What do you think?
Rate this book
Charles Latimer #2
The Intercom Conspiracy
Charles Latimer is back.
Thirty years after Eric Ambler introduced the world to unlikely hero, academic and novelist Charles Latimer in The Mask of Dimitrios, Latimer returns in The Intercom Conspiracy.
Now a bestselling author promoting a new book, Latimer steps in to help Theodore Carter, the hapless, hard-drinking editor of international political newspaper Intercom. A small paper suddenly publishing big secrets, Intercom has recently been purchased and the once frivolous publication is causing a stir. Carter suspects something is amiss and sets about investigating his mysterious new bosses and the sources of the suddenly serious secrets he’s publishing.
As Latimer and Carter get closer to the truth, they realise they’re jeopardising more than just their careers.
Thirty years after Eric Ambler introduced the world to unlikely hero, academic and novelist Charles Latimer in The Mask of Dimitrios, Latimer returns in The Intercom Conspiracy.
Now a bestselling author promoting a new book, Latimer steps in to help Theodore Carter, the hapless, hard-drinking editor of international political newspaper Intercom. A small paper suddenly publishing big secrets, Intercom has recently been purchased and the once frivolous publication is causing a stir. Carter suspects something is amiss and sets about investigating his mysterious new bosses and the sources of the suddenly serious secrets he’s publishing.
As Latimer and Carter get closer to the truth, they realise they’re jeopardising more than just their careers.
209 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1969
68 people are currently reading
460 people want to read
About the author
Eric Ambler
113 books494 followersSuspense novels of noted English writer Eric Ambler include
Passage of Arms
(1959).
Eric Ambler began his career in the early 1930s and quickly established a reputation as a thriller of extraordinary depth and originality. People often credit him as the inventor of the modern political thriller, and John Le Carré once described him as "the source on which we all draw."
Ambler began his working life at an engineering firm and then at an advertising agency and meanwhile in his spare time worked on his ambition, plays. He first published in 1936 and turned full-time as his reputation. During the war, people seconded him to the film unit of the Army, where he among other projects authored The Way Ahead with Peter Ustinov.
He moved to Hollywood in 1957 and during eleven years to 1968 scripted some memorable films, A Night to Remember and The Cruel Sea, which won him an Oscar nomination.
In a career, spanning more than six decades, Eric Ambler authored 19 books, the crime writers' association awarded him its gold dagger award in 1960. Joan Harrison married him and co-wrote many screenplays of Alfred Hitchcock, who in fact organized their wedding.
Eric Ambler began his career in the early 1930s and quickly established a reputation as a thriller of extraordinary depth and originality. People often credit him as the inventor of the modern political thriller, and John Le Carré once described him as "the source on which we all draw."
Ambler began his working life at an engineering firm and then at an advertising agency and meanwhile in his spare time worked on his ambition, plays. He first published in 1936 and turned full-time as his reputation. During the war, people seconded him to the film unit of the Army, where he among other projects authored The Way Ahead with Peter Ustinov.
He moved to Hollywood in 1957 and during eleven years to 1968 scripted some memorable films, A Night to Remember and The Cruel Sea, which won him an Oscar nomination.
In a career, spanning more than six decades, Eric Ambler authored 19 books, the crime writers' association awarded him its gold dagger award in 1960. Joan Harrison married him and co-wrote many screenplays of Alfred Hitchcock, who in fact organized their wedding.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 30 of 53 reviews
April 11, 2017
Set in Switzerland during the Cold War (published 1969), this novel employs Ambler’s favoured plot device in which a rather naïve amateur becomes inadvertently embroiled with – and imperilled by – hard-boiled professionals of a malevolent nature.
In this case, Theodore Carter, editor of a Geneva-based political newsletter (Intercom) finds himself at the mercy of shadowy new owners, who insist he publishes contentious articles that expose high-grade military secrets, sourced without discrimination from both sides of the Iron Curtain.
The novel is written in an ingenious ‘double past tense’ (my description), in which a series of protagonists – participants within the story – give their points of view as events unfold, initially collated and embellished by a narrator – a writer of detective fiction engaged to produce a factual account of the so-called ‘Intercom affair’.
