Red Gold: A Novel (Night Soldiers Book 5)

In "Red Gold," the fifth book of his loosely-connected Night Soldiers novels - all of which have featured different protagonists - author Alan Furst breaks form and returns us to the world of Jean Casson, the character at the center of the preceding volume, "The World at Night."

It is late 1941, and having, in the name of love, forfeited a chance to escape occupied France, former film producer Casson is living on the margins of Paris under an assumed name. He has lost the woman for whom he returned and is just barely keeping his head above water when he is contacted by Captain Degrave, an old comrade from his days in the army.

Degrave has a proposal for the desperate Casson: use the bohemian and leftist connections made in his days in the film industry to make contact with the French Communists, the only organized resistance actively fighting the Germans. The once hesitant Casson agrees, and discovers that he has found his footing in the shadowy world of espionage and smuggling. A man who now knows not only how to improvise, but how to survive, he embarks on a series of missions that inflict damage on the forces of his country's occupiers.

Despite his growing confidence, however, danger remains constant. Hélène, a woman with whom he is having an affair is an undocumented Jew living in plain sight in Paris, and Casson must juggle trying to get her out of the country with navigating the infighting and assassination that is the stock-in-trade of the Soviet-supported French communists.

Red Gold is, like the other Jean Casson novel, not the author's very best work, but it is nonetheless excellent, Alan Furst's best being far, far better than most. Also, like many of his books, it is more of a slice of wartime life than a story with a defined beginning, middle and end. Furst richly evokes the atmosphere of a time when Paris, a city initially hopeful that German occupation would be just one more inconvenience to be endured for a while, began to shake itself awake and fully realize that it had no choice but to confront both the invaders and those who would collaborate with them. Fans of the Night Soldiers series will not be disappointed.

I started this book to give Furst a second chance to wow me after I read his slow moving The Spies of Warsaw. Red Gold was worse and I could not get beyond reading the first 50 pages. The characters never come to life. And, the various scenes do not link together to create an interesting plot. Sorry, but Furst is off my reading list.

For the second time in his well crafted series of espionage novels set amid the interwar years and opening acts of WW2 taking place in Eastern Europe, Furst departs from his usual stomping grounds in "Red Gold". Firstly, the story takes place in France, and its main character, Jean Casson, is French. Secondly, the timeline is from the invasion of France into World War 2- often occurring only in the final chapters of Furst's other novels. And in addition to this, "Red Gold" is Furst's only direct sequel in his novels of espionage.

Jean Casson returns in this novel, and must chose between the Resistance and the Communist guerrillas while committing full time to active opposition to Nazi rule in France. Casson faces danger on all sides as he avoids both the Gestapo and the internecine conflicts within France's resistance movements. Furst continues to excel in his suspense, and this story contains some really great scenes; one in particular involving a covert radio transmitter being hunted by German counter intelligence. In its entirety- take with "The World at Night", I think Furst brings the story back to his previous heights that the first book alone failed to achieve.

Unlike his other novels, this novel should probably not be read as a stand-alone book. If this is your first Furst book, I highly recommend beginning your foray into Furst's world with "Night Soldiers", his original and possibly best spy novel. "Night Soldiers" introduces several characters who make appearances throughout Furst's other novels set in the same period of time and general geographical local. However, if you are set on novels set in France, then start with "The World at Night", as this novel begins the story that "Red Gold" continues.

What makes Furst's loosely structured series so compelling is that 1; they are very well researched and historical very accurate, especially with regard to spy craft - as I understand it through academic experience only. 2; the characters are extremely flawed, very believable and interesting to empathize with - all of the characters and their adventures provoke much thought. 3; the novels do not attempt to achieve a false sense of conclusion at their end - they always allow the reader to decide for him/herself what happens, and they rarely resolve the feeling of tension that pervades Furst's works. 4; the secondary characters are always very well developed and much more interesting than their sometimes small roles would have the reader believe- so one is always off balance (who will live, who will die - who can be trusted, who cannot?). 5; Furst does an excellent job of setting the atmosphere of terror that resulted from the conflict between fascism and the resistance in France during the Second World War.

You cannot go wrong with this novel. While not Furst's best spy novel, for anyone interested in reading and enjoying spy stories, or stories of world war two, this book is a must read.

