April 21, 2014
After a slow start, this spy thriller set in 1938 from Edgar finalist Furst (Mission to Paris) settles into a lazy pace, as it charts the attempts of two part-time arms dealers, Chistián Ferrar and Max de Lyon, to serve the Spanish Republic and its beleaguered army while most of the continent has its eye on Berlin. Every clandestine mission they undertake—a prolonged quest for cannons in Poland, a nifty operation to trick Russia out of field guns and antiaircraft weaponry in Odessa—is fraught with struggle, and the pro-Franco Nazi spy apparatus always seems one step ahead. A revolving cast of secondary characters leads several plotlines that peter out, heavy on atmosphere, light on action. As usual, Furst manages to capture the fragile, itinerant nature of European life during the interwar period, dropping in hints of the horror to come, but this is one of his less memorable efforts. Agent: Amanda Urban, ICM.
September 29, 2014
Furst’s latest historical espionage novel explores the ominous landscape of Europe in the late 1930s. Christián Ferrar, a young Spanish attorney working in Paris, undertakes a dangerous mission to purchase and smuggle arms for the desperate forces of the Spanish Republic, who are trying to hold off the advances of Gen. Francisco Franco. Furst’s material, steeped in the historical complexity of the period, may not be accessible for
casual listeners as they seek to distinguish among Ferrar’s band of outlaw
colleagues and his various romantic
conquests. Yet it remains undeniable
that Gerroll, the reader of previous productions of Furst’s titles, intimately knows the atmosphere and emotions
surrounding the author’s view of a continent on the verge of collapse. His portrayal of Marquesa Maria Cristina, a mysterious love interest of Ferrar at the center of a complex web of betrayal, is especially engrossing. The tension and sensuality are palpable, even when the events surrounding the story line are hard to follow. Fans already steeped in the genre will appreciate the experience. A Random House hardcover.