The startling revelations by Intercom soon attract the attentions of various security services – CIA, KGB and others – and sinister events follow. When the original narrator inexplicably disappears, the burden of reconstruction shifts to Theodore Carter (by his own admission, “out of his depth”) and creates the second layer of intrigue. The motives of those responsible for the plot begin to unfold, and these persons seek to hide their identities – and threaten the safety of the innocent stand-in chronicler and his associates.
I was confused for a good bit of the book – but by the end I was glad I persisted; it all fell into place. I admire the extent of Ambler’s invention, and the experimental style (and often casual language) of this novel makes it an intriguing read.
In this case, Theodore Carter, editor of a Geneva-based political newsletter (Intercom) finds himself at the mercy of shadowy new owners, who insist he publishes contentious articles that expose high-grade military secrets, sourced without discrimination from both sides of the Iron Curtain.
The novel is written in an ingenious ‘double past tense’ (my description), in which a series of protagonists – participants within the story – give their points of view as events unfold, initially collated and embellished by a narrator – a writer of detective fiction engaged to produce a factual account of the so-called ‘Intercom affair’.
The startling revelations by Intercom soon attract the attentions of various security services – CIA, KGB and others – and sinister events follow. When the original narrator inexplicably disappears, the burden of reconstruction shifts to Theodore Carter (by his own admission, “out of his depth”) and creates the second layer of intrigue. The motives of those responsible for the plot begin to unfold, and these persons seek to hide their identities – and threaten the safety of the innocent stand-in chronicler and his associates.
I was confused for a good bit of the book – but by the end I was glad I persisted; it all fell into place. I admire the extent of Ambler’s invention, and the experimental style (and often casual language) of this novel makes it an intriguing read.
January 24, 2024
This is not my favourite book by Eric Ambler, but it's still really good.
The format is different with the plot being driven via transcribed dictation tape, transcribed tape interview, and narrative reconstruction.
The book is about the Geneva newsletter Intercom. The newsletter was founded by a right-wing American general who is rabidly anti-communist.
Theodore Carter writes the newsletter and, when the general dies, he's really surprised when a Munich businessman called Arnold Bloch buys Intercom and leaves Carter in charge, as long as he includes short notices from Bloch's clients in the arms trade.
After visits from the CIA and KGB, Carter begins to realise that Intercom has been publishing military secrets. Carter has also to try and find the writer Charles Latimer who disappeared at Geneva Airport. Can Theodore find out who Arnold Bloch actually is and where he's based before he has to flee from the people who want him dead? Will he find Charles Latimer?
The format is different with the plot being driven via transcribed dictation tape, transcribed tape interview, and narrative reconstruction.
The book is about the Geneva newsletter Intercom. The newsletter was founded by a right-wing American general who is rabidly anti-communist.
Theodore Carter writes the newsletter and, when the general dies, he's really surprised when a Munich businessman called Arnold Bloch buys Intercom and leaves Carter in charge, as long as he includes short notices from Bloch's clients in the arms trade.
After visits from the CIA and KGB, Carter begins to realise that Intercom has been publishing military secrets. Carter has also to try and find the writer Charles Latimer who disappeared at Geneva Airport. Can Theodore find out who Arnold Bloch actually is and where he's based before he has to flee from the people who want him dead? Will he find Charles Latimer?
September 6, 2015
I liked this, therefore I'm old.
Having bought it on a hunch for aesthetic reasons (I like that typeface and I liked it long before any of you!), I enjoyed the novel for the aesthetics as well. The plot is actually penny plain and I even skimmed through some sections; what prevented me from skimming through all of it is my love for bored spies, deskjobs, Eurocity pinballing, and 70s technology.
Having bought it on a hunch for aesthetic reasons (I like that typeface and I liked it long before any of you!), I enjoyed the novel for the aesthetics as well. The plot is actually penny plain and I even skimmed through some sections; what prevented me from skimming through all of it is my love for bored spies, deskjobs, Eurocity pinballing, and 70s technology.
