Three Hours in Paris

February 10, 2020
In October 1939, American Kate Rees, the heroine of this riveting standalone from bestseller Black (the Aimée Leduc series), is living with her naval engineer husband and baby daughter at Scapa Flow, the Royal Navy base in Scotland’s Orkney Islands. After her husband and daughter die during the German U-boat attack on the battleship Royal Oak, Kate becomes obsessed with defeating Hitler. Her rifle skills, learned as a girl hunting in Oregon, earn her a place in a British intelligence operation to assassinate Hitler. In June 1940, with little training, she parachutes into Paris, where Hitler is making a brief visit. Kate gets Hitler in her crosshairs, but her shot misses and she goes on the run. Hitler orders the regular German police and the Gestapo to catch the sniper within 36 hours. Despite numerous obstacles and the realization that no plan was made for her safe return, Kate is determined to make her way to London. Black keeps the suspense high throughout. Fans of The Day of the Jackal won’t want to miss this heart-stopping thriller. Agent: Katherine Fausset, Curtis Brown.

Narrator Elisabeth Rodgers rises to the challenge of performing with American, English, Scottish, French, and German accents. Cara Black gives listeners her first stand-alone novel, which takes place in a 36-hour period in 1940s Paris. The three hours in the title refer to a mysterious visit that Hitler made to Paris in June 1940. Kate Rees, a feisty American sharpshooter, is recruited by British intelligence to parachute into Paris to assassinate Hitler in that time window. Rodgers beautifully pronounces French phrases and also creates differentiated voices for the German officers who are on the hunt for the assassin. Through tone and tempo, Rodgers maintains the action and conveys the palpable fear that permeates Kate's mission. An intense listen from the first scene to the last. E.Q. Winner of AudioFile Earphones Award � AudioFile 2020, Portland, Maine