The Paris Architect

This book takes place in WwII France A young architect, hungry for work and money is approached by a wealthy businessman to build a hiding spot in an apartment to hide a Jehw who is being sought by thr Germans.  The deal is sweetened with the offer of a factory design contract. The young man is reluctant but eventually agrees.

He goes on to design more hiding spots and to get a factory design contract.  He is surprised to meet one German officer who is interested in architecture and art.
Because the architect is so busy, he hires an assistant. The assistant is the nephew of a German officer. The assistant becomes suspicious of his boss when he sees some unusual drawings on the boss's desk. He starts to follow his boss tries   to break into his desk.

Th architect is shocked when his wife tells him he is a traitor and is leaving him for another man.

The architect is asked to shelter a young jewish boy, despite the danger he agrees to do so and brings the young man  on as a helper. This young man discovers what the other assistant is doing and eventually murders him to save his boss.

The book describes the brutal behavior of the Germans in their torture of people and methods to instill fear in the French. In the end the Architect is captured by the Resistance who enlist his help  to destroy his precious factory, pointing out that the few lives he is saving in Paris  will not make up for the many lives that will be lost if the factory is completed.

Eventually life becomes to dangerous for the architect and his German official helps  him escape with his young boy, his lover, and the two Jewish children she has been sheltering. The book did an excellent job of portaying life in occupied France.  It was suspenseful til the end.