Alan Furst is a master of the spy thriller, often compared with Graham Greene. His eclectic writing career included covering Seattle Seahawks football games and co-authoring Debbi Fields' One Smart Cookie, which enabled him to move to Paris, travel as a journalist in Russia and Eastern Europe, and begin work on the first of his elegant tales of historical espionage, Night Soldiers. Furst's gift lies in being moved by his characters. "Somehow, I know these people,I know their voices." Indeed, he writes to sound: "I find myself dry-mouthed after a couple of hours writing."