Dark Voyage, by Alan Furst

Set in about 1942 I think, follows the adventures of DeHaan, who's captain of a Dutch cargo ship disguised as a Spanish vessel and smuggling arms for the allies.

I've been trying to read more WW2 fiction which is what made me pick this. But it was a bit of an odd book. I'd expected the tale of a specific voyage, but I'd say about the first two-thirds of the book were taken up with stuff that happened before the "Dark Voyage" of the title. In here there were a couple of exciting bits, e.g. when the ship was sailing as part of a convoy and had to be left behind when its engines failed, or when they were watching an airstrike on a Greek island, but I found it hard to latch on to a particular narrative. I think this was partly because the first part of the book used a lot of flashbacks and my attention kept being lost, so I quite often didn't know where I was.

The latter section, with the main voyage, was OK but not gripping, even when the boat was boarded by Germans.

Perhaps my fault for not concentrating hard enough but I didn't really enjoy it that much.

Completed : 19-Sep-2009 (audiobook)

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