Review: 'Allo, 'Allo.
Rating: 3 out of 5
Date: 12 18, 2012
Sorry but I just lost faith in this book although I did finish it which is why it gets 3 stars and not less.Like another reviewer, I struggled with the plot which became increasingly like a Mills and Boon romance (with a small side order of violence chucked in) than the more serious historical adventure story it set out to be.On the positive side, I loved the detail and thought it went a long way towards bringing occupied Paris to life but that's about where it stopped for me. Michael Wallace is obviously a talented writer and that kept me going long after I'd given up on the storyline.I'd also say that the story rattles along, there are very few editorial errors, the dialogue's not particularly stilted and the sentence structure makes for an easy read. All reasons why this book is worth more than one or two stars.However ...This is the early 40's. France is under the kosh and we're expected to believe that Wehrmacht officers can happily drive from one end of the country to the other without consideration for what they're really supposed to be doing, that a senior Gestapo official can spend time pursuing minor individuals, and that a Jewish (perceived) homosexual would be putting themselves on prominent display in an area frequented by fanatical Nazis.There's also the issue of how one of our heroes just 'makes money' without really seeming to try.I struggled with the ending (will try not to spoil it here) and how someone gets from Paris to Marseille seemingly in the blink of an eye. OK, you can do it in 3-and-a-half hours nowadays but that wasn't so 70 years ago.With the restaurant setting, the (understandably) garbled 'foreign' languages and the slightly ridiculous plot, it all seemed a bit like an extended episode of the BBC comedy series, 'Allo, 'Allo.