Foreign Correspondent

Alan Furst is wonderful at atmosphere but slim on plot development lately - this book is a return to his best, like The Polish Officer and Night Soldiers, which is still his best book in my opinion. Foreign Correspondent has strong characters, a likable hero and an interesting story line. Well worth the time.

No. I very rarely listen or read novels more than once. In addition, the story didn't enthrall me. I did enjoy the atmospheric details and the real sense of time the story created.

The novel seemed to just stop. I generally read spy fiction for the thrilling aspect of it. Furst seems more interested in setting up the stage and making the reader feel, quite successfully I might add, as if he is living in the period with his characters.

I listened to Night Soldiers (also by Alan Furst). I thoroughly enjoy Mr. Guidall's performances. He is easy to listen to and creates characters that are distinguishable and lively. His voices really seem to belong to separate people.

No, the book was more about creating a sense of time than suspense.

While the book did not satisfy the needs I usually have for spy fiction, I wouldn't hesitate to recommend it. the book really immersed you in the period and I found that extremely appealing. There were some elements of suspense, but on a smaller scale than some might expect from a spy novel. The story appealed to me more as a fan of historical fiction and history in general than as a spy novel.

I was really looking forward to this thriller, having had my eye on the book since it was published in paperback, but I think the narrator, George Guidall, really killed this audiobook. He is a very experienced narrator of audiobooks and I have listened to and enjoyed other books he's narrated (including at least one Jodi Picoult) very much, but he just wasn't right for this spy novel. I had to stop listening about half-way through because his over-inflections really made it impossible for me to concentrate on the plot. What I look for in an audiobook is a narrator who fits perfectly with the story so that you feel you are almost reading the book yourself, but George Guidall introduced far too many of his own accents in the wrong places and I was very disappointed.