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Dark Starby Alan Furst
Synopses & ReviewsPublisher Comments:Paris, Moscow, Berlin, and Prague, 1937. In the back alleys of nighttime Europe, war is already under way. André Szara, survivor of the Polish pogroms and the Russian civil wars and a foreign correspondent for Pravda, is co-opted by the NKVD, the Soviet secret intelligence service, and becomes a full-time spymaster in Paris. As deputy director of a Paris network, Szara finds his own star rising when he recruits an agent in Berlin who can supply crucial information. Dark Star captures not only the intrigue and danger of clandestine life but the day-to-day reality of what Soviet operatives call special work.
Review:"A rich, deeply moving novel of suspense that is equal parts espionage thriller, European history and love story." The New York Times
Review:"Compelling....An excellent novel of history, betrayal and, most important, survival....While the story offers enough twists and turns to satisfy the most ardent spy fan, author Alan Furst transcends genre. This is a novel with heart." San Francisco Chronicle
Review:"This is a rich book, to be savored...for it is a work of an accomplished writer without obtrusively saying so on every other page. Furst has the instincts of the historian — he likes to get his sequences right, he tells a story straight, and he believes that setting matters — and the gifts of the storyteller." The Boston Globe
Review:"Kafka, Dostoyevsky, and le Carré sit up all night and talk to each other and this is what you get. It is absolutely wonderful." Kirkus Reviews
Review:"[I]ntelligent, provocative and gripping....Furst depicts the historical, geographic and political context in lucid and highly readable prose....His story is not a pretty one; but it is beautifully and compellingly told." Publishers Weekly
Review:"Entertaining, exciting, and thought-provoking reading." Library Journal
Review:"Dark Star never becomes one of those breathless adventures that build fake suspense around schemes to stop Hitler. Plot is less important than Furst's powerful descriptive writing....What carries the book to a level beyond the cynicism of spy novels is its ability to carry us back in time. Nothing can be like watching Casablanca for the first time. But Furst comes closer than anyone has in years." Walter Shapiro, Time
Review:"A page-churner of the best sort....Brilliant detail and sure sweep....Here is a thriller more deeply satisfying than much of the nonthrilling 'serious fiction' around today." Los Angeles Times Book Review
Review:"[Dark Star] explores the ambiguous moral ground familiar to readers of Graham Greene, Robert Stone, and le Carré....Terrific stuff — poignant, moving, provocative." Adam Woog, The Seattle Times
Review:"The time-frame of the late 1930s on the Continent was once the special property of Eric Ambler and Graham Greene; Furst has ventured into their fictional territory and brought out a story that is equally original and engaging." Herbert Mitgang, The New York Times
Review:"One of the best spy novels I?ve read in years....The novel is impeccably researched. It?s as much historical fiction as it is spy fiction, and the atmosphere of danger and doom it creates by means of deftly employed historical details is matched only by the vividness of its mostly fictional characters. Dark Star doesn?t merely evoke the period. Because of its engaging plot and appealing hero, it makes you live there, suffer there, and hope." Alan Cheuse, All Things Considered
Review:"Dark Star is as fine an evocation of prewar Europe as anything I?ve ever read. An extremely well written and literate novel that practically creates a new genre: historical espionage." Nelson DeMille, author of The Gold Coast
Review:"Outclasses any spy novel I have ever read." Richard Condon, author of The Manchurian Candidate
Synopsis:Paris, Moscow, Berlin, and Prague, 1937. In the back alleys of nighttime Europe, war is already under way. André Szara, survivor of the Polish pogroms and the Russian civil wars and a foreign correspondent for Pravda, is co-opted by the NKVD, the Soviet secret intelligence service, and becomes a full-time spymaster in Paris. As deputy director of a Paris network, Szara finds his own star rising when he recruits an agent in Berlin who can supply crucial information. Dark Star captures not only the intrigue and danger of clandestine life but the day-to-day reality of what Soviet operatives call special work.
About the AuthorOften compared to Graham Greene and Eric Ambler, Alan Furst is a master of the spy thriller and one of the great war novelists of our time. He is the author of Night Soldiers, Kingdom of Shadows, The Polish Officer, Red Gold, and The World at Night. He lives on Long Island, New York.
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