June 16, 2024
***3/4 More of a scam plot than a spy novel. The structure is notable as pieces are put together from different sources to carry the story along. A fun take on Ambler's Central European turf in a post WWII time. Now hard to imagine an age when a mimeographed "newsletter" could serve to dish rumor and nonsense arriving weekly and impacting conduct. But the politics are recognizable.
January 11, 2025
This was only my third Ambler, so I hate to draw overly general conclusions. But it's likely also my last one, so…
Ambler is an odd writer. None of the three books I've read are real "thrillers," because nothing happens that could even loosely be described as "thrilling;" maybe they're more, I dunno…espionage-tinged mysteries? Will give him credit that in both this and my previous read — The Light of Day — he manages to keep his reader as much in the dark as to just what the hell is going on (or even just what the story is about) as he does his main characters. But in this one, and in combination with his odd choice of "style" — a mix of competing first person voices, interviews, "narrative reconstructions," etc. — it just makes everything overly murky and confusing.
Per the cover, this was originally published as The Intercom Conspiracy, but renamed here to tie in with a 1989 four-part BBC series that appears to have COMPLETELY disappeared into the ether. Too bad, as it would be interesting to see how this was jazzed up to make it at all watchable; all I could find was a brief mention in an article on "Ambler on TV" that describes it as "a former journalist and his daughter stumble about in an international conspiracy involving a secret NATO spy satellite," which isn't in the book AT ALL. This was also relatively late Ambler, as he only wrote four more books after this — but had published 13 earlier works, going all the way back to 1936. So if I do ever return, I'll probably look for something pre-war.
___________________________________
(This is the fourth of a half dozen or so used/cheap "read and toss" books brought along on my current trip back to Taipei — and I appear to be burning through them, because one spends a LOT of time on the metro out here…)
Ambler is an odd writer. None of the three books I've read are real "thrillers," because nothing happens that could even loosely be described as "thrilling;" maybe they're more, I dunno…espionage-tinged mysteries? Will give him credit that in both this and my previous read — The Light of Day — he manages to keep his reader as much in the dark as to just what the hell is going on (or even just what the story is about) as he does his main characters. But in this one, and in combination with his odd choice of "style" — a mix of competing first person voices, interviews, "narrative reconstructions," etc. — it just makes everything overly murky and confusing.
Per the cover, this was originally published as The Intercom Conspiracy, but renamed here to tie in with a 1989 four-part BBC series that appears to have COMPLETELY disappeared into the ether. Too bad, as it would be interesting to see how this was jazzed up to make it at all watchable; all I could find was a brief mention in an article on "Ambler on TV" that describes it as "a former journalist and his daughter stumble about in an international conspiracy involving a secret NATO spy satellite," which isn't in the book AT ALL. This was also relatively late Ambler, as he only wrote four more books after this — but had published 13 earlier works, going all the way back to 1936. So if I do ever return, I'll probably look for something pre-war.
___________________________________
(This is the fourth of a half dozen or so used/cheap "read and toss" books brought along on my current trip back to Taipei — and I appear to be burning through them, because one spends a LOT of time on the metro out here…)
September 23, 2019
A not altogether successful attempt by Eric Ambler to engage in a sort of modernist form. Multiple perspectives, differing mediums of reporting, and an unsure authorial voice are the result. It's still an interesting read, but once again I think Ambler was influenced by developments in feature filmmaking. This story seems to combine the surface imagery and technique of cinema verite with a final ambiguity that is frustrating--intentionally so. The Charles Latimer that has returned in 1969 is drastically different from the befuddled but well centered detailer of the narrative that was Latimer in 1939 in A Coffin for Dimitrios.
This book is indicative of its age, the late 1960s, even as Charles Latimer has himself aged into an old man. The moral certainties of the interwar years of the 1930s no longer exist. Cold War hijinks can be murderous. And they can yield comic results, even as they do result in killing and destruction.
This book is indicative of its age, the late 1960s, even as Charles Latimer has himself aged into an old man. The moral certainties of the interwar years of the 1930s no longer exist. Cold War hijinks can be murderous. And they can yield comic results, even as they do result in killing and destruction.
