Review: Three Hours in Paris

Title: Three Hours in Paris

Author: Cara Black

Publisher: 7th April 2020 by Soho Press

Pages: 360 pages

How I Read It: ARC book

Genre: Historical Fiction, Mystery & Thrillers, World War II

My Rating: 4.5 cups

Synopsis:

In June of 1940, when Paris fell to the Nazis, Hitler spent a total of three hours in the City of Light—abruptly leaving, never to return. To this day, no one knows why.

The New York Times bestselling author of the Aimée Leduc investigations reimagines history in her masterful, pulse-pounding spy thriller, Three Hours in Paris.

Kate Rees, a young American markswoman, has been recruited by British intelligence to drop into Paris with a dangerous assignment: assassinate the Führer. Wrecked by grief after a Luftwaffe bombing killed her husband and infant daughter, she is armed with a rifle, a vendetta, and a fierce resolve. But other than rushed and rudimentary instruction, she has no formal spy training. Thrust into the red-hot center of the war, a country girl from rural Oregon finds herself holding the fate of the world in her hands. When Kate misses her mark and the plan unravels, Kate is on the run for her life—all the time wrestling with the suspicion that the whole operation was a set-up.

Cara Black, doyenne of the Parisian crime novel, is at her best as she brings Occupation-era France to vivid life in this gripping story about one young woman with the temerity—and drive—to take on Hitler himself.

My Thoughts

What a little surprise packet this was ! Cara Black has written a fast paced, action packed and highly engaging tale. It is quite a unique read in the WWII spy novel category and worthy of investigating as it is jam packed with intrigue and espionage. 

Three Hours to Paris centres around an event in June 1940 when Hitler made a brief three hour stop over in Paris. Cara takes this event, and his abrupt departure, to pen a well written fictional possibility of what might have occurred. After a failed assassination attempt the perpetrator finds herself on the run and thus ensues a fabulous cat-and-mouse chase across Paris. There is much going on in this short time: was Kate set up by the British? Whom can she trust? Who is the man with the gray eyes constantly on her tail? It plays out like a classic spy movie as the Nazis are determined to chase down the person responsible. 

I will not go into further detail for fear of revealing key points. Suffice to say that if this is a genre that appeals to you then you are sure to appreciate this exciting WWII spy story filled with dangers and loads of twists right to the very end. 

This review is based on a complimentary copy from the publisher and provided through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. The quoted material may have changed in the final release.