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is the story of Khristos Stoianev. We first meet him as a teenager when his brother is killed by facist in 1930s Bulgaria and he is recruited by the NKVD. We travel along with him through the ruthless training and his fieldwork in the Spanish civil war. As part of the NKVD paranoia the spy agency turns on its members and Khristos flees to pre-war Paris assuming another identity and life. But the Russians are never very far away and he is betrayed and ends up in a French gaol. As the Germans invade France he is spirited out of his imprisonmnent and becomes a member of the Resistance. Betrayed again, this time to the Germans Khristos flees France for a rendezvous with a former NKVD colleague in the Balkans where his eventual fate will be determined. Throw into the mix a small cadre of comrades from the NKVD training days, British, French and American spies and a dash of romance and you have a well written and engaging spy thriller. Alan Furst has a real feel for pre-WWII Europe and so far in his books that I have read, including this novel, he manages to bring to life the atmosphere that I imagined prevailed in those uncertain times.A ripping yarn, highly recommended.
Thanks for the review. I am going to read all of Furst's books in the correct order in 2012. But i couldn't waint until the new year to get started. i enjoyed Night Soldiers very much.
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