August 1, 2020
Not my usual fare, but a friend pressed it on me, insisting it was very good. I read it on my back on the beach over a couple of sweltering summer days - the perfect setting for a caper involving clashing spy agencies; coy, loaded conversations in swanky Swiss brasseries; money, guns and atomic secrets; all told in a series of interviews, letters, and recollections. It was very good.
January 12, 2020
Having a hard time putting down this book. Highly thriiling and engaging story keeps you on the edge of your seat. The ending is a bit let-down though.
November 16, 2024
Historical fiction, now, as NATO and Warsaw pact have changed... This is rather dry, but still makes me want to read more Ambler.
Any other Ambler ramblers out there?
Any other Ambler ramblers out there?
April 4, 2023
Charles Latimer, Reporter und Historiker, verschwand, als er für sein neues Enthüllungsbuch recherchierte. Es ging dabei um einen Newsletter aus dem Geheimdienstmilieu. Lange Zeit äußerst dubios und voller Fake News, brachte die kleine Publikation plötzlich hochbrisante Artikel, die sowohl für die USA als auch die UdSSR hochnotpeinliche Enthüllungen enthielten.
Übermässig viel passiert in dem Roman nicht. Spektakuläre Actionszenen sucht man vergebens. Ein Hauch von Langeweile kam schon auf.
Positiv war die sehr originelle Plotidee, die Ambler hier ins schon etwas ausgelutschte Spionage-Genre brachte. Ausserdem schätzte ich die Ambler-typische leichte Ironie und die originelle Form des Romans.
Übermässig viel passiert in dem Roman nicht. Spektakuläre Actionszenen sucht man vergebens. Ein Hauch von Langeweile kam schon auf.
Positiv war die sehr originelle Plotidee, die Ambler hier ins schon etwas ausgelutschte Spionage-Genre brachte. Ausserdem schätzte ich die Ambler-typische leichte Ironie und die originelle Form des Romans.
April 13, 2012
A fascinating spy vs. spy story in which a couple of European directors of intelligence decide to pay for their retirement by purchasing a newsletter called Intercom and making it publish little intelligence tidbits that none of the intelligence services wanted to see disseminated. The story takes place during the Cold War, with operatives from the CIA and KGB involved in trying to discover the source of all the embarrassing leaks.
The story of The Intercom Conspiracy is told from a multiplicity of viewpoints, but ultimately it is the editor of the newsletter, a Canadian named Theodore Carter based in Switzerland, who comes to the fore. Ambler tells his tale with a great deal of tongue-in-cheek humor, which makes it rather fun to read.
It reminds me of something that Alfred Hitchcock once said about the perfect mystery being one in which not only the bad guys but the police are after the hero.
The story of The Intercom Conspiracy is told from a multiplicity of viewpoints, but ultimately it is the editor of the newsletter, a Canadian named Theodore Carter based in Switzerland, who comes to the fore. Ambler tells his tale with a great deal of tongue-in-cheek humor, which makes it rather fun to read.
It reminds me of something that Alfred Hitchcock once said about the perfect mystery being one in which not only the bad guys but the police are after the hero.
July 13, 2014
Slow start but good spy novel from the 60s. Makes me want to keep reading Ambler novels.
August 4, 2016
Usually i like ambler But this is Boring and confused. Not My book!
May 8, 2017
Eric Ambler being satirical about spies. Ingenious plot not always able to follow.
January 20, 2020
While more action-oriented episodes from everyday secret services work like hunting down terrorists and foreign spies grab the headlines it is amazing how many things get done in a quiet manner - with mild twisting of few arms but in general by payoff and without armed escalations.
So when you are in the know and see the opening to finally get the life you crave then .... why not take the chance.
This was the rule two senior intelligence officers decided to follow. They decided to buy out the Swiss-based crazy-conspiracy-theory Intercom circular letter (following the death of its owner, retired US general) and use it to force Russians or Americans to buy them out just to keep them quiet. Because problem with conspiracies is if you push too much everybody will say "AHA! So that was true" and if you do not do anything then the other side might control the narrative and water will get so muddled it wont serve anyone's purpose.
Swiss, country very serious about its neutrality is the best ground for this sort of operation. So everything is put in motion and now it is wait time - who will offer the biggest sum.
