Spies of the Balkans
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'As delicately crafted as John le Carre at the height of his George Smiley years, it is a delight from first page to last... Seductive, unexpectedly sexy... it's told with an elegance that reverberates long after it's finished: it is quite superb' (Geoffrey Wansell DAILY MAIL - 25 June 2010 )
'It's classic Furst - elegantly written, faultlessly researched, full of lovely details... Excellent.' (THE GUARDIAN - 26 June 2010 )
'Furst's characters have the foibles, frailties and fears of humanity under pressure... it is a thriller but with real people and real history. I cannot wait for my next Furst.' (Denis MacShane MP Minister for the Balkans 2001-05 THE INDEPENDENT - 2 July 2010 )
'enthralling evocation of the Balkans in 1940... A dark, frightening, instructive tale.' (Jessica Mann LITERARY REVIEW )
'intensely cinematic... the visual texture is rich and the Furst-world closes around the reader with an agreeable chill from the outset' (TLS )
'The literary style belies a deftly paced plot in an old-fashioned spy thriller more reminiscent of John Le Carre and Graham Greene than Ian Fleming. Highly recommended.' (THE IRISH TIMES )
'It's classic Furst - elegantly written, faultlessly researched, full of lovely details... Excellent.' (THE GUARDIAN - 26 June 2010 )
'Furst's characters have the foibles, frailties and fears of humanity under pressure... it is a thriller but with real people and real history. I cannot wait for my next Furst.' (Denis MacShane MP Minister for the Balkans 2001-05 THE INDEPENDENT - 2 July 2010 )
'enthralling evocation of the Balkans in 1940... A dark, frightening, instructive tale.' (Jessica Mann LITERARY REVIEW )
'intensely cinematic... the visual texture is rich and the Furst-world closes around the reader with an agreeable chill from the outset' (TLS )
'The literary style belies a deftly paced plot in an old-fashioned spy thriller more reminiscent of John Le Carre and Graham Greene than Ian Fleming. Highly recommended.' (THE IRISH TIMES )
Book Description
'America's pre-eminent spy novelist' [NEW YORK TIMES] returns with a gripping tale of intrigue.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
22 of 22 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
Alan Furst's elegantly-written novels about spies in World War II have become must-have acquisitions and Spies of the Balkans was no disappointment.
We find ourselves in Salonika in 1940, with Greece wondering if (when?) the Germans are going to invade. Costa Zannis is a former detective who now handles political cases, mingling with the international cast of characters who have a range of motives for being in the port. The Balkan nations are dividing into those which support the Axis powers and those who's fierce nationalism leads them to plan for guerilla wars in the mountains.
Zannis is an honourable man and agrees to help a German Jewish woman from Berlin who is in the process of setting up a route to smuggle Jews out of Germany eastwards and onto Istanbul. The British get wind of this and approach Zannis, applying pressure on him to smuggle one of their scientists out of France before the Germans get their hands on him.
Furst is a master of what in the world of cinema would be called "noir". The characters, Zannis included, seem alienated from normal life. They inhabit dingy bars, arrange assignations on street corners and have to disappear into the shadows when cars containing their enemies nose into view. They have hopeless love affairs with old-flames before falling for the wife of a notorious gangster. Above all, the filthy game of spying infests their lives with its secrecy, its betrayals and its thorough-going nastiness.
There is so much here - complex intriguing, a cast of well-drawn international characters, huge suspense - at one point Zannis has to go to Paris where his contacts have tried to make him look as normal as possible by going to a restaurant used by Gestapo officers, where things almost go terribly wrong. We visit the home of the German organiser of the escape route, and follow a Jewish couple as they nervously cross the borders of Europe on their way to freedom.
But Furst is far too stylish a write to make this just a "spy novel". Furst depicts the despair of wartime, when the only way to remain intact as a full human being is to give up any hope of surviving and to join forces with those who could lead you to disaster, but at least will allow you to live with some shreds of integrity.
Costas Zannis is a memorable character, who manages to retain a sense of honour although involved with nefarious dealings. He manages to find his way through a maze of conflicting loyalties but finds that with invasion imminent you have to join forces with unlikely partners. He joins a long line of Furst characters torn in different directions yet somehow coming out in one piece to continue (hopefully) their stories on the pages of another book.
