Rating: 
Summary: First Rate historical thirller.
Review: I have read several of Furst's books and his thrillers set in WWII and pre-WWII Europe are wonderful. Furst makes those times seem alive and vital but still far away and long ago. In tone and sense of place, he reminds me a little of the books Eric Ambler wrote in the 30s or Graham Green's "entertainments" like "Our Man in Havanna." If you like thrillers where the plot makes sense, the people are interesting, and the place is vivid I dont think you can do much better than Furst.
Rating: 
Summary: Well written and engaging
Review: I liked the character development in this book and the way it builds along. Its descriptions of pre war Europe seem very real and I like the way it reads. The end is not as intriguing as the rest of the book. Its better than average but not an all time great thriller
Rating:
Summary: Hugely Disappointing
Review: I read this book after Kingdom of Shadows. I was hugely disappointed. The book falls down in the way in deals with the NKVD. No espirit de corps, no belief in a larger mission. Furst doesn't have the same knowledge of Bulgaria that he does of France, Hungary or Poland. What makes Stoianev a Bulgarian? This is never clear he is simply a slav. Also the love scnes and the romantic relationship have been done before by Alan Furst.All in all Overambitious, tries to cover too much ground, too many characters and the characters are flat.
Rating:
Summary: Night Soldiers
Review: I remember Alan Furst when he wrote trendy, jazzy first-person adventure tales in the '70s. They were good entertainment. But in Night Soldiers, Dark Star and the books that followed, Mr. Furst has taken his writing to another level, that of history and literature. Happily, his tales are still most entertaining.
Rating: 
Summary: An above average spy novel
Review: Interesting spy novel set in the world of espionage in Europe in the 1930's and 40's. The main character is Khristo Stoianov, a Bulgarian. The story begins in 1934 when Khristo's brother is murdered by a fascist street gang. Sensing his potential, and realising he is now longer safe in his own village, a local Soviet agent recruits him into the NKVD, a forerunner of the KGB. His first assignment is in Spain during the Civil War. Things turn sour however and as he about to become a victim of the Stalinist purges, Khristo flees to Paris. Once there he is co-opted by anti-Soviet elements in an assassination plot involving British intelligence. He is imprisoned, escapes when Germany invades France and ends up in the French resistance. In the final stages of World War II he is again recruited, this time by the OSS and eventually decides to undertake one final, hazardous mission. Mr Furst is a good writer, his characterisations are entertaining, the book is well researched with convincing descriptions of various European locales and regions and the plot is coherent and plausible, at least for three-quarters of the novel. The part of the story set in Paris for me is the best, the passages involving Khristo and Alexandra, a woman he becomes involved with I particularly liked. You get a real sense of what Paris must have been like in those nervous, decadent pre-war years. After that though, I thought the book lost focus. There is a lengthy diversion involving an American OSS operative in France which comes out of nowhere and doesn't seem to hang properly with the rest of the story. Up until then you felt you were reading more of a character study, how average individuals such as Khristo would get swept up and carried away by the brutal forces at work in Europe in the era. However the second half of the book seemed to try to assume the mantle of the epic, sweeping historical novel, with characters, events and locations rushing past you. I felt that if the focus had been kept on Khristo the book would have been far more rewarding. The ending is also a little too easy. Nonetheless, the merits of the book raise it above the average run-of-the-mill spy story in many ways, yet Mr Furst does enough here and there to make me feel it could have been better.
Rating:
Summary: Page Turner Succeeds on Several Levels
Review: It is important to pay particular attention to the early part of the book narrating Christo's NKVD training. The kernel of the book is planted there. It provides the ties that bind the novel and, at critical junctures, move the narrative along. Arguably, the more one is familiar with the period and its politics, the richer the novel becomes. The ideological complexities preceding WWII are explained effectively in terms of how they affect the characters. How the characters deal with the multi-level conflicts going on in Europe preceding and during World War II provides the development of a very interesting plot, vivid depictions and thrilling action... One also cares for these people. Friendship provides a motivic core. It proves to be steadfast and liberating. The emotionally warmest parts of the novel occur when friendship intervenes in the narrative. Not so usual for this type of novel. Then, Mr. Furst is not so usual a writer. Perhaps he ought to consider a Cold War sequel to this wonderful page-turner.
Rating:
Summary: Another winner from Furst
Review: Khristo Stoianev flees his native country in 1934 as the Communists and Fascists begin to wage war for the hearts and minds of his Bulgarian countrymen. He goes to the USSR and becomes an NKVD (the KGB's predecessor) trainee. After his training Stoianev is assigned to help the Communists during the Spanish Civil War; fights with the French Resistance in World War II and travels across Europe to try to save a jailed victim of Stalin's purges.
