Reviews

The Polish Officer by Alan Furst

duparker's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.25

Dark and cloudy in atmosphere with intrigue and a general vibe that makes you read the words and not skim. Great series and an interesting entry. 

534n's review against another edition

4.0

Once again another fantastic offering. I really do enjoy this historical spy genre and Furst is an excellent story teller.

kanejim57's review against another edition

3.0

This one was meandering piece and I mean this in a respectful way.
Again listening to Furst's books is a challenge which I am glad to take on.

I enjoy the series and will continue to listen to the rest of the series.

iceberg0's review against another edition

4.0

Furst writes very interesting, well researched WW2 stories that curl in at the edges of the main historical narrative. Very well done.

jacki_f's review against another edition

3.0

Alan Furst has written fourteen books set in Europe in the 1930s and 1940s. They form the "Night Soldiers" series and they are loosely inter-connected but can be read in any order. This is the third book in the series and it centres on Alexander de Milja, the eponymous Polish Officer who works for the Intelligence Service in Poland, France and the Ukraine. Alan Furst was my Dad's favourite author (well, equal with John le Carre) and I like reading his books and thinking about how much he must have liked them.

The series is incredibly rich in detail and atmosphere. Even minor characters who only appear for a page or two have back stories and come vividly to life. You feel like you're living in that time and you absorb all the tension and danger.

There isn't really a coherent plot to The Polish Officer. It's just a linear progression as we follow de Milja from September 1939 through to late 1941. Much like being a spy would have been, there are times when you're on the edge of your seat and other times when the pace slows right down. Sometimes intense danger comes without warning and at other times there are breakthroughs that lead nowhere. It wasn't my favourite of the series but there truly isn't a dud among them.

chammerdata's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.75

While covering equally interesting subject material, this book lags greatly behind its 2 predecessors. Both Szara and Khristo were substantially more interesting because of their mixtures of extreme competencies and incompetencies playing out both as part of and against the immense machines of war and espionage. De Mjilia is perfectly average at his job which leads to some of the quieter moments feeling meaningless and uninteresting. 

littletaiko's review against another edition

3.0

The Polish Officer by Alan Furst is the sort of book that I feel like I should love, but instead can only say that I liked it. This is a spy thriller set in 1939 during the war. It follows a Polish spy through various escapades. It's dark, educational, and entertaining but for some reason very hard for me to get through at times. Possibly it's because there are so many stops and starts. Characters come and go, though he does an admirable job of depicting the various supporting characters with a few descriptive words or stories.

joestewart's review

4.0

Another well written book by Alan Furst. I thoroughly enjoyed it and I’m looking forward to the next one.

bend3's review against another edition

4.0

You can tell that he spent 15 years on his first book and then about a year each on the subsequent ones - a lot more of the parts that bad, a lot less of the parts that were good. Still had about 5-6 sequences (usually right at the end of the of the sections he breaks the book into), but just not great at quickly getting me invested in anything. Also, my guy started falling into the old writer creepiness in his third book which makes me a bit nervous to read anything later, but I will because I still feel like I learned more about lived experience of WWII than in any single history class on top of the thrill and the general euro-centricity that is interesting. Would recommend.

eososray's review

3.0

I was so lost while listening to this book, I had no idea who was who and what they were doing. It probably required more brain power than I was giving it, listening while working.
Still, a few minutes perusing the Wikipedia page sorted out some confusion and the story was quite good.