A Hero of France by Alan Furst

Published by Random House on May 31, 2016

A Hero of France is not as meaty as Alan Furst’s best works, but at least he didn’t pad the story as do so many best-selling authors. The hero to whom the title refers is Mathieu. He is in the French resistance, working to return British flyers to England after they parachute from crashing bombers.

The first two-thirds of the novel introduces a few British aviators who are spirited out of France with Mathieu’s help. I formed no attachment to any of those characters because they didn’t stay around long enough to warm my heart. Other people who assist Mathieu’s operation of the escape line make occasional appearances, but none of them are given great substance. A British official tries to pressure Mathieu to expand his efforts by engaging in espionage, but the Brit plays such a limited role that it is difficult to view him as villainous or to care about him one way or another.

That leaves Mathieu, the novel’s constant, but we know more about what Mathieu does than who he is. Mathieu’s motivation is obvious -- he doesn’t like Germans, at least not after they’ve taken control of his country, and he doesn’t like collaborators, including the French government -- but all of that is fairly superficial. It isn’t the sort of character development that readers have come to expect from Alan Furst.

The early stages of the novel foreshadow trouble for Mathieu and his small band of conspirators. A member of the German military police named Breum spends the last third of the novel trying to catch everyone associated with escape-lines. Breum, who wants to save himself from the consequences of an unfavorable performance review, is probably the most carefully developed character in the novel.

My difficulty investing in the episodic plot and bland characters was enhanced by the detached voice in which the story is written. The narrative is interesting but it lacks passion and drama. On the other hand, the background and setting of A Hero of France are up to Furst’s typical standard of excellence. The story wraps up neatly, but perhaps too neatly. There are no surprises. I enjoyed the story, such as it is, but this is one of Furst’s weaker novels.

RECOMMENDED WITH RESERVATIONS