The Alibi Club [Kindle Edition]

Francine Mathews (Author)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

The Alibi Club is one of those Paris hot spots where Memphis Jones (a stand-in for Josephine Baker) holds sway and where both political and sexual connections are made. But on the eve of the 1939 German invasion of Paris, even the spectacular show world must pack and prepare to flee along with politicians and businessmen. Archer's challenge in performing this novel is to give voice to this polyglot community of French, American, British, German and Russian men and women. Mathew's novel is epic in scope but minor in terms of literary achievement. Archer individualizes the female characters well, aided by a good sense of accent and cadence; her men tend to sound rather alike. She also vacillates between French and English pronunciations of street names and other terms, often in the same sentence. Despite these flaws, Archer provides this thriller with enough momentum to keep the action churning along.
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Review

“What a movie The Alibi Club would make.”—Chicago Tribune

"Imagine the impeccable period details of Alan Furst's novels about Paris during WWII mixed with a cast straight out of Casablanca and you begin to get some idea of the pleasures on tap in Mathew's new thriller."—Publishers Weekly, starred review

"A unique portrait of life on the edge of horror... [with] a remarkable cast of characters."—San Francisco Chronicle


From the Hardcover edition.

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Product Details

• Format: Kindle Edition
• File Size: 475 KB
• Publisher: Bantam (August 29, 2006)
• Sold by: Random House Digital, Inc.
• Language: English
• ASIN: B000JMKNJM
• Text-to-Speech: Not enabled
• Average Customer Review: 3.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #304,108 Paid in Kindle Store (See Top 100 Paid in Kindle Store)

More About the Author

Francine Mathews, who also writes as Stephanie Barron, is the author of twenty novels of mystery, history, and suspense. A graduate of Princeton and Stanford, she spent four years as an intelligence analyst at the CIA, and presently lives and works in Colorado.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Disappointing, June 4, 2007

By 

Kristine (San Carlos, California USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Alibi Club (Mass Market Paperback)

I had trouble getting into the first few chapters of the book, so I checked a few reviews on Amazon and saw that it had 4 stars, so thought I'd try to plug away. There were moments of promise, but like the reviewer before me, I thought there were too many characters introduced without enough character development. I'd constantly find myself turning to a previous page/chapter to figure out who they were talking about. I barely made it to the end.

11 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars deep look at 1940 Paris, September 2, 2006

By 

Harriet Klausner - See all my reviews
(#1 Hall OF FAME REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Alibi Club (Hardcover)

In 1940 Paris, American model Sally King awaits the arrival of her lover Philip Stilwell even as news that the Nazis had broken the French army causing a massive retreat. Though his note said he would be late arriving at the restaurant, when he fails to show up she heads to his law firm of Sullivan & Cromwell only to learn from her lover's peer Max Shoop that Philip was dead. The police insist a heart attack, but the Coco Chanel model believes otherwise as she thinks he was murdered.

The repercussions of Philip's death reach the notorious Alibi Club, the in night club of the city. While African-American singer, Memphis Jones performs at the Alibi Club, others discuss the death of Stilwell especially since the freakishly tall Sally pushes for an investigation before the Nazis reach the city. At the same time Joe Hearst of the American embassy knows that the Germans and others may have connected Stilwell to a secret retained by Irene Curie, the offspring of the renowned scientists. If it falls into the wrong hands the Germans could with little effort devastate the world.

Using real persona like the Dulles siblings, Francine Mathews provides a deep look at 1940 Paris just before the Nazi blitzkrieg takes over the city. The whodunit and subsequent amateur investigation are cleverly developed and the mystery of Curie's secret that the Nazis want makes for a strong mystery. However, what makes THE ALIBI CLUB a great thriller is the atmosphere and ambience of the time and place so much so the readers will seek the usual suspects as we will always have Paris.

Harriet Klausner

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Hmmmm., February 16, 2007

By 

Dana A. Rogers "Siren Dana" (Boulder, CO United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Alibi Club (Hardcover)

I hate to admit it, but with so many characters in the book, I found myself a little lost most of the time. I still have no idea what heavy water is, safe to say it was necessary for the bomb. I think adding length with character detail to go a few layers deeper would have helped. The cast she built certainly offered alot of opportunity for this. Would make a great screenplay, nonetheless.