Salonika 1940 To the bustle of tavernas & the smell of hashish a secret war is taking shape In the backrooms of barbers envelopes change hands & in the Club de Salonique the air is thick with whispers Costa Zannis is the city's dashing chief detective
- a man with contacts high & low in the Balkans & beyond & as unknown ships & British 'travel writers' trickle through the port he is a man very much in demand Having helped defeat Italy in the highlands of Macedonia Zannis returns to a city holding its breath Mussolini's forces have retreated
- for now
- but German sights are fixed firmly on the region & as the situation in Germany worsens Zannis becomes involved in an audacious plot
- smuggling Jews to Istanbul through the back door of Europe The British hear he can penetrate the continent's closed borders & soon Zannis is embroiled in the resistance & in a reckless love affair that could jeopardise everything With a remarkable cast of operatives SPIES OF THE BALKANS is a brilliant espionage novel from Alan Furst