Spies of the Balkans

By: Alan Furst

Narrated by: Daniel Gerroll

Historical espionage at its finest by the New York Times bestselling author of The Foreign Correspondent , Alan Furst.

The bestselling author of The Spies of Warsaw returns with a stunning new WWII-era novel of intrigue, danger, and love set in Balkan Greece. Master of espionage fiction Alan Furst transports us to the port city of Salonika, Macedonia in 1940. A novel full of intrigue, passion, and the fierce pride of resistance, and peopled with spies and agents operating from Germany, Britain, Hungary and Yugoslavia, Spies of the Balkans confirms Alan Furst’s status as the undisputed master of historical spy fiction.

Another great book by Furst

Strong characters; plot moves along; fascinating information about Eastern Europe’s experiences in WWII.
Strongly recommend

Most Enjoyable

Most Enjoyable to be sure. Daniel Gerroll's reading was suburb and the story is a good yarn about a slice of WWII that takes place mostly in Thessaloniki, Greece. I've recently spent some time in the Balkans, mostly Albania but always a neat feeling when the story takes place in cities one is familiar with. It's got suspense, love, and danger with the familiar cast of characters you should know and love if you've read other war novels. And there are some great passages of prose mixed in with all the drama. A good read to be sure.

Terrific Spy Story for Balkan Enthusiasts

Furst leads the reader into multi-cultural, multi-ethnic pre-Second World War Thessaloniki (Salonika) with a fascinating spy story. One can almost taste the grilled octopus and retsina wine, and smell the Aegean Sea. The Swastika looms large as the characters face the inevitability of war.

historical insights, not much suspense/tension

I'm familiar with The Polish Officer and Dark Star and I was incredibly disappointed with this book. Admittedly, I am interested in spy/espionage/thrillers with tension and suspense driving the characters. This book seemed mired in historical details piled upon details, most of which led nowhere, dramatically speaking, but more a statement by the author about his take on events past. A comparison, though perhaps not a perfect one, would be a very knowledgable history teacher telling a story set in the past in another locale, only to abandon storytelling frequently and elaborate on historical events at that time and place.

Perfunctory bits about the protagonist recalling women brushing up against him, musing about their name, sketching a past event with them, never had me engaged in relationships with them, therefore no sense of loss when things didn't work out, when they were left behind and lost.

Long sections attempting by the author to get into the heart of darkness of a man at odds with his environs and associates, felt like verbal angst from the author, not from character actions and resulting reactions. There were so many characters that in depth exploration was usually a stated opinion of the first person speaker, not displayed by characters Events were introduced in a way that built predictability of their outcome, drained suspense from one section to the next.

It was an effort to stay with this reading until the end, though the reader's character interpretations were captivating in tone at times. I'm not sure of the primary interest of readers who praise it but it's not a book I recommend for hounds of spy, thriller, espionage stories against international and historical backdrops..

Alan Furst's usual high quality, well narrated

This time most of the action is in Greece, an unusual locale for WWII thrillers, which makes it all the more interesting. Furst's intelligent, realistic approach to espionage at its best.