A book review from the Movie Snob.

I don't read much fiction, but I recently read The World at Night by Alan Furst, prompted by a favorable review in the Claremont Review of Books. It is sort of a spy novel, set in Paris in the early years of World War II. Perhaps the novel's greatest strength is its vivid depiction of the French military's collapse during the Nazi invasion and the hardships and hazards of Parisian life under German occupation. The protagonist, Jean Casson, is a film producer, not a spy. But he is also a romantic, and when he is approached by a shady character he agrees to assist in what is supposed to be a British secret-service operation against the Germans. But the operation does not go as planned, and Casson's situation becomes increasingly precarious. I enjoyed it, and appreciated its economical length of 257 pages.