Hitler had occupied Austria, moved into Czechoslovakia, attacked Poland and Greece is merely waiting for the inevitable invasion. Since France and Belgium had fallen, and the English presence left continental Europe at the Dunkirk evacuation, there are few places to look for hope.

Our hero is not a dashing spy of the James Bond genre, but more like those found in Graham Greene or Eric Ambler novels. A tough conflicted forty year old detective, Constantine Zannis, known as Costa, has become the personal assistant of a commissioner because he is such a great facilitator. This gives him sufficient leeway in his work day to perform all sorts of jobs.

Costa is contacted by Emila Krebs in Berlin, the Jewish wife of a highly placed German officer. She asks his assistance in helping some Jewish people escape Germany through the Balkans to Turkey. He is successful in this effort but his hastily organized escape route is temporarily put on hold while responding to the threat of an invasion; Costa is mobilized and sent into the mountains.

There he forms a friendship with a fellow policeman from Yugoslavia as they both understand that when their countries are invaded they will be targeted to join the German’s law enforcement processes and they must either conform or revolt. Costa has decided that at that time he will leave the city, flee to the mountains and fight from there with other resisters. The immediate scare wanes and he returns to work to discover his boss knows what he has been doing and introduces him to a very wealthy Greek who supplies money in a bank account for Costa to use toward this end. The benefactor’s wife Demetria is someone Costa once knew as a child and he falls instantly in love with her.

Through their spy system in the Balkans, the Englih realize what Costa is doing and they enlist his aid. He travels to Paris for them to bring out a scientist…and from there on to fostering an anti-Nazi revolt in Belgrade. Throughout these times cash is absolutely king and Costa uses it to buy visas, forged passports and other tools necessary to help those who are fleeing.

As these events are happening and times become even tenser, Costa is aware that he must get staff at the police station out as well as his family before the Germans reach Salonika. The developing romance between him and Demetria is the least credible portion of the book but it adds texture to the desperate feelings as one fear and awaits the invasion of their country.

The writing style is terse, the plot is tight, and the tension unrelenting, creating for the reader a vivid and unforgettable sense of those last days of freedom.

--Thea Davis