I read the paperback edition of this book, which lead me to read this sequel prior to reading the first book. There is no location on the outside of the book that explains this is a sequel. The positive news is that the story is self-contained and while it references the past it does not rely on it for this book to read well. I did read the first book, "The World At Night", and except for the dates the book is still enjoyable if partially compromised by having been read out of sequence. I don't see why a simple notation could not have identified the book as a sequel.
Alan Furst writes about a narrow by eventful time from 1933 to 1945. His books are meticulously accurate to the point they would pass inspection by many readers of history. The author takes an unusual step at the end of his books by sharing with readers his sources for the novels he creates. This is not done in an academic bibliography or a blizzard of footnotes, rather he writes conversationally about what he reads, and what he suggests as reading for those who are interested.
Our former film producer Jean Casson has transformed from a man without a positive idea of what he supports, to a man who now seems to get in the midst of everything. He also has lost any illusion of safety as he was taken to visit the Gestapo, and their interest in him has not declined.
Casson's relationships with actors and other support personnel for his pre-war movies brought him in contact with a variety of political agendas that were of little interest to him at the time, and that now have become relationships that can get a person killed for real or imagined activities. His uncertainty about what constituted honorable conduct, and what loyalty means in wartime were all explored in the first book. In this sequel the lines have at once become all to clear, even as they are vague. Is a friend's politics prior to the war a reason to help them, to look the other way, or to promise to maintain silence in return for his own safety?
In the first book Jean made a decision that set his future decisively in one area, and as the war progresses his environs become all the more lethal, and the reliability of relationships all the more questionable. There seems to be no end to those who would befriend him for his help, the question also remains how many of the same would turn him in without a moments thought.
Alan Furst once again has written a fine book, and I look forward to the final two that are to be published later this year.

Former film producer Jean Casson returns as the main character, still struggling against man's inhumanity to man, in a France that seems to have given-in to its inevitable domination by Germany. After Furst's earlier "The World At Night", where Casson first chose to rebel, he is now a more skilled agent of resistance. He is tougher and more inventive, yet still vulnerable and human. His loves are real and passionate, and his losses accepted. They come with the war.

In his 1999 novel, "Red Gold", when author Alan Furst describes this good man's descent into poverty and desperation during the horrors of Nazi occupation in Paris, we shiver in the dank and desolate hotel room with him, and we can almost taste the foul soup and moldy bread. Furst is that good a writer. His willingness to allow small victories and moments of humanity provides welcome bits of redemption.

Furst knows about war and rough living, especially for the nomads from eastern Europe, who hate the nazis and fight desperately to escape the hold of mother Russia, whether in occupied France, Bulgaria or Madrid. Through his spare and vivid descriptions of places, and of real people thrust into unbelievable conditions, we learn how it must have happened in France. How people got involved with underground movements, how they compromised their friends, and how they became other people in order to simply survive. By extension, a reader can better understand how danger, violence, compromise, greed and deceit are still happening in different theaters like Iraq and Somalia and Afghanistan.

Furst is a wonderful, inventive writer, who knows how to tell complex stories in a simple, profound way.

Having recently read seven of Furst's eleven spy novels (as of 2010), I have offered a general review and a (of course opinionated) rank-ordering of them in the Reviews section of "Night Soldiers," which I believe is Furst's best book. If interested in that overview, check out the review section for "Night Soldiers" or (perhaps easier) the store.com's catalogue of my book reviews on their site.

I will offer one specific comment on "Red Gold." It is one of only two books by Furst with the same leading protagonist, and "Red Gold," is a direct sequel to the first, "The World at Night." Much of "The World at Night" is spent building the character and context for that protagonist, Jean Casson, so the two books really complement each other and I suggest you not read "Red Gold" without first absorbing "The World at Night."

I suspect when a person reads any Alan Furst book, he is left with the feeling that some insane person has ripped out the last hundred pages or so. And so it is with 'Red Gold'. Furst is a master of atmosphere and characterization, but always seems to me to be a bit wanting in plotting. That said, I consider myself an enormous fan of Furst's. This book centers around Jean Casson, a down-on-his-luck film producer stuck in Paris without friends or money. He is thrust into the resistance and becomes a liason between a group of french army officers and the communist resistance.
Casson has several thrilling adventures, amorous and violent. He hides in Paris, afraid of being recognised by old associates, but knows in his heart there is a war to be fought and, though he may be a reluctant warrior, he chooses to fight. Furst's novels all have a connection, the Brasserie Heininger, and it appears again here. So even though I get the feeling there are some missing chapters here, the war will continue in Furst's next novel.

