Dov Alfon - A Long Night in Paris
Bewertet mit 5 Sternen
When an Israeli IT specialist is abducted at Charles de Gaulle airport, this is not given too much attention at first. But since it can serve as a great story to redirect public interest from the latest of the Prime Minister’s misconducts, suddenly this incident turns into the top issue. And as it turns out, the case of the abducted Israeli becomes one of the most complicated and deadly warfares on French ground. While the newly appointed head of the Israel Special Section 8200 Abadi is fighting Chinese killers with a clear and uncompromising mission in the French capital, his deputy Oriana Talmor is struggling in Tel Aviv with their own people who appear to be much more interested in their personal agendas than in the country’s security. A long day and an even longer night lies in front of this seemingly mismatched pair.
Dov Alfon certainly knows what he is writing about and there are some interesting parallels between his own life and his protagonist Abadi. Both grew up in France which their parents left when they were still school boys. He did his military service in the IDF’s technological intelligence unit before becoming an awarded journalist. To sum up, “A Long Night in Paris” is a fast-paced spy novel which is highly complex in its plot and gives a lot of insight in what is going on behind the closed doors of one of the world’s most famous and most secretive services.
The story is simply addictive. Once you’ve started you can’t put the book down since you’re hooked and you want to know how all the different dots connect. What I liked most about it was the fact that it is not by surprising coincidences that the plot advances but by the doing of very intelligent characters. They are not only well-trained soldiers, but also the elite which is demonstrated breath-takingly. Even under the highest pressure, they keep calm and can control the situation.
Oriana Talmor is certainly a very interesting character. It is rare to have a female protagonist in a spy novel (who is not just the seductive sidekick of the big enemy), and in my impression she is well-balanced between the intelligent soldier and the human being who is sensitive and to whom also self-doubts aren’t unknown. This was especially shown in the scene where she motivates her female duty sergeant Rachel to continue her career as an officer.
The 2017 book sensation from Israel luckily now also available in other languages and without a doubt a novel that can compete with John Le Carré’s or Daniel Silva’s novels.