The World at Night: A Novel
by Alan Furst

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Book Reviews of The World at Night: A Novel

Book Review: "Victor, Please Don't Go to the Underground Meeting Tonight"
Summary: 4 Stars

Jean Casson plays a small-time movie producer who has to learn how to shift for himself under the Nazi occupation of France. On the way, he not only falls in love with the hot starlet Citrine, but simultaneously acts as an agent for the Boche and the Resistance.

Furst's Gestapo officers come across as unexpectedly tolerant and even bemused -- except when they are crossed. Ach, these French! Why can't they understand that we are only trying to help them? Lieutenant Colonel Guske of the SS in particular is sketched in with admirable restraint.

My only problem with an otherwise wildly entertaining read is that Casson's escape from Gestapo headquarters at the end is just a bit too pat. With his strength at setting the mood and his aptitude for interesting and very French characterizations, Furst could have sacrificed some of the derring-do at the end without sacrificing the sense of the story.

I first heard of the author on a National Public Radio broadcast while driving to the library. Within hours, I was congratulating myself for having found another interesting new writer.

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