Three hours in Paris

Resource Information

The work Three hours in Paris represents a distinct intellectual or artistic creation found in Randwick City Library. This resource is a combination of several types including: Work, Language Material, Books.
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The Resource Three hours in Paris

Label: Three hours in Paris

Statement of responsibility: Cara Black

Title variation: 3 hours in Paris

Creator

trueBlack, Cara, 1951-

Author

trueBlack, Cara, 1951-

Subject

Genre

Language: eng

Summary: "Three Hours in Paris is the story of Kate Rees, the young American markswoman who has been recruited by British intelligence to drop into Paris on the dangerous business of trying to assassinate the Fuhrer. A country girl from rural Oregon - a grieving widow with no spy training but a vendetta and a lot of gumption - now has the state of the entire war in her hands. When the hit goes badly wrong, Kate is on the run for her life - all the time wrestling with the suspicion that the whole operation was a set-up."--Provided by publisher

Storyline

trueIntricately plotted

Pace

trueFast-paced

Tone

Writing style

trueCompelling

Review

/* Starred Review */ Why did Hitler arrive in Paris in June 1940—apparently planning to bask in the glory of the German victory over France—and then leave only three hours later? It remains one of WWII's unanswered questions, but Black, in her first historical thriller, posits an intriguing theory: an assassination attempt. The would-be assassin here, American marksman Kate Rees, recovering from the death of her British husband and infant daughter in a bombing, is drafted by British intelligence to do the deed, but, of course, the scheme goes awry, leaving Kate abandoned in Nazi-held Paris, her escape plan compromised and looking for answers as to why she was betrayed and by whom. Black, author of the beloved Aimée Leduc series set in 1990s Paris, knows a thing or two about frenetic dashes across the city's neighborhoods, into and out of cafés, bars, and back alleys—after all, she's been tracking Aimée's peregrinations through 19 novels—but, harried as Aimée always is, she's never had Nazis on her tail. Brilliantly building on the novel's premise, Black constructs a surprise-filled plot, fueled by breathless pacing, Alan Furst–like atmosphere, and a textured look at Resistance fighters in Paris. There is even a tantalizing subplot involving the surprisingly sympathetic German policeman who is chasing Kate (shades of The Fugitive's Lieutenant Gerard and Richard Kimble). Black stretches her wings here, soaring to new heights. -- Bill Ott (Reviewed 2/1/2020) (Booklist, vol 116, number 11, p28)
In October 1939, American Kate Rees, the heroine of this riveting standalone from bestseller Black (the Aimée Leduc series), is living with her naval engineer husband and baby daughter at Scapa Flow, the Royal Navy base in Scotland’s Orkney Islands. After her husband and daughter die during the German U-boat attack on the battleship Royal Oak, Kate becomes obsessed with defeating Hitler. Her rifle skills, learned as a girl hunting in Oregon, earn her a place in a British intelligence operation to assassinate Hitler. In June 1940, with little training, she parachutes into Paris, where Hitler is making a brief visit. Kate gets Hitler in her crosshairs, but her shot misses and she goes on the run. Hitler orders the regular German police and the Gestapo to catch the sniper within 36 hours. Despite numerous obstacles and the realization that no plan was made for her safe return, Kate is determined to make her way to London. Black keeps the suspense high throughout. Fans of The Day of the Jackal won’t want to miss this heart-stopping thriller. Agent: Katherine Fausset, Curtis Brown. (Apr.) --Staff (Reviewed 02/10/2020) (Publishers Weekly, vol 267, issue 6, p)
/* Starred Review */ Black's popular protagonist Aimée Leduc is on a well-earned vacation, but Black gives readers an exciting stand-alone historical thriller set in occupied Paris during World War II. In 1940, Hitler went to Paris to celebrate Germany's conquest of the city, but he only stayed for three hours. Why? Black provides an intriguing explanation. Kate Rees, a young American serving on a British base, is mourning the loss of her British husband and their infant daughter in a German bombing. British intelligence, knowing that she is a sharpshooter, offer her an opportunity for revenge: assassinate Hitler during his visit to Paris. When the mission fails and her escape plan is compromised, Kate finds herself alone with no one to trust. She must get out of Paris alive while Nazis are pursuing her. Readers are taken on a breathtaking tour of Paris neighborhoods as Kate evades a rather sympathetic German policeman (an homage to Philip Kerr's Bernie Gunther) and connects with French contacts who may or may not be Resistance fighters. VERDICT Black's fans will not be disappointed, and readers who enjoy Alan Furst and John Le Carré will join the crowd that will devour this must-read. [See Prepub Alert, 9/30/19.] --Barbara Bibel (Reviewed 04/01/2020) (Library Journal, vol 145, issue 4, p65)
/* Starred Review */ Black takes time out from chronicling the neighborhood-themed exploits of half-French detective Aimée Leduc to introduce a heroine as American as apple pie. Kate Rees never expected to see Paris again, especially not under these circumstances. Born and bred in rural Oregon, she earned a scholarship to the Sorbonne, where she met Dafydd, a handsome Welshman who stole her heart. The start of World War II finds the couple stationed in the Orkney Islands, where Kate impresses Alfred Stepney of the War Department with the rifle skills she developed helping her dad and five brothers protect the family’s cattle. After unimaginable tragedy strikes, Stepney recruits Kate for a mission that will allow her to channel her newly ignited rage against the Germans who’ve just invaded France. She’s parachuted into the countryside, where her fluent French should help her blend in. Landing in a field, she hops a milk train to Paris, where she plans to shoot Adolf Hitler as he stands on the steps of Sacre-Coeur. Instead, she kills his admiral and has to flee through the streets of Paris, struggling to hook up with the rescuers who are supposed to extract her. Meanwhile, Gunter Hoffman, a career policeman in a wartime assignment with the Reichssicherheitsdienst security forces, is charged with finding the assassin who dared attempt to kill the Führer. It’s hard to see how it can end well for both the cop and the cowgirl. The heroine’s flight is too episodic to capitalize on Black’s skill at character development, but she’s great at raising readers’ blood pressure. A killer thriller. (Kirkus Reviews, May 15, 2020)

Cataloging source: DLC

Dewey number: 813/.54

Illustrations

illustrations
maps

Index: no index present

Literary form: fiction

Series statement: Soho crime

Context

Context of Three hours in Paris

Context

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