Monday
Jun022014
Midnight in Europe by Alan Furst
Monday, June 2, 2014 at 10:37AM 
Published by Random House on June 3, 2014
Midnight in Europe takes place in 1937-38. The clash between right and left is tearing Europe apart, particularly in Spain. Cristián Ferrar, a Barcelona-born lawyer working for an American firm in Paris, is recruited to help the Republicans in Spain acquire arms to use in the war against Franco and the Nationalists. He is taking the place of a man who was murdered in Madrid after traveling there at the request of an agent he was controlling.
Assisting Max de Lyon, Ferrar works to acquire arms to smuggle into Spain, a mission that takes him to Poland, where the train carrying his munitions is hijacked, and to Odessa, where he schemes to steal anti-aircraft ammunition from a naval base without incurring Stalin's wrath. In addition to his clandestine activities, Ferrar does some lawyering as he seeks to resolve a family dispute involving dogs and a French holding company that owns a bank in Budapest. He also pursues romance with a Spanish marquesa. The romance eventually contributes to the intrigue. The same cannot be said of the family quarrel.
Intrigue is an element that Alan Furst always delivers, along with strong characters, yet most of his novels deliver more tension than this one. Furst's books always appeal to the intellect -- their settings and backgrounds are vivid and carefully researched -- but his best books build a palpable sense of foreboding. Midnight in Europe failed to give me the "edge of my seat" feeling that I've had while reading Furst's better work. Perhaps Ferrar, the central character, is too rarely in harm's way. A scene near the end -- one of the best in the book -- places Ferrar in a dangerous situation, but everything after that is an anticlimax. Even Ferrar's relationship with the marquesa is written with such emotional detachment that the intrigue surrounding the affair is subdued. Furst failed to convince me that Ferrar was committed to his nation's struggle (despite his actions on the Republic's behalf) or that he cared about much of anything. That makes it difficult to care about Ferrar.
Despite my reservations about Midnight in Europe, there is much about it that I liked. The plot is tight, the story is credible, the pace is steady, and the prose is lively. While I would have preferred a story with more intensity, Furst's depiction of Europe in the years before World War II is reason enough to admire the novel.
Assisting Max de Lyon, Ferrar works to acquire arms to smuggle into Spain, a mission that takes him to Poland, where the train carrying his munitions is hijacked, and to Odessa, where he schemes to steal anti-aircraft ammunition from a naval base without incurring Stalin's wrath. In addition to his clandestine activities, Ferrar does some lawyering as he seeks to resolve a family dispute involving dogs and a French holding company that owns a bank in Budapest. He also pursues romance with a Spanish marquesa. The romance eventually contributes to the intrigue. The same cannot be said of the family quarrel.
Intrigue is an element that Alan Furst always delivers, along with strong characters, yet most of his novels deliver more tension than this one. Furst's books always appeal to the intellect -- their settings and backgrounds are vivid and carefully researched -- but his best books build a palpable sense of foreboding. Midnight in Europe failed to give me the "edge of my seat" feeling that I've had while reading Furst's better work. Perhaps Ferrar, the central character, is too rarely in harm's way. A scene near the end -- one of the best in the book -- places Ferrar in a dangerous situation, but everything after that is an anticlimax. Even Ferrar's relationship with the marquesa is written with such emotional detachment that the intrigue surrounding the affair is subdued. Furst failed to convince me that Ferrar was committed to his nation's struggle (despite his actions on the Republic's behalf) or that he cared about much of anything. That makes it difficult to care about Ferrar.
Despite my reservations about Midnight in Europe, there is much about it that I liked. The plot is tight, the story is credible, the pace is steady, and the prose is lively. While I would have preferred a story with more intensity, Furst's depiction of Europe in the years before World War II is reason enough to admire the novel.
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