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A Long Night in Paris/ Dov Alfon

Dov Alfon, an Israeli author, is in the modern style of espionage writer.

He was an Israeli Intelligence officer and highly knowledgeable on gizmos and techno.

The problem however arises that (1) these are not that interesting as opposed to characters to the reader; and (2) he lacks the writer’s craft.

The plot is set in one night in Paris. In a case of mistaken identity a honey trap set up at Charles De Gaulle airport attracts the wrong man – a young Israeli techie going to a conference. He is murdered by a Chinese hit squad. The intended target is an Israeli security officer who is blackmailing a Chinese casino operator.

The two main characters are Abadi and Oreana, intelligence operatives trying to track down the Israeli colleague who went to ground in Paris. The plot whilst fast-moving is not always that easy to follow.

A good read but nothing memorable here and probably the author has a film in mind.

The genre has moved on from the public school adventurers of Bulldog Drummond and John Buchan’s heroes, to the glamour of James Bond, to the grimmer Cold War realities of Le Carre.

Charles Cumming writes in a similar vein but Mick Herron has taken espionage fiction to a new level with Jackson Lamb, an outcast who outfoxes his former colleagues.

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About Melanie Gay

A former literary agent with three published novels of her own, Melanie retains her life-long love of the written word and recently mastered the Kindle. She is currently writing a historical novel set in 17th Century Britain and Holland. More Posts