Spies of the Balkans is the 11th novel in Alan Furst's "Night Soldiers" series - I've never found a dud among them and I continue to wait for the next with keen anticipation.
We find ourselves in Salonika in 1940, with Greece wondering if (when?) the Germans are going to invade. Costa Zannis is a former detective who now handles political cases, mingling with the international cast of characters who have a range of motives for being in the port. The Balkan nations are dividing into those which support the Axis powers and those who's fierce nationalism leads them to plan for guerilla wars in the mountains.
Zannis is an honourable man and agrees to help a German Jewish woman from Berlin who is in the process of setting up a route to smuggle Jews out of Germany eastwards and onto Istanbul. The British get wind of this and approach Zannis, applying pressure on him to smuggle one of their scientists out of France before the Germans get their hands on him.
Furst is a master of what in the world of cinema would be called "noir". The characters, Zannis included, seem alienated from normal life. They inhabit dingy bars, arrange assignations on street corners and have to disappear into the shadows when cars containing their enemies nose into view. They have hopeless love affairs with old-flames before falling for the wife of a notorious gangster. Above all, the filthy game of spying infests their lives with its secrecy, its betrayals and its thorough-going nastiness.
There is so much here - complex intriguing, a cast of well-drawn international characters, huge suspense - at one point Zannis has to go to Paris where his contacts have tried to make him look as normal as possible by going to a restaurant used by Gestapo officers, where things almost go terribly wrong. We visit the home of the German organiser of the escape route, and follow a Jewish couple as they nervously cross the borders of Europe on their way to freedom.
But Furst is far too stylish a write to make this just a "spy novel". Furst depicts the despair of wartime, when the only way to remain intact as a full human being is to give up any hope of surviving and to join forces with those who could lead you to disaster, but at least will allow you to live with some shreds of integrity.
Costas Zannis is a memorable character, who manages to retain a sense of honour although involved with nefarious dealings. He manages to find his way through a maze of conflicting loyalties but finds that with invasion imminent you have to join forces with unlikely partners. He joins a long line of Furst characters torn in different directions yet somehow coming out in one piece to continue (hopefully) their stories on the pages of another book.
Spies of the Balkans is the 11th novel in Alan Furst's "Night Soldiers" series - I've never found a dud among them and I continue to wait for the next with keen anticipation.
37 of 39 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
I've been reading Furst since his first book, and I'm thrilled that he's finally gotten around to setting something in my ancestral homeland (Greece). That said, he does have a very distinctive style that is definitely not to everyone's taste. His narratives tend to unfold in a somewhat fractured way, in vignettes that can sometimes skip large swathes of time and geography. His characters can often have a somewhat detached tone to them, which can make them somewhat less empathetic than your average spy/thriller protagonists. Personally, I feel no one does WWII atmosphere better, and I'm always glad to step back in time to a world that he's captured so wonderfully.
This book revolves around Constantine Zannis, a Greek police detective serving in Salonika (present-day Thessaloniki, historically, Greece's second-largest city). He works for a shadowy high-ranking police patron on "special" cases that involve more discretion and nuance than called for in common crimes. Although in 1940 the war has yet to reach Greece, it's clear that it's only a matter of time before it does, and the city is crawling with Allied and Axis spies. As the war creeps closer and closer to the border, we see him change roles, from policeman to spycatcher to activated reserve officer to Allied agent.
In these roles we first see Zannis get involved in an underground railroad helping Jews escape German-controlled territory into Turkey. This is handled very well, as we see all aspects of the operation, from the German enablers, their SS hunters, the scared couples on trains chugging through the Balkans, the palms that need to be greased at the Turkish border, etc. And when he gets trucked north to serve in a unit along the border, it brings home the human scale of the war in Europe. The biggest storyline involves British agents (which include a former girlfriend) convincing him to go to Paris and bring out a British scientist caught in the occupied city. But what might be the central high stakes premise in another writer's thriller is in Furst's war just another task to be grimly undertaken by a committed and principled man.
