I, too, feel the last two books have been attenuated and weak. I would rather read Alan Furst than just about anyone. It might give his work a kick in the pants to move either to another setting in that historical area (the East?) or to go for a series of cold war thrillers, or Vietnam and beyond thrillers John LeCarre has straddled several eras most convincingly; maybe Mr. Furst might enjoy branching out a little.

Mission to Paris is a classic spy novel in which Viennese-born Hollywood actor Frederic Stahl is sent to Paris in 1938 to make a motion picture. Stahl soon becomes a pawn as the Nazis pressure him to provide them with propaganda opportunities. Meanwhile the American embassy uses him to get information on the Nazis. The novel builds suspense slowly to a climax, meanwhile portraying a Paris that has been corrupted by money from Nazi Germany. The Nazis bribe and threaten anyone who is useful to them leading to the moral bankruptcy of the French government and the destruction of the French peoples’ élan which carried them through WWI. Mission to Paris is a great read as a spy novel and also helps to explain why the French were unable to resist the Nazis, leading to the Fall of France in 1940.

Don't bother. Having read all of Furst's previous novels, I was very disappointed. His "Spies of the Balkans and Spies of Warsaw" started this downhill trend. In my opinion, Mr. Furst has run out of material.

It is 1938 and Hollywood actor Fredric Stahl is sent by Warner to Paris to make a movie for Paramount France. Stahl was born in Austria, loves Paris, and is not a fan of the Nazis. But the Nazis seem his as a perfect agent of influence for them and use charm, cajoling and threats to get him to look, act or do things on their behalf. Stahl can sense what is going on, although not the extent of what they'll do. He finds himself informed of his vulnerability by the American embassy and can't stand to just avoid, but must also work actively against them. As things get more dangerous and his film responsibilities take him to Morocco and Hungary, he learns more and gets himself into more dangerous situations. He also finds himself attracted to a young Parisian socialite and an emigre. This is a story of the lead-up to World War II, the city of Paris, and the loyalties of a man to those who helped him create the life he now leads. Furst is a master of the spy novel, and I thoroughly enjoyed it.

I enjoyed this read. I particularly like novels about the period between WWl & WW2, and this one fit that well. I particularly enjoyed the authors description of the ebb and flow of the emotions in Paris as events transpired.

I have really enjoyed all of Furst's novels, but this one, for the first time, was a bit of a disappointment. I didn't quite fall for the protagonist, unlike his other novels.

I have been a big fan of Alan Furst for years. Read all his books. I'm not sure what happened with Mission to Paris, but it's limp as a rag. The storyline is meandering and disjointed. The plot seems contrived and thin. He simply doesn't pull you along as he did in previous novels. It's like he had a deadline to meet and he threw a few ideas together in a haphazard way. I gave up two-thirds of the way through.

I'm so disappointed; Furst's recent books seem formulaic and rushed compared to his wonderful early work which captures the ambiguity and uncertain future of 1930s and early 1940s Europe. Now (spoiler alert), Furst's heroes always get the girl, escape the war, and all signs point to living happily ever after.

Mission to Paris gave a real glimpse into the fear, romance and danger of Paris building up to the start of World War II. The last chapter was a real nail biter and you actually don't know what will happen until the last page. I recommend this for a great summer read.

This is a disappointing entry into Furst's "Night Soldiers" canon. The protagonist - Fredric Stahl, movie star - is almost certainly the weakest of Furst's leading men, lacking the inner conflicts and torments of his predecessors. He takes a principled stand against helping the Nazis, but the principles don't feel rooted in anything much - rather, they seem to be there merely to provide the central plot conflict. Also, there just doesn't seem to be a strong enough feeling of danger and suspense throughout Stahl's journey from simple actor to reluctant spy. A vaguely threatening phone call here and a mysterious intruder in a hotel room there ... but somehow nothing much seems to be at stake for Stahl. "Will the movie get made?" - ah, who cares? Stahl is, indeed, totally absent from the only real "action scene" in the book - he remains behind in a launch and hears the reports from gunfire, but doesn't participate. The Hungarian count who appears briefly to help thwart a German ploy to abduct Stahl would make for a much more interesting character, and I hope we learn more about him in future novels. Furst is, as always, talented in creating a certain mood and at bringing alive European cities of the immediate pre-WWII era (in this case, obviously, Paris). But the choice to hinge the story on a movie production with its leading man as the star severely limited the possibilities and the emotional depth that his other novels have captured.