Foreign Correspondent

De: Alan Furst

Narrado por: George Guidall

2007 Audie Award Finalist for Thriller/Suspense

Step into a world we would never know otherwise.

Alan Furst writes a slice of life in prewar France, Germany and Italy in the first half of 1939. A well-travelled Italian journalist, a German heiress in Berlin, and a group of immigrants in Paris who publish an underground newspaper, conspire to defeat the Fascists no matter the risk. They don't know what's coming, but we do. This book is like watching an old film noir spy movie. The narration is George Guidall at his best but, well, he's always at his best.

Not Furst's Best

Any additional comments?

George Guidall is a genius, but not even he can turn this into an Alan Furst classic. I love Furst's rambling style and that he doesn't hew to the cookie cutter outline that dominates all fiction today. But. . . the characters here just aren't interesting to sustain Furst's style of writing. I never connected with any of the characters, least of all the main character, Weiss.

If you read Enid Blyton as a child, the "board"--who publish a subversive paper aimed at undermining Mussolini's regime--are about as sophisticated as The Famous Five, possibly less so.

I'm disappointed, but I'm going to try the next in the series. I just wish Furst could bring back the excitement and complexity of the first books in Night Soldiers, especially the first. If you haven't read/listened to it, download it right now! You won't be disappointed.

Did I say that George Guidall is a genius?

Best in Series

Another great story but I am hooked on the series. Simply the historical descriptions and characters keep me coming back for more.

Another excellent story

Love Alan Furst stories. The narrator sets the mood perfectly at just the right tempo.

One of the best in the series so far

I first read about the Night Soldier series and Furst through a list of "Best spy novels" or some such. On the list was a book in the middle of the series, perhaps this one. But I saw the first book was free and now I'm at book ten.

Furst's style has varied some over the series but in general it's a bit like Le Carre, and I'm always looking for more like Carre whom I adore.

George Guidal narrates the series including this one and then another narrator, equally good, takes over.

This one is about a group of Italian ex-pats in Paris. They publish an anti fascist underground newspaper. Many problems ensue. It gets pretty tense at times and we're being manipulated quite a bit by Furst, in a good way.

As with the other books, characters from before make appearances and a cameo in the last book becomes a main character here.

I recommend the whole series and not least this one.