Alan Furst

[Hutch]

Searched the forums, and there are no posts about this great author. I just finished his latest, The Foreign Correspondent, this morning. Another excellent read.

All of Furst's novels are set in Europe in the late '30s, during the rise of fascism and while the UK and US sat on the sidelines. Protagonists tend to be fallible, unlikely heroes, who are motivated by love for a beautiful woman and their hatred of Hitler, Mussolini or Franco. I guess they are all pretty similar, but I can never put them down, and am always sad when I finish them.
http://ec1.images-amazon.com/images/I/41CGA7TJGML._BO2,204,203,200_PIsitb-dp-500-arrow,TopRight,45,-64_OU01_AA240_SH20_.jpg (http://www.amazon.com/Kingdom-Shadows-Alan-Furst/dp/0375758267/ref=pd_bbs_sr_2/105-7394962-9765224?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1183838874&sr=8-2)
http://ec1.images-amazon.com/images/I/410M651JWJL._BO2,204,203,200_PIsitb-dp-500-arrow,TopRight,45,-64_OU01_AA240_SH20_.jpg (http://www.amazon.com/Dark-Star-Novel-Alan-Furst/dp/0375759999/ref=sid_dp_dp/105-7394962-9765224?ie=UTF8&qid=1183838955&sr=8-7)
http://ec1.images-amazon.com/images/I/513HR9M9ANL._BO2,204,203,200_PIsitb-dp-500-arrow,TopRight,45,-64_OU01_AA240_SH20_.jpg (http://www.amazon.com/Polish-Officer-Novel-Alan-Furst/dp/0375758275/ref=pd_sim_b_5/105-7394962-9765224?ie=UTF8&qid=1183838955&sr=8-7)
http://ec1.images-amazon.com/images/I/41-IHhAkpBL._AA240_.jpg (http://www.amazon.com/Foreign-Correspondent-Novel-Alan-Furst/dp/0812967976/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1/105-7394962-9765224?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1183838625&sr=8-1)

I admit to enjoying the guilty pleasures of the spy novel genre like Ludlum, Clancy, Lustbader, Trevanian and Forsythe, but I really think Furst's prose is a cut above - more like reading Hemingway than Clive Cussler.

I'm sure many of you have read some of these.

[Obstruction]

When I saw the thread I thought Furst ???? I remember that name and clicked.

It has been seven or eight years since I read a couple of his books and I really enjoyed them. They are dark and gloomy but well written and maintain a good dramatic tension.

The early books I read were a little mis-marketed. They had a big hammer and sickle or swastika on them like they were any WWII spy pot boiler. The current covers convey the tone of the books far more effectively.

[Hutch]

Bumping because the new one, The Spies of Warsaw, is awesome.

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/05/29/books/29masl.html

[Hutch]

Just finished the latest Furst offering - Spies of the Balkans, thought it was excellent.

[Hugh Conway]

You read any of the Philip Kerr Berlin Noir stuff?

[Hutch]

No, I haven't, never heard of it. It looks good though! The first few aren't on kindle, do I need to start at the beginning?

[PassTheDutchie]

You read any of the Philip Kerr Berlin Noir stuff?

Great rec; If you like Furst you'll love the Kerr. Really excellent. You can likely pick up the trilogy in one volume for next to nothing used off Amazon.

[Hutch]

You read any of the Philip Kerr Berlin Noir stuff?

Just finished March Violets at 1 a.m. last night. What a great book! Thank you.