Spies of the Balkans - Historical Fiction Novel by Alan Furst (Large Print Edition) | Perfect for Book Clubs & WWII History Enthusiasts

Alan Furst's "Spies of the Balkans" starts slowly, really, really slowly. But give it some time, have patience for 100 pages and stay with it. You'll enjoy the history lesson, the geography lesson and Furst's cleverness.As soon as we meet the first Nazis, the story picks up dramatically. Furst is masterful with Nazi characterizations, not always relying on stereotypes, thank goodness. The big scene in the Paris restaurant (pages 172-178) with the drunken Nazis and the scared-stiff main character -- Greek policeman Costa Zannis -- is probably the highlight of this tidy novel. In fact, the entire Paris episode at the book's center is superb.By the way, today the Greek city is named Thessaloniki or Thessalonica; then it was Salonika or Saloniki. You have to figure this out on your own. Google is helpful here and in a number of other places in the book. Keep your laptop handy when reading.Alan Furst applies perfect little touches to get the right 1940-41 flavor and ambience, such as the radio playing near the restaurant cash register, when it announces the news flash about Bulgaria's capitulation to Hitler. I am old enough to remember the power of radio during the Second World War and its impact on mood and emotions. Contrast Furst's gorgeous light historical touches to Kelli Stanley's heavy-handed over-the-top scenarios in her 1940 set piece in San Francisco, "City of Dragons." No contest here. Furst -- by a landslide.The love story is so-so. For a long time I thought (or did I hope?) that Demetria was Zannis' Achilles heel. He was head-over-heels for her. Was she a Nazi agent? A spy? Typical Furst: no sex scenes - just like the black and white movies of the era. There is a sexy and nice build-up, and then .............. it's the next morning. Rather funny, that.Now, let's discuss the ending. Actually I sympathized with Furst here. How would he bring to a satisfying end this little story about rather ordinary people doing extraordinary things in the threatening world of 1940-41 Europe? He did end it, but not in a satisfying way. The end just dribbled meekly off the page. This poor result shows the main flaw in the novel: an insubstantial story line. There really was no way to end it satisfactorily. Might as well make it as "happy" as possible, given the times.I much preferred the people, the plot and the tensions of "The Spies of Warsaw," another recent Furst novel. Zannis, in "Balkans" is no competitor to "Warsaw" main character Colonel Jean-Francois Mercier - or for that matter to Father Quart in Arturo Perez-Reverte's "The Seville Communion." These 3 male characters all share a commonality: they are each in their 40s, single, handsome, smart and women chase after them like a cat to its tail. Mercier wins out over Zannis, but each of the 3 stories would make great movies, with all the main characters played by the same actor - like a "Bond" series. I have read every single word published by Alan Furst. I think he is one of the very best writers of what I call "black and white" espionage novels of the Nazi era. This one falls somewhere in the lower half of his eleven novels. I give it a 4 because of who wrote it. And, actually, it's a pretty good story.