by Alan Furst
Part of Night Soldiers, book 10
First published 2008
Colonel Jean-Francois Mercier arrives at the French embassy in Warsaw as the new military attache in autumn 1937. A decorated veteran of the Great War, Mercier enters a city where French and German intelligence services wage a deadly contest for secrets. War approaches Europe, and every piece of information matters. Mercier operates in diplomatic salons and shadowy back streets, surrounded by spies from multiple nations. He encounters Colonel Anton Vyborg from Polish intelligence, the enigmatic German Abwehr officer Dr. Lapp, and Russian operatives Malka and Viktor Rozen. His most dangerous adversary proves to be Major August Voss of SS counterintelligence, a brutal man bent on destroying him. Meanwhile, Mercier falls deeply in love with a Parisian lawyer of Polish descent who works for the League of Nations. As he balances his covert mission with this passionate affair, Mercier must navigate a treacherous landscape where allies and enemies shift like shadows, and betrayal lurks behind every elegant facade.
Genres: historical-fiction, mystery, espionage, political-thriller
Vibes: atmospheric, fast-paced, suspenseful
Tropes: enemies-to-lovers, spy
Setting: Warsaw, France, Paris, Poland
Period: 1937, World War II
266 pages · Hardcover · Random House