This is one of Furst's earliest World War II era spy novels and differs from his others (Dark Star, The Polish Officer, Blood of Victory, Kingdom of Shadows, et al.) in a number of ways. First, it is longer (456 pp. paperback, only Dark Star is as long); second, it follows the adventures of trained spies, not ordinary people who become espionage agents due to circumstances; third, the main protagonist is only 19 at the start of the book's setting in 1934 Bulgaria, not a middle-aged man who had fought in World War I or the Russian Revolution; fourth, the story follows the actions of more than the main character (some of his co-trainees from the NKVD), in decided contrast to Polish Officer or Blood of Victory; fifth, the scope is broader -- from Khristo joining the NKVD in the mid-1930s to the end of World War II.
Nonetheless, the elements present in all Furst WWII spy novels are present in this one: the evocative writing that depicts the tensions of pre-WWII Europe, the bursts of tense action, the swift pacing and the palpable despair of wartime Europe.
Furst's novels are called "noir thrillers" with good reason. These were dark times and Furst conveys that extremely well. The lengths his characters go to for their causes, the tribulations that they experienced and their struggles with their own identities are convincingly portrayed. This is not Furst's best (I think Dark Star is) because Khristo is not as interesting as some of Furst's other protagonists. But nonetheless, this is more than worth your while.
Rating:
Summary: A Little Too Long - Not Quite Five Stars
Review: Night Soldiers is nearly twice as long as The World at Night and Kingdom of Shadows. It is epic in scope and spans more than a decade. Alan Furst elsewhere mentioned his respect for the remarkable novel Darkness at Noon by Arthur Koestler (1940). Night Soldiers was obviously influenced by Koestler, but Furst manages to capture the spirit of Darkness at Noon without borrowing from its plot. I have now read three novels by Alan Furst. His stories offer interesting plots, but the primary focus is always his protagonist. And yet, I suspect what one remembers most about his works is the authentic setting, a remarkable blend of European history, culture, and geography. Khristo Stoianev flees local fascists responsible for the death of his younger brother in the small town of Vidin in Bulgaria. It is 1934. Recruited and trained by the Stalin's NKVD, he serves in the Spanish Civil War, and later flees to Paris as his mentors become victims of Stalin's purges. Reluctantly he becomes involved in a Bulgarian plot to intercept Soviet payments to their secret agents in Paris. World War II and German occupation follows, and Stoianev now joins the French Resistance. At some point Stoianev began to seem less authentic to me than were the primary characters in other novels by Furst. Possibly the story was simply too long. Nonetheless, Night Soldiers is a chilling portrait of Stalin's dictatorship. Europe in the 1930s and 1940s was trapped between the brutal dictatorships of Hitler and Stalin. The choices were few.
I highly recommend the superb historical spy fiction of Alan Furst. Reading his novels is great fun and additionally we become students of history, the history of European civilization engaged in self-destruction.
Rating:
Summary: Wonderful, engaging read!
Review: Night Soldiers is one of Alan Furst's longer novels, a fact that was most pleasing to me as I was carried along by the compelling story. I encountered him a few years ago in my never ending search for new authors of espionage/intrigue stories and have read all but his most recent novel. Reading other reviews I'm reminded that Mr. Furst approaches this genre much as Eric Ambler did, taking ordinary people and putting them in extraordinary circumstances. But as much as I've enjoyed Mr. Ambler's work, I find Alan Furst's writing more nuanced. He exhibits the skill of the finest writers in his evocation of place. I was transported over and over again into the world he created with his words. I appreciate the fact he brings his readers into locales not often explored in this genre. We visit Bulgaria and Spain in this book and Hungary/Poland in the Polish Officer. And his presentation of pre-war Paris is magical. As a student of history I am especially fond of writers who give me a grounded experience of both time and place. Alan Furst does both extremely well. If you haven't read him, do. If you have, you surely need no encouragement to read more. (If you like Alan Furst, you might want to check out Robert Littell whose most recent book is Company - a Novel of the CIA.)
Rating:
Summary: THE MASTER
Review: NIGHT SOLDIERS WAS MY INITIAL EXPOSURE TO ALAN FURST AND I THANK GOD I STUMBLED UPON HIM. FURST MAKES SENSE OF COMPLICATED MID-CENTURY EVENTS,COUNTRIES,AND PEOPLE IN A WAY NO OTHER CAN MATCH. WHILE THIS WOULD BE ENOUGH TO MERIT A GOOD REVIEW, THE CHARACTERS CREATED BY THIS AUTHOR ARE THE HEART AND THE BEAUTY OF THIS GREAT NOVEL. IN SHORT, ALAN FURST IS THE FINEST WRITER OF OUR TIME.
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