Three Hours in Paris (A Kate Rees WWII Novel) Paperback – March 30, 2021

First things, first: this book is not part of the author’s very successful mystery series featuring Aimee LeDuc. However, it is a first rate thriller set in Paris during WWII. The mission is perilous, the assassin is very likable, and the action is non-stop. Our assassin is an American working for the British secret service after her husband and daughter were killed. She is a skilled shot after growing up on a ranch in Oregon. She knows Paris and French because she studied at the Sorbonne before war broke out. She is smart, resourceful, and resilient. The writing is excellent. You feel the tension, the exhaustion, the terror, and the constant mental reevaluation. Our heroine does not know who to trust and neither does the reader. Both sides are ruthless. Nothing feels contrived or implausible. The pacing is fast. There is torture and violence, but nothing on the page is overly gruesome . I read this during our shelter at home time, and it successfully distracted me from thinking about COVID 19. WWII secrets have often been a factor in the Aimee LeDuc mysteries which are set in the 1970’s. This book has a more hard-boiled feel than the mysteries, which is appropriate to the story being told.

This book was well written and held my interest. It was a little slow in the mid portion but was well w ok worth the wait at the end. Would recommend it highly.

The book was very fast paced and most of the story took place in Paris. The book had a map inside so you could see where in Paris the main character was. Very exciting! Highly recommend book!

Love Paris. Love mysteries set in Paris. Bonus for WWII in Paris. But although the general plot was okay the historical inaccuracies really took me out of the story. For example, the SS guy asks “Going to check the prints against a rap sheet?” A rap sheet is an American colloquialism. Or the entire novel takes place on a Sunday. Pretty sure Bon Marché department store was not opened on Sundays back in 1940. Until about 10 years ago, you would have been hard pressed to find anything opened on Sundays in Paris. It’s still pretty shut down unless you’re going to McDonald’s. Museums, most tourist spots, movie houses and theaters remained closed during the first weeks after the surrender, as people fled Paris, and things were uncertain, gradually opening back up as things calmed down. These are somewhat simple things to catch with a bit of research. It’s too bad bc the story could have been stronger with a few tweaks.

REVIEW: Three HOURS in PARISBy Cara BlackThe story of an American woman sharp shooter in France, WWII, who keepsthinking she has failed her mission, while in fact, she’s accomplished much,in spite of perhaps because of her personal losses. Her reaction to loosingher husband and child is simply: ‘They’ will pay,’ meaning the Germans will.The research is well done, the characters believable the tension maintained,though not hard enough to give anyone nightmares.I liked the interweaving of Kate’s chapters with the British and Germanpoliticians who are not all monsters. Kate, well trained, thinks on her feet,follows her training and her instinct. She manages to get back to Britain though she’s not been given instructions on how to manage it, so that her handler is amazed that she made it back to the UK.We have no idea how she feels after having shot a German admiral,or after shooting other people, though she’s never shot anyone before,according to her. It is shocking, even for a well-trained marksperson. She shows no emotion after a downed, wounded pilot dies in front of her.There are a couple of discrepancies which, to a French reader, areglaring. Kate buys herself a BAGUETTE- impossible- though we never see her eating-while bread, from the beginning of the occupation, was severelyrestricted as France was obligated to feed the large German OccupationArmy, which left pretty little food, including bread, for the French.At the end of the novel, in a train station, our heroine recognizes some men inFrench Resistance uniforms: IMPOSSIBLE. Those uniforms were not designed until the very last year of the war. They did not yet exist. But even if they had, theFrench would not wear them in a public place, let alone a train station, forfear of identification!Still, on the whole, a pretty good page-turner.

A departure from Cara Black's mystery series, this spy thriller does not feature the glamorous Aimée Leduc, but a hard scrabble heroine raised on ranches in the American West, Kate Rees, codename Cowgirl, on a mission to assassinate Adolf Hitler for British Intelligence. No Hermès scarves for this Cowgirl, a formidable heroine and skilled markswoman who creates her own luck, hiding in the filthy nooks and crannies of Nazi-occupied Paris during sweltering summer days of 1940.Drawing on her intimate knowledge of Paris and its history, Black moves us through its byways in a fast-paced thriller as Kate seeks to outrun her predator, a brilliant German detective. But nothing is as it seems. Faced with challenges and betrayal, Kate, who once thought she had no reason to live, discovers her instinct to stay alive against all odds. A strangely appropriate read during this time of COVID-19, "Three Hours in Paris" is stimulating and encouraging. Black's heroine is a superb role model in a hostile world, closing in on all sides. I finished the book feeling invigorated and dauntless—you will, too. Brava Cara Black!

The detail, the dialogue the worry and the description of surroundings were all incredible. I know it’s not out there, however what a wonderful series this could be on TV. The best book I’ve read in sometime and I’ve always got a book going.

When I read the reviews it sounded like it would be heart pounding from the first page. Well, no, it took about 20 pages and then I couldn’t put it down. Details about Paris are amazing but it was the story that kept me riveted and I will definitely try her other books

Another splendid volume from Cara Black.

I chose book as I find books about WW2 interesting and informative. Even though book is fictional it gives insight into life in war time . The book was suspenseful and kept me reading often until very late.

So many adjectives, so little WWII facts. In my opinion a history novel should have more historical richness.

Cara Black has done it big time, writing a heart-pounding thriller with deftly drawn characters set in her beloved Paris – but this one under the Nazi Occupation. She is right on key for the complexity of that treacherous period without lecturing (as a historian, believe me, I see the trap and still fall into it). Even the Nazis are well done, which is hard, really hard. But what drives the book is the breathless tension and surefooted pace of the plot. The protagonist may spend three days in Paris, but the reader will race through a lot faster. This is fabulous.

Well after reading a few silly reviews, I didn’t look for mistakes, just took the book for what it was a great read well written and exciting, the character of Kate Rees was excellent.