The opening of the novel provides just the shock value to entice the reader to read on. A man witnesses the cold-blooded murder of a Jewish man by Nazi soldiers as he is on his way to a business meeting.
Lucien Bernard is an architect, living in Paris during the German Occupation with his wife Celeste. The two are merely going through the motions of a marriage as both are involved with other people. He is approached by an industrialist, Manet to aid in the hiding of Parisian Jews. His first reaction is to turn down the offer, but the idea of a lucrative reward for the job spurs him to take it. He has a very creative mind and finds after a couple of successful jobs of allowing Jewish people to avoid being discovered by the Nazis, that he actually enjoys thwarting the German soldiers.
His affair with Adele seems to be crumbling and he finds himself at a loss until Manet connects him a member of the Wehrmacht who employs Lucien to design munitions factories, which he agrees to do, although hie is accused by his wife on her departure from the home as a collaborator. Therein lies a conflict as Lucien knows that he is helping the Germans, but is convinced that the French will be able to use the factories after the war.
His world is shattered when he witnesses the death of a couple whom he believed to have hidden safely, his office is infiltrated by an intern whose uncle is connected, Adele sleeping with a Nazi officer. Belfoure builds the suspense as Bernard tries to walk a tightrope between his loyalty to France and keeping the Nazis at bay.
There are some very poignant scenes in The Paris Architect when a young Pierre enters his life and an affair with Adele's employee, Bette, commences. The novel builds to a conclusion, that until the last page the reader is kept on edge.
Belfoure includes a wonderful map of Paris with all the streets that are mentioned in the book referenced. The book is beautifully written and would entice me to read another one of his books.
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