Caught in the middle of this ... endeavor (?) ... is Intercom's technical editor (and de-facto writer) Mr Carter. Working as an editor and following the strict rules given to him by the new owner, Carter will find himself in the cross-hairs of various clandestine services who are getting more and more interested in Intercom circular letter [as its content becomes more involved and no longer on-the-edge-crazy-conspiracy-talk]. Of course as time passes by, Carter finds himself ever so often on the short end of the stick and becomes regular guest in local hospitals [after meetings with secret agents].
Told in the form of a incomplete manuscript/book, one initially authored and written by Charles Latimer (recurring character from novel The Mask of Dimitrios), writer of detective novels interested in the Intercom affair after the media frenzy, and finalized by above-mentioned Mr Carter, this is very interesting and gripping story. It is very modern novel and where it not for mention of cables and telegrams story itself could be taking place today.
Ambler manages to draw very vivid picture of people caught between the secret services worried with what gets openly published and not sure who is actually the opposition (and thus following simple premise - consider guilty under further notice).
End of the story is what I might say realistic. It might not be to everyone's liking but it is very rare occurrence that people caught up in the dark cloak-and-dagger world live to tell their tale.
Very interesting novel, brings back memories of Umberto Eco's Numero zero and the movie Conspiracy Theory.
Highly recommended to all fans of thriller and spy stories.
So when you are in the know and see the opening to finally get the life you crave then .... why not take the chance.
This was the rule two senior intelligence officers decided to follow. They decided to buy out the Swiss-based crazy-conspiracy-theory Intercom circular letter (following the death of its owner, retired US general) and use it to force Russians or Americans to buy them out just to keep them quiet. Because problem with conspiracies is if you push too much everybody will say "AHA! So that was true" and if you do not do anything then the other side might control the narrative and water will get so muddled it wont serve anyone's purpose.
Swiss, country very serious about its neutrality is the best ground for this sort of operation. So everything is put in motion and now it is wait time - who will offer the biggest sum.
Caught in the middle of this ... endeavor (?) ... is Intercom's technical editor (and de-facto writer) Mr Carter. Working as an editor and following the strict rules given to him by the new owner, Carter will find himself in the cross-hairs of various clandestine services who are getting more and more interested in Intercom circular letter [as its content becomes more involved and no longer on-the-edge-crazy-conspiracy-talk]. Of course as time passes by, Carter finds himself ever so often on the short end of the stick and becomes regular guest in local hospitals [after meetings with secret agents].
Told in the form of a incomplete manuscript/book, one initially authored and written by Charles Latimer (recurring character from novel The Mask of Dimitrios), writer of detective novels interested in the Intercom affair after the media frenzy, and finalized by above-mentioned Mr Carter, this is very interesting and gripping story. It is very modern novel and where it not for mention of cables and telegrams story itself could be taking place today.
Ambler manages to draw very vivid picture of people caught between the secret services worried with what gets openly published and not sure who is actually the opposition (and thus following simple premise - consider guilty under further notice).
End of the story is what I might say realistic. It might not be to everyone's liking but it is very rare occurrence that people caught up in the dark cloak-and-dagger world live to tell their tale.
Very interesting novel, brings back memories of Umberto Eco's Numero zero and the movie Conspiracy Theory.
Highly recommended to all fans of thriller and spy stories.
November 13, 2021
Espionage thrillers from the Cold War amuse me, by and large. Not John Le Carre, whose books always totally confuse me, but the less well known writers. In this novel from 1969 Eric Ambler offers the reader a tale that is just confusing enough to keep them engaged, as well as a number of fun 1960s characteristics : pre-internet spy craft (marked banknotes sent through the mail!), technologies we can't even imagine any more (mimeograph, addressograph), journalists fronting for the CIA, and of course the incessant smoking and drinking.
Although the book is labeled "Charles Latimer #2", he's actually remarkable by his absence : the book begins with his disappearance, and ends with an explanation for his disappearance. It turns out that his role is mainly that of instigator : he was writing a book about "The Intercom Affair", and we come to realize that the main character is actually the person he's exchanged insulting letters with, namely Theodore Carter. The book is written as a series of disparate documents : the aforementioned letters, transcripts from tapes (including exhortations to freshen up on the whisky and soda), interviews with Carter's daughter and a psychiatrist, an official police report, and "narrative reconstructions", which function as the glue and explanation for these separate pieces.
