The Foreign Correspondent

By: Alan Furst

Narrated by: Alfred Molina

2007 Audie Award Finalist for Thriller/Suspense©2006 Alan Furst; (P)2006 Simon and Schuster Inc. All rights reserved. Audioworks is an imprint of Simon and Schuster Audio Division, Simon and Schuster, Inc.

Critic reviews

"America's preeminent spy novelist." -- The New York Times

Not Overdone

I read so many books that go on and on and on until I'm actually glad they are finally finished, but The Foreign Correspondent actually left me wanting more. The story also is about an aspect of WWII about which I had no real prior familiarity with--Italy and Italian resistance. The characters are vivid, the environs palpable. The narration was gorgeous and I'm sure I will listen to this book again just for that. And did I mention, I want more!

Alan Furst. Alfred Molina. Doesn’t get better.

I didn’t realize it was abridged. That was too bad. Find the full length version. I wish Alfred Molina did more narration.

Not Furst’s First

Alan Furst has masterful insight into Europe leading up to WW II.
His best novel, World at Night, really brings the reader close to the mood of the times. Cafe scenes, the street vendors, manipulators, heroes and bad guys.

Jean Claude Cassens, the hero, is a perfect Frenchman, caught up in all the manipulations of the bad guys. The sex scenes are lush, funny and tragic, just like sex often is.

Warning: abridged!

The story was thin and not a typical Furst novel. I realized in the closing credits it was an abridged version, which explains it. The story moves too quickly and is missing its soulfulness. Why, oh why, would this be abridged? What a shame. On the other hand, the performance was superb and sublime and it is unfortunate that there were not several more hours of performance from Molina for us to enjoy. Again, who thought an abridged version was a good idea for this book, this author, this narrator?

Repeat listening

I love the way this was done by the author and narrator so much I’ve listened to it more than 20 times in just a few years