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Summary: Improbable, unlikable, inscrutable
Review: Improbable events occur to an unlikable person, but luckily someone acting on inscrutable motives shows up at the last second to rescue him. Over and over, like the old Flash Gordon serials or the Batman TV show. A lot of people seem to love the doomy atmosphere of this John Le Carre imitation and the "what if" fantasies that form the plot, such as it is. The fact that all the twists are telegraphed pages in advance flatters the audience while contributing to the sense of fatalism. The writing is literate but pretentious (like le Carre's, only slightly worse). Drawing relatistic humans is not Furst's strong point and the protagonist's recollections of his life clang embarrassingly. You can always tell when a flashback is coming, like movie musicals when everyone starts acting funny and you know a song is about to start. If you skip over those parts you'll enjoy the book more.
Rating: 
Summary: strange book
Review: It is a strange novel. The chief protagonist is a despicable human being (a communist eagerly participated in the killing of millions who started to think about all things human only when it was his turn to be wasted), there are stretches and then there is some evident weakness in research. At the same time there is some depth in this story, which is not so easy to describe, e.g. somehow I was inspired to take out a Mosing-Nagant rifle I own and just hold it my hands thinking about empires built, countries conquered, people wasted and people defended.
Rating: 
Summary: Excellent!
Review: No one can re-create the atmosphere of pre-World War II and World War II Europe like Alan Furst. I've read this book, Night Soldiers and am in the process of reading The Polish Officer. All are outstanding! If you are interested in this period at all, do yourself a favor and pick up one of these books!
Rating: 
Summary: Almost a great book
Review: Okay, first off, it don't understand what the title has to do with anything. Second, I don't understand why people claim that Furst is really good at making the European setting "come alive" - I don't think that mentionning a few car names and train travels would qualify as a great effort to represent the era either. That being said, it's far from a bad book. In fact, it reads really well, many of the characters are fascinating and the story really has some good twists. Maybe i was expecting too much out of it, being fascinated by the pre-war era and war itself, so i felt the book was a bit of a let down. Nonetheless, a spy novel worth reading if you already like the genre.
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Summary: Deep Thrust Into History's Darker Meanings
Review: Others have pointed out that Furst has characters fully realized, plots intricate, and atmosphere contextually enveloping. What I find so extraordinary, and so rare, in spy novels, is an attempt to discern the deeper and truer meanings of history. Furst has truly tried to use his characters and plotting not simply to weave a dark and amazing tale, but also to take on the most difficult questions of our century, the questions still unanswered: Hitler v Stalin, how to distinguish; Fascism v Communism, how to compare; ordinary people in extraordinary times, what makes them respond in such strikingly different ways; what is the meaning to be found in history anyway. For those who like to read exciting well plotted fiction but want something more than just a good yarn and interesting characters; for those who want to, or need to, muse on "the meaning of it all" with every book, this is a read that goes far beyond most. In the same way Ellroy wants to explore the underbelly of the American Century, and Le Carre wants to see into the darkness of the Cold War, so Furst looks to Fascism v Communism, Hitler v Stalin, and lets us once again agonize over it as a problem for us now even as it was for ordinary people then....yaatuh yaatuh yaatuh: summary: heavy man, really heavy....
Rating:
Summary: An espionage novel of the finest kind
Review: Second in Alan Furst's sequence of espionage novels set in late 1930's and early 1940's Europe, "Dark Star" focuses upon the experiences of Andre Szara, a Soviet journalist of Polish-Jewish origins and a reluctant spy for the NKVD. Szara's byzantine path takes him through the mutual horrors of Hitler's Germany and of the Stalinist underground. Furst's hero is certainly no ideologue, just a decent man caught up in forces stronger than he is, a man trying to find a way to survive and, when possible, to do a little good. The espionage tradecraft depicted is highly authentic, certainly fully as much as anything from John leCarre. "Dark Star" is a fully absorbing novel, painting a thoroughly convincing portrait of a past era.
Rating:
Summary: at least 5 times better than le carre.
