The spreading sunrise to her left outlined the few clouds like a bronze pencil, and lit her target area. She needed to stay awake.Īs apricot dawn blushed over the rooftop chimneys, she checked the bullets, calibrated and adjusted the telescopic mount, as she had every few hours.

Took another one of the pink pills and a swig of water. She dipped her scarf in the water bottle, wiped her face and neck. She smelled the faint garden aroma of Pears soap on her silk blouse, which was dampened by perspiration.

Her knee throbbed-she had bruised it on that stupid fence as the parachute landed in the barnyard. She moved into a crouch on the wood parquet floor in front of the balcony and winced. It was her second day waiting in the deserted apartment, the Lee-Enfield rifle beside her. Kate’s ears attuned to the night birds, the creaking settling of the old building, distant water gushing in the gutters. If you’re seeking old-fashioned escapism, this has it in spades.Sacré-Cœur’s dome faded to a pale pearl in the light of dawn outside the fourth-story window.

“An evocative depiction of wartime Paris and a lead you can’t help rooting for. Three Hours in Paris is reminiscent of Alan Furst at his best.” The wartime city and its grim undercurrent of fear are evocatively portrayed. “As the author of 19 murder mysteries set in Paris, Black knows the city’s hidden squares and winding alleys. Three Hours in Paris, with its timetable structure and its hunt for a covert operative, recalls such comparable works as Frederick Forsyth’s The Day of the Jackal and Ken Follett’s Eye of the Needle.” Black (also the author of a long-running series of detective novels featuring Parisian investigator Aimée Leduc) excels at setting vivid scenes, creating lively characters and maintaining pulse-elevating suspense. “Beyond Black’s encyclopedic knowledge of Paris, her deft interweaving of WWII history and spycraft with a relatable female protagonist puts Three Hours in Paris on par with other top thrillers about botched missions followed by harrowing escapes-such masterworks as Frederick Forsythe’s The Day of the Jackal, Jack Higgins’ The Eagle Has Landed and Tom Clancy’s Patriot Games.” Chances that you’ll be able to put Black’s thriller down once you’ve picked it up? Also slim to none.” Using wits alone, she must evade the Gestapo and make it back across the English Channel. The premise is that an American female sharpshooter is parachuted into France to assassinate Adolf Hitler. It’s mystery master Cara Black’s first standalone novel, a spy story set during World War II in Occupied Paris. Three Hours in Paris isn’t just any old formulaic 'Get out!' tale. A Washington Post Best Thriller and Mystery Book

Three hours in paris cara black