I have just read Spies of Warsaw, and embarked on Mission to Paris both by Alan Furst: fabulous novels, taut, anxiety promoting reads, and written with such restrained delicacy that I would re-read passages for the sheer pleasure they gave me. Then,  Under Occupation arrived in Frost Magazine’s office. Being a wise old bird,  i hid it from my book review team and devoured it myself.

Under Occupation is set in occupied Paris in 1942 where the presence of the German masters is ever constant, as is the unseen – usually – German security services.

This is a Paris which still hums, restaurants which still serve food and wine, a Paris which somehow has a measure of the ambiance of a Paris before the war. Why? Because it is the playground for Germans on leave. But what is actually going on beneath the surface? Is there a resistance network? If so, who is in it? How do you become embroiled?

Well, by accident or design.

Either way, it is nerve tingling, an almost impossible way to live: who is friend, who is foe? How can one ever sleep soundly, for when will the Gestapo beat on the door at midnight?

As always, Alan Furst’s research is thorough, the world he creates is utterly believable, the tension he evokes makes putting down the book almost impossible.

Scenario: a man is being chased by the Gestapo. He is shot, and hands an onlooker, Paul Ricard, a plan but of what? Who should Paul share this with, or should he just forget all about it?

So, there we are, by accident Paul Ricard is given a choice. He accepts the challenge and becomes one of those below the surface.

Paul is also an author. He is writing a book, it is his only piece of sanity, the only thing he is in control of, the only world he can manipulate with certainty as his life becomes that of an agent. with only uncertainty as his companion.

One assignment leads to another, he travels into Germany, he grows enamoured of his handler Leila, he works with another, Kasia, This war becomes a battle for survival, not only for Ricard but for France. So many small pieces create a mass, a mass of information, a mass of actions, which will ultimately help those who are helping France.

Under Occupation is enlightening, evocative, heart stopping. Read it, try not to bite your nails. Bravo Alan Furst. A triumph.

Under Occupation by Alan Furst. pub Weidenfeld and Nicholson. hb £20.00

 

Annie Clarke’s latest novel, Heroes on the Home Front pub Arrow is out in paperback.