... gripping ... Many of Furst’s signature themes are in full flower here—wartime love affairs (warm bodies beneath cold covers as Klaxons blare on dark streets) and character interactions as brief as they are indelible—but this time the special treat is the vivid detailing of Resistance operatives at work, well-oiled tradecraft blending seamlessly into everyday activities.
... [a] solid thriller that [is] just fine, if not a tad underwhelming ... lat characters and too many random coincidences, even for a thriller—that doesn’t necessarily ruin the story, but that certainly does take away from it. Furst manages to flesh out Paul pretty well, but the secondary characters are forgettable and bland. On the plus side, the pacing is steady and picks up steam as the story unfolds, and you can always count on his stuff to be well-written and expertly plotted, including this one ... At the end of the day, Alan Furst is one of the very best spy novelists to ever work in the genre, and while Under Occupation doesn’t quite live up to the expectations set from past works . . . his worst book is still better than most writers’ best offering.
... is not unlike a vintage Ambler book, with its civilian hero suddenly pulled into a world of dangerous intrigue. But Mr. Furst is a much more romantic writer—lingering over Paris’s beauty, its resistance to oppression and its opportunities for 'love in time of war.' Alan Furst’s books always satisfy; this one is a delight.
... does an excellent job of portraying the mood of Nazi-occupied France, but never seems to build on that historical setting into a truly page-turning suspense story ... The author clearly knows his Parisian geography and history as he captures the dreary life of average citizens just trying to survive the daily grind of occupation. The dingy menace of rationing, shortages, Allied bombing, and the overshadowing presence of the German Gestapo are all vividly portrayed throughout the book ... However, the characters in this novel seem rather one-dimensional, and the author does not spend a lot of time developing either the inner conflict or their external development ... Alas, the few glimpses we have of Gestapo officers are short and fleeting, with no real menace or pursuit of our heroes, even when they have clearly begun espionage efforts. Historically, the average lifespan of a Resistance member was about six months as the Gestapo rolled up numerous networks across Europe during the war, yet Paul Ricard never seems in real danger and has little difficulty eluding the desultory efforts by the Germans to capture him ... The overall plot is written almost like a loose screenplay, with small vignettes of problems for Monsieur Ricard to solve, but there is only a loose connection between the various scenes, even when secondary characters reappear ... there are a few plot points that more than strain credulity ... Overall, this is a novel that has much unfulfilled promise. While it is historically spot on with the mood and atmosphere of occupied Paris, as a spy novel or mystery/thriller it never seems to quite meet its full potential. When the hero makes his final escape from France, the reader is left with neither satisfaction nor relief, just the feeling that there could have been much more.
Most of the characters in Furst’s 13th spy novel are one-dimensional and clichéd, the history is more of an afterthought than a part of the story, everything that happens is rather stereotypical, and the plot is choppy enough that it becomes a chore to follow ... This is not the master spy novelist at his finest, which may disappoint his many fans. While die-hard devotees will probably want to read it, newcomers should start with his earlier works.
Ricard is an attractive protagonist whose powers of observation are on display at every turn. Throughout the book, as he writes his own spy novel, we see him imagining the plot and populating the pages with distinctive characters. For Ricard --- and the reader --- it’s a respite from the tense scenes of his current life, filled with strangers who may or may not betray him at any turn. So toward the end of the story, when Ricard makes plans to disappear, it’s no surprise that in his valise next to his gun would be the typewritten pages from his manuscript ... fast-paced, enjoyable read, which makes the ending seem all the more abrupt. Perhaps Furst decided that he could continue where he left off in his next novel, but a few extra pages of denouement might have brought the book and its characters to a more gracious end.
... the tension has, for the moment, gone out of Furst's work, and the elliptical and compact writing style he developed has devolved into a kind of drifting, random series of scenes that never accumulate into more. There is still a fine sense of the details of life during wartime, the strange and pregnant heaviness that lies over the most banal activities. What's missing, though, are the moments when that heaviness bursts forth ... This is a picture of war less as a series of impossible choices than as a vaguely romantic miasma.
Ricard’s profession as a writer makes for a metafictional treat, as he pens a new spy novel while working for the Resistance, complete with story beats that echo his own journey. As always, Furst writes at breakneck speed, thrusting Ricard into adventure. This moves the action along, yet frequently sacrifices emotion, particularly when everyman Ricard is tasked with violent acts. While sure to please the author’s many fans, the novel, replete with curvy women for Ricard to romance, nevertheless misses opportunities to dig deep within its protagonist, making for an exciting, if shallow, romp.