Review: There is no need to write a thousand words.Simply, if there is anybody out there who believes that the espionage novel is a genre, perpetrated either by patronising Brit mandarins, or thick ear techno-trash merchants,they haven't read Alan Furst. His novels,often set in the twilight world of pre-war Central Europe, are at once,exciting, literate, sophisticated and engaging.As adventure stories, they engage on a visceral level, as painless tutors of geography and political history, they engage the intellect,and their characters are rounded,fallible and recogniseably human. Furst is one of those rare authors about whom one is simultaneously smug,(Because one's grateful to have encountered him,) and exasperated,(Because he's not known and esteemed on a huge level.) He only has one fault;he's not infallible in his knowledge of W.W. 2 aeroplanes,and at what date they were introduced. But only Allah can be perfect.
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Summary: It's ALIVE!!!
Review: There is not much to add to other reviews,except one thing- the true-to-life characters. I am Russian,so I'm always sceptical about american novels taking place in Russia(double sceptical,when the main character is Russian,too).But this novel surprised me mostly with the authors knowledge and understanding of Russian people and Russian soul.It seems, as if he studied Russia for ages, and it paid out.This one is more than a thriller- it's a story of Europe in one of it's darkest hours and about people facing choices.If you want to REALLY know what Russians are like- read this one.
Rating:
Summary: Another atmospheric thriller from Alan Furst
Review: This work has a lot in common with "Night Soldiers", because it, once again, concerns itself with Russian espionage prior to World War II. Indeed, some of the minor characters from "Night Soldiers" show up in this work, moving the plot along. And there is a plot, unlike some of Mr. Furst's later works! Even so, the main thrust of the work seems to be the moral ambiguities involved in espionage work, and the long-term, and down the road, consequences of even the most trivial decision. The book gives an interesting theory about the early relationship between Soviet Russia and Nazi Germany, one I'd never come across before, and I found it fascinating. As always, the characters, even the mere walk-ons, are finely drawn and quite believeable. It's a moody book, but those were moody, if exciting, times. I look forward to many more works of this type from Mr. Furst.
Rating:
Summary: Not Identical but Familiar
Review: To date all the novels of Alan Furst have been issued in the US as soft cover books, and they have generally been briefer than I like. There was even a two book cycle that could have been presented as one. "Dark Star", by comparison is a lengthy novel encompassing well over 400 pages and gives the author a much greater opportunity to demonstrate his talents. Mr. Furst's novels generally are described as taking place from 1933-1945, "Dark Star", concludes in the fall of 1941. I have now read six of this author's novels, and while I have generally enjoyed his work I do not feel compelled to anxiously await what he will offer in the future. At the end of his books in addition to suggested reading, there are also a series of questions and comments about the author's work. These questions become very familiar as you read several of his books, and the familiarity extends to the writing itself. I enjoyed the tale shared in, "Dark Star". The previous work I read by this author was, "Night Soldiers", and while not identical, they are familiar. The author confines his books to a fairly brief, if very rich and complex 12 year time frame of the 20th century. And while this book is not a continuation of, "Night Soldiers", many references are made to specific characters and events that if you don't know them from his book, the reading experience is diminished. I have commented before on issues of history or definition that are in error in at least one book that I have read. I include the paragraph that follows that I wrote regarding, "Night Soldiers", for other readers. As with, "Night Soldiers", I am again at the author's mercy for I have never been to most of the countries he has his characters visit prior to and during the opening of World War II. "Dark Star" is similar to, "Night Soldiers, as he follows the career of a flexible or perhaps progressively disillusioned operative, his recruitment by various agencies and governments and the subsequent changes in his sponsors, and to varying extent his loyalties. He tends to morph much as the map of the Europe he inhabits changed in a very short number of years. The protagonist is a Jew and a Pole by birth, a Russian from his teenage years forward, and a transient of France, Switzerland, The Balkans, Lisbon, and a variety of other stops along the way. He is also a man who is either forced to hide his religious background, or is compelled by it to take lethal risks. This work is more complex, like, "Night Soldiers" in terms of the number of players the author presents, as well as their experiences and relationships. His work is not spy thriller, explosions one moment, and women the next. The cadence of his books are measured and more relaxed in their pace. I do not believe he is the author that John Le Care is, but if you like Le Care's method and manner of unrolling his longer stories I believe you will enjoy this man's as well. As to the accuracy that is continually touted about his work, I would suggest enjoying the work first, if like me you are unfamiliar with the settings and language. If you do find factual error share it with others, for the faith we place in the writers we invest our time and money in should not be taken for granted by giving us reading that is lacking in the very accuracy that is used to promote their work.
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