The story hinges on the fate of "Intercom", a hysterical ultra-right wing newsletter edited from Geneva by Theodore Carter, a heavy-drinking, cynical hack. When Intercom's owner dies, the newsletter is bought by a mysterious, never-seen Mr. Bloch, who insists on Carter's inserting specific news items of a highly technical nature in the weekly issues of Intercom. This then unleashes a storm of interest from various intelligence agencies, all of whom pay the unsuspecting Carter unpleasant visits. Carter is thus an innocent caught in the vise of a clever intelligence con game, and it's not until the end that we understand how this all fits in with some disgruntled officials at NATO.
An enjoyable read, not too heavy, not too gloomy.
Although the book is labeled "Charles Latimer #2", he's actually remarkable by his absence : the book begins with his disappearance, and ends with an explanation for his disappearance. It turns out that his role is mainly that of instigator : he was writing a book about "The Intercom Affair", and we come to realize that the main character is actually the person he's exchanged insulting letters with, namely Theodore Carter. The book is written as a series of disparate documents : the aforementioned letters, transcripts from tapes (including exhortations to freshen up on the whisky and soda), interviews with Carter's daughter and a psychiatrist, an official police report, and "narrative reconstructions", which function as the glue and explanation for these separate pieces.
The story hinges on the fate of "Intercom", a hysterical ultra-right wing newsletter edited from Geneva by Theodore Carter, a heavy-drinking, cynical hack. When Intercom's owner dies, the newsletter is bought by a mysterious, never-seen Mr. Bloch, who insists on Carter's inserting specific news items of a highly technical nature in the weekly issues of Intercom. This then unleashes a storm of interest from various intelligence agencies, all of whom pay the unsuspecting Carter unpleasant visits. Carter is thus an innocent caught in the vise of a clever intelligence con game, and it's not until the end that we understand how this all fits in with some disgruntled officials at NATO.
An enjoyable read, not too heavy, not too gloomy.
February 15, 2023
The Intercom newsletter was described as the lone ranger of the lunatic fringe. So why would someone pay 2 million Swiss francs for a property that that been publicly labeled as worthless? Bear in mind this is the 1960’s we are talking about.
Eric Ambler’s novel about an obscure right-wing military newsletter with a very small readership put’s forward the discussion that during the Cold War the main powers already knew each other top secrets, but the mutual enemy that both feared in equal measure was the Press. When the owner of the Intercom newsletter dies and the publication is bought incognito by two disgruntled NATO Colonels, who subsequently start publishing information on secret NATO and Warsaw Pact projects, both the CIA and KGB start to take notice. Both agencies, desperate to know who the source of the confidential information being leaked to Intercom, use traditional intimidation tactics on the newsletter’s editor to try to find out. However, the editor, a hardened journalist with a salty temperament is only being kept on a need to know basis and doesn’t know the identity of the person or persons providing him with the sensitive content.
Being out of options to silently put an end to the leaks, one of the spy agencies decides to buy out the owner, paying way over the odds for publication with a very small readership. But which spy agency and who was the mystery owner that was leaking confidential documents to Intercom? How often does something like this happen in the real world, and does it still go on. Eric Ambler was ahead of his time writing a novel such as this. The writing style is unique in a way that it’s a written via correspondence between the editor, his daughter, the other journalist Latimer and Intercom’s solicitor and I imagine can put some people off, but I recommend to stick with it, it’s an intriguing read that puts forward the pretense that the Media is the common enemy of the “deep state”.
Eric Ambler’s novel about an obscure right-wing military newsletter with a very small readership put’s forward the discussion that during the Cold War the main powers already knew each other top secrets, but the mutual enemy that both feared in equal measure was the Press. When the owner of the Intercom newsletter dies and the publication is bought incognito by two disgruntled NATO Colonels, who subsequently start publishing information on secret NATO and Warsaw Pact projects, both the CIA and KGB start to take notice. Both agencies, desperate to know who the source of the confidential information being leaked to Intercom, use traditional intimidation tactics on the newsletter’s editor to try to find out. However, the editor, a hardened journalist with a salty temperament is only being kept on a need to know basis and doesn’t know the identity of the person or persons providing him with the sensitive content.
