A Hero of France

When at he top of his form, Alan Furst is one of the best writers working today, producing work of literary quality in what most probably consider genre fiction.

“A Hero of France” is not Furst at the top of his form; very far from it. There is something half-hearted about the book, as if it had been written by an author bored with his work and carrying on only to fulfill a contractual obligation. It’s not really a novel so much as an outline or treatment for a novel. There is no real plot, just a series of incidents linked mainly by the fact that they all involve the protagonist, who is himself only half developed. He is unremittingly noble and committed to his Resistance work, but neither passionate nor very reflective about it. There is none of the inner conflict of previous Furst heroes who find themselves compelled by circumstances to do things they never previously could have imagined themselves doing, and none of the detached, cynical recognition of how absurd it all is.

One of Furst’s strengths has always been his ability to create minor characters who seem to be fully realized because of a key detail or two included in their introductory descriptions. He tries to do that here but doesn’t succeed. Like the hero, they are all cartoonishly one-dimensional, and their motives, behavior, and attitudes are always exactly the same from the moment we meet them to the moment they disappear.

I’ll hope for better next time.

The editor must have lost his focus. How else can we explain the following passages:

“19 May. Otto Broehm – formerly senior inspector of the Hamburg police department, now major in the Feldgendamerie…(page 131)
Madame Passot was… a thin, sour woman who wore eyeglasses attached to a chain around her neck…(page 132)
16 June. Otto Broehm – former senior inspector of the Hamburg police department, now major in the Wehrmacht’s military police…(page 173)
[Madame Passot]…a thin, sour woman who wore eyeglasses attached to a chain around her neck…(page 174).

I’m a huge Alan Furst fan, but A Hero of France is a weak effort that takes forever to generate any semblance of suspense. There is no character development, and no real sense of drama. In occupied France, apparently only the British and partisans shot first and asked questions later. The ending is not believable. A major disappointment from a great writer. Next time, please mix in some Soviet operatives and some menacing Nazis.

I read all of Furst’s books as soon as they come out. I looked forward to this one, but am now wondering whether Furst is losing his touch. The plot meanders. The characters are not very well fleshed out. The sex seems gratuitous. Frankly, there is very little excitement, and what there is seems mostly cobbled together from timeworn Resistance themes. Hope the next effort is better.

I liked A Hero of France very much, but the reader should be aware that Furst has many characters to introduce who run Resistance missions for the central character Matthieu as well as villains who come from Germany and Croatia. Matthieu’s cell saves downed pilots and smuggles in saboteurs along the northern coast of France. If the reader keeps in mind that the cell contains about 5 or 6 main characters (Joell, de Lyon, Jules, and Chantal), then the reader need not worry so much about the names of characters who run missions or are less important supporting characters. Furst’s scenes are uniformly suspenseful, and he maintains suspense throughout the book. The material lends itself to many twists and turns. The story’s characterization is enhanced by the 3 main villains, a German police inspector, Spider, and Stephen Kusak. When the cell is exposed and all must escape Paris on short notice, instead of the usual chase after one main character, the reader is treated to a chase of the entire cell. In addition, the denouement has a surprise and retrospective last line that is perfect. As in all Furst novels, the atmosphere and you-are-there quality of his writing remains strong. I felt that this one was particularly strong on atmospherics, both in Paris and along the northern coast. This book mostly takes place before the German invasion of Russia, which brought the French Communist Party into the Resistance, but Furst does describe the massive German invasion of Russia toward the end of the book. The good guys are good and two of the bad guys are very bad. I loved it.

Mathieu is a man tasked with taking Allied airmen to the Spanish border from where they’ll be picked up to go home and fight another day. What it takes to get downed airmen out of France during WW2 is eye-opening. So much of it messed up by chance, by unforeseen changes in circumstance, not only Nazi surveillance. The characters – some of whom you fear to trust, read like real people, with all their conflicting loyalties. I love Alan Furst’s books; they are able to portray the even the boredom of waiting in a way that doesn’t bore the reader. Also interesting in this book was how ungrateful some of their chaperoned men are; that they do not fully appreciate the risks the Resistance are taking to help them escape. Gripping and realistic, it’s another Furst spy thriller well worth your time.

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