I was a little disappointed with the ending; I felt the story was wrapped up a bit too neatly and quickly. Overall however, I really enjoyed this installment in the series.

Furst’s knowledge of Paris and the other areas of France is very apparent in his writing. His descriptions of daily life in France, particularly Occupied Paris in 1941 and 1942, transported me straight to that time period. The main character of the novel goes by “Mathieu” when operating as the leader of a French Resistance cell that manages to extract a large number of downed British pilots and other Nazi enemies during World War 2. I show more found it fascinating to learn how the Resistance workers outsmarted the Nazis amid blackouts, curfews, informants and food shortages that taxed the French population. Danger literally could be found on any street corner, and the courage, sacrifice and strength of the Resistance workers, particularly Mathieu, was without limit.

The politics of the time period are included as part of the story in such a manner that I gained a better understanding of the time period and the various forces at work during the middle parts of the war but in an interesting manner. I thoroughly savored this book and look forward to his next one!

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read this ARC in exchange for an honest review. show less