Being out of options to silently put an end to the leaks, one of the spy agencies decides to buy out the owner, paying way over the odds for publication with a very small readership. But which spy agency and who was the mystery owner that was leaking confidential documents to Intercom? How often does something like this happen in the real world, and does it still go on. Eric Ambler was ahead of his time writing a novel such as this. The writing style is unique in a way that it’s a written via correspondence between the editor, his daughter, the other journalist Latimer and Intercom’s solicitor and I imagine can put some people off, but I recommend to stick with it, it’s an intriguing read that puts forward the pretense that the Media is the common enemy of the “deep state”.
November 11, 2023
Late Eric Ambler, from 1969. In this one, Ambler brings back Charles Latimer, the protagonist of his 1939 classic A Coffin for Dimitrios. In that one, Latimer, a scholar who writes popular mysteries on the side, decides to investigate a real life mystery and gets more than he bargained for. The Intercom Conspiracy uses the same formula to get Latimer in trouble again, not in the 1930s Balkans but in mid-Cold War Geneva. The twist is that he never actually appears in the novel; it begins with notice of his disappearance in a foreword signed by Ambler, who puts himself in the story as an editor pieceing the story together from documents.
Now elderly, Latimer is still getting his kicks sniffing around the edges of the secret world of espionage with a book project in mind. He has stumbled across a clever plot by two disgruntled old NATO intelligence chiefs to pad their retirement accounts by extorting hush money from both superpowers with the threat to reveal secrets via articles in a paranoid right-wing newsletter published in Geneva. (Not a spoiler, we learn this at the outset.) The newsletter is edited by an irascible Canadian expatriate named Theodore Carter, who has a drinking problem and a beautiful daughter. Carter's irate and pugnacious narrative voice dominates the novel, which is structured as a correspondence between him and Ambler. Carter is the one who gets stuck with the consequences of Latimer's snooping, and we'd feel sorrier for him if he weren't such a pompous fool. Fortunately his daughter has more sense.
It's classic Ambler, witty, knowing and urbane, full of illuminating detail about the way the world works. Highly entertaining.
Now elderly, Latimer is still getting his kicks sniffing around the edges of the secret world of espionage with a book project in mind. He has stumbled across a clever plot by two disgruntled old NATO intelligence chiefs to pad their retirement accounts by extorting hush money from both superpowers with the threat to reveal secrets via articles in a paranoid right-wing newsletter published in Geneva. (Not a spoiler, we learn this at the outset.) The newsletter is edited by an irascible Canadian expatriate named Theodore Carter, who has a drinking problem and a beautiful daughter. Carter's irate and pugnacious narrative voice dominates the novel, which is structured as a correspondence between him and Ambler. Carter is the one who gets stuck with the consequences of Latimer's snooping, and we'd feel sorrier for him if he weren't such a pompous fool. Fortunately his daughter has more sense.
It's classic Ambler, witty, knowing and urbane, full of illuminating detail about the way the world works. Highly entertaining.
March 30, 2022
This is a pretty good Ambler spy thriller.
The premise is that two Intelligence Agency directors from two unnamed small European countries decide to cash in by purchasing a right-wing conspiracy newsletter. They start to have the editor publish highly classified information and they wait to get bought out. It is blackmail by publication.
Ambler always has great fun telling a story. Here he shifts viewpoint between a novelist, Charles Latimer, who is trying to write a non-fiction book about the caper and Theodore Carter, who was the publisher of the newsletter. Ambler drops into straight narrative when it helps the story along.
Carter is a wonderful character. He is a cynical hack journalist who is out for a buck. He is the kind of alcoholic who always denies he is an alcoholic. He has a nagging conscience about being a real journalist. It is usually overwhelmed by his greed. He is brave in a raggedy disorganized way.
The two intelligence guys are mostly offstage. Carter's daughter and son-in-law try to protect Carter from himself.
Ambler is great at laying out the mechanics of the plot; how to buy