The Spies of Warsaw

De: Alan Furst

Narrado por: Daniel Gerroll

Autumn 1937: War is coming to Europe, and French and German intelligence operatives are locked in a life-and-death struggle on the espionage battlefield. At the French embassy, the new military attaché, Colonel Jean-François Mercier, a decorated hero of the 1914 war, is drawn into a world of abduction, betrayal, and intrigue in the diplomatic salons and back alleys of Warsaw.

At the same time, the handsome aristocrat finds himself in a passionate love affair with a Parisian woman of Polish heritage, a lawyer for the League of Nations.

Colonel Mercier must work in the shadows, amid an extraordinary cast of venal and dangerous characters: Colonel Anton Vyborg of Polish military intelligence; the mysterious and sophisticated Dr. Lapp, senior German Abwehr officer in Warsaw; Malka and Viktor Rozen, at work for the Russian secret service; and Mercier's brutal and vindictive opponent, Major August Voss of SS counterintelligence. And there are many more, some known to Mercier as spies, some never to be revealed.

The Spies of Warsaw is Furst's finest novel to date - exciting, atmospheric, and erotic.

©2008 Alan Furst (P)2008 Brilliance Audio

Atmospheric

This is as advertised: He takes you back into a very specific time. The narrative moves quickly and keeps you interested. The plotting is adequate but the atmosphere is the best part.

Very Good Story

This story about a mid-level Polish spy was engaging and full of intrigue and romance.

The narrator did a good job.

Highly recommend.

If not 1st among spy rivals, a decent place/show

A robust, tight and occasionally frisky Furst novel. I am quickly approaching the end of my Furst 'Soldiers of the Night' jag and thus far it has been a fascinating experience. His character-driven novels could easily be bound into one gigantic prewar novel. They all swirl and fugue with similar themes, many of the same characters, and the same dark ambiance. He is detail oriented, historically accurate, writes well AND is one of the best atmosphere writers around. He leaves you feeling the grit, the cold, and the tongue of the WWII night. He is a first-class genre writer that while not quite in the le Carré aristocracy, is certainly in the spy-Master ruling class.

'Spies of Warsaw' is centered around a French military attaché in Warsaw who is struggling with a growing sense of urgency about the inevitable crash of Nazi Germany tanks into France and Poland, while also dealing with a satchel filled with unreliable allies, reluctant spies and self-serving superiors.

Superb narration, fabulous book

This is my first book by this author. I’m quite take a surprise. Mr Furst’s writing is so enjoyable, his character development and sense of humor is so appealing to me. Daniel
Gerroll performance is beyond outstanding. I was compelled to look up his bio and works. He now shares first place with another narrator out of 350 audible books in my library. I certainly will be reading many more of Alan Furst’s books. A helpful note perhaps if you haven’t tried it, I listened at .9 speed. I didn’t want to miss a word & you don’t want to miss this entire performance.

Clever , interesting characters and believable

My favorite so far if Furst’s novels. The narrator is equally adept. The book is Highly recommended and historically on target

Bad narration

I'm a huge Alan Furst fan. However, narration by Daniel Gerroll makes this novel a painful experience.....

I remain immersed in Furst's historical...

...novels of WW2 Europe. Standalone stories, but threaded together to form a tapestry of this chilling time in human history. PS Sad and scary to see parallels in today's political rhetoric coming from "presidential" candidates.

Military Intrigue

As a retired Intelligence Officer, I completely identified with those in the field who constantly have to defend ideas that were not in concurrence with senior staff dogma maybe placing their careers at risk.

This is a well-written and superbly narrated story. One wonders how close to historical fact this book mirrors the reality of the time.

a snoozer in first four Chapters but...

if you can get through the first four chapters, its a good read overall.

Still in Draft but Has Great Potential

Would you consider the audio edition of The Spies of Warsaw to be better than the print version?

They're different? I listened to the audio version and the story line seemed rather disconnected.

If you’ve listened to books by Alan Furst before, how does this one compare?

Not yet, but I do like his writing.

Which scene was your favorite?

The journey to look at the german's military preparation and entering the area where the tank traps were buried.

Did you have an extreme reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

It was full of moments of suspense. I held my breath in anticipation several times.

Any additional comments?

The sex scenes tended to separate the novel into two parts. Though they were well-developed and well written, they seemed obligatory and that made me cringe.