Mission to Paris by Alan Furst
It is 1938 and Hollywood actor Fredric Stahl is sent by Warner to Paris to make a movie for Paramount France. Stahl was born in Austria, loves Paris, and is not a fan of the Nazis. But the Nazis seem his as a perfect agent of influence for them and use charm, cajoling and threats to get him to look, act or do things on their behalf. Stahl can sense what is going on, although not the extent of what they'll do. He finds himself informed of his vulnerability by the American embassy and can't stand to just avoid, but must also work actively against them. As things get more dangerous and his film responsibilities take him to Morocco and Hungary, he learns more and gets himself into more dangerous situations. He also finds himself attracted to a young Parisian socialite and an emigre.
This is a story of the lead-up to World War II, the city of Paris, and the loyalties of a man to those who helped him create the life he now leads.
Furst is a master of the spy novel, and I thoroughly enjoyed it.
I'll have to get my hands on this one. I read and enjoyed Spies of Warsaw awhile back, and I've acquired a couple more of his novels through library sales but haven't had a chance to read them yet. You're right that he's the master of the WWII spy novel!
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