Furst continues the character of Jean Casson (from The World at Night) in Paris and in Vichy France. The book's title refers to the misbegotten notion that Communists would have lots of money - thus Red Gold. Casson, as is Furst's wont, is an honest, decent, almost ordinary guy living on the edge of existence who falls into espionage work.

Unlike some of Furst's more recent works (Kingdom of Shadows and Blood of Victory), this work has a fairly linear plot line. Casson is recruited by anti-German Vichy intelligence officers to make contact with the Communist resistance. Dangerous work indeed.

The plot is stronger, but the 'atmosphere' is not as palpable. Still, Alan Furst is a more than worthy successor to Eric Ambler and Graham Greene.

Highly recommended for fans of the spy genre or fine writing anywhere.

Having recently read seven of Furst's eleven spy novels (as of 2010), I have offered a general review and a (of course opinionated) rank-ordering of them in the Reviews section of "Night Soldiers," which I believe is Furst's best book. If interested in that overview, check out the review section for "Night Soldiers" or (perhaps easier) the store.com's catalogue of my book reviews on their site.

I will offer one specific comment on "Red Gold." It is one of only two books by Furst with the same leading protagonist, and "Red Gold," is a direct sequel to the first, "The World at Night." Much of "The World at Night" is spent building the character and context for that protagonist, Jean Casson, so the two books really complement each other and I suggest you not read "Red Gold" without first absorbing "The World at Night."

I suspect when a person reads any Alan Furst book, he is left with the feeling that some insane person has ripped out the last hundred pages or so. And so it is with 'Red Gold'. Furst is a master of atmosphere and characterization, but always seems to me to be a bit wanting in plotting. That said, I consider myself an enormous fan of Furst's. This book centers around Jean Casson, a down-on-his-luck film producer stuck in Paris without friends or money. He is thrust into the resistance and becomes a liason between a group of french army officers and the communist resistance.
Casson has several thrilling adventures, amorous and violent. He hides in Paris, afraid of being recognised by old associates, but knows in his heart there is a war to be fought and, though he may be a reluctant warrior, he chooses to fight. Furst's novels all have a connection, the Brasserie Heininger, and it appears again here. So even though I get the feeling there are some missing chapters here, the war will continue in Furst's next novel.

Furst continues the character of Jean Casson (from The World at Night) in Paris and in Vichy France. The book's title refers to the misbegotten notion that Communists would have lots of money - thus Red Gold. Casson, as is Furst's wont, is an honest, decent, almost ordinary guy living on the edge of existence who falls into espionage work.

Unlike some of Furst's more recent works (Kingdom of Shadows and Blood of Victory), this work has a fairly linear plot line. Casson is recruited by anti-German Vichy intelligence officers to make contact with the Communist resistance. Dangerous work indeed.

The plot is stronger, but the 'atmosphere' is not as palpable. Still, Alan Furst is a more than worthy successor to Eric Ambler and Graham Greene.

Highly recommended for fans of the spy genre or fine writing anywhere.

"Red Gold" brings another episode of the life of Jean Casson, the filmmaker who fell on hard times in Furst's "The World At Night." This time, he's stuck between the resistance movement and the communists, not to mention the Nazis who wouldn't mind another crack at him. Casson soldiers on, through this complicated world that Furst recreates so well for all of us. This is Furst's greatest strength, bringing out the atmosphere, characters, and tension of a country occupied not only by a foreign invasion but a clash about how to fight it.

I recommend reading "The World At Night" before this one. You won't be disappointed in either of them.

I read Red Gold just after finishing World at Night. The occupation has not yet ended at the finish of Red Gold. Casson has grown wiser and now is more dangerous as he is called upon to contribute more to the resistance. Furst does an excellent job recreating the sense of desperation among the French. In Red Gold the Germans begin to lose some of the bravura that they exhibited in World at Night. The exploits of Casson and his compatriots make for a great read. The suspense is created in a subtle manner which prevents this book from being what I consider a page-turner. Well worth the visit.

Furst really captures the mood between the wars in his varying European settings. The character range is quite broad.....the reader gets a view in the fears of the upcoming war and it's effect on place through many different eyes and minds.

I've always enjoyed the intense atmosphere of Alan Furst's novels. This lived up to my expectations. Except for the French dialogue that's rendered in French. Random House could surely afford to have the French text reviewed by a Frenchman. Then the characters would sound as French as their ideas.
Compris, les mecs?