The one area in which this book stumbles is in some of Zannis' personal relationships, especially an insipid affair with the stunning wife of a shipping magnate. It comes out of nowhere and does nothing for the story except drag it kicking and screaming into the realm of conventional Hollywood blockbuster ("they found passion amidst the winds of war"). Fortunately, it's just a minor glitch, and there is none of the grand sweep and heft of typical spy thrillers. Furst is more of miniaturist, working in fine detail to create a series of stories that, read together, accrue a heft of their own.
This book revolves around Constantine Zannis, a Greek police detective serving in Salonika (present-day Thessaloniki, historically, Greece's second-largest city). He works for a shadowy high-ranking police patron on "special" cases that involve more discretion and nuance than called for in common crimes. Although in 1940 the war has yet to reach Greece, it's clear that it's only a matter of time before it does, and the city is crawling with Allied and Axis spies. As the war creeps closer and closer to the border, we see him change roles, from policeman to spycatcher to activated reserve officer to Allied agent.
In these roles we first see Zannis get involved in an underground railroad helping Jews escape German-controlled territory into Turkey. This is handled very well, as we see all aspects of the operation, from the German enablers, their SS hunters, the scared couples on trains chugging through the Balkans, the palms that need to be greased at the Turkish border, etc. And when he gets trucked north to serve in a unit along the border, it brings home the human scale of the war in Europe. The biggest storyline involves British agents (which include a former girlfriend) convincing him to go to Paris and bring out a British scientist caught in the occupied city. But what might be the central high stakes premise in another writer's thriller is in Furst's war just another task to be grimly undertaken by a committed and principled man.
The one area in which this book stumbles is in some of Zannis' personal relationships, especially an insipid affair with the stunning wife of a shipping magnate. It comes out of nowhere and does nothing for the story except drag it kicking and screaming into the realm of conventional Hollywood blockbuster ("they found passion amidst the winds of war"). Fortunately, it's just a minor glitch, and there is none of the grand sweep and heft of typical spy thrillers. Furst is more of miniaturist, working in fine detail to create a series of stories that, read together, accrue a heft of their own.
14 of 15 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
The other reviews pretty well say it all. I have read all the Alan Furst books and it is a real treat when a new one is published. I learn so much from each book and find myself looking up additional information on the internet - not just a great read but also a learning experience!
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
My First Furst!
My first Furst (no pun intended!) and I thought it a very good wartime espionage thriller. It was interesting to come across a novel in this genre that is not driven primarily by... Read more
Published 50 minutes ago by A. Lake
Gripping read
My husband insisted I read this book and I am so glad! Not a book I would have chosen from the title, however the characters, setting and plot captivated me from the start right... Read more
Published 1 day ago by Triona
The atmosphere...just the barest music of china and silverware - was...
Espionage may be mere expediency in some cases, in others it is all a matter of who you know and who you can get to know. Read more
Published 2 months ago by Eileen Shaw
The best spy noir film you have never seen
Gosh - my first Furst! Why have I only discovered this author now?
Reading this author is like watching the best spy noir film you have never seen. Read more
Reading this author is like watching the best spy noir film you have never seen. Read more
Published 2 months ago by Ruby
over hyped under delivered
Starts well then fades into rather tired cliches. All a bit predictable and obvious. Others of this genre are far better.
Published 4 months ago by ATT
Echoes of Thermopylae - 4+
"Spies of the Balkans" introduces a new protagonist in Constantine Zannis, an incorruptible "senior police official" in Salonika, capital of Greek Macedonia. Read more
Published 6 months ago by Blue in Washington
An engrossing novel 'noir' of espionage in pre-war Salonike.
A wonderfuly evocative novel; which really conjures up Salonike of the late 1930s. I initially found the writing rather staccato in style but within no more then 50 pages I was... Read more
Published 6 months ago by jelliski
Furst, as always.
This is another winner from Furst. The story grips you all the way. I could not put it down.
I trust he will never come to the end of his war. Read more
I trust he will never come to the end of his war. Read more
Published 8 months ago by J. M. Flinn
enjoyable but not compelling
I liked the quiet style of this author and enjoyed reading this story about Greece, set as World War II arrived. Read more
Published 9 months ago by G. Gavigan
malibu
This book fully evokes the atmosphere surrounding Continental Europe prior to the second WW with Hitlers troops on borders and the dread of knowing people /countries were going to... Read more
Published 9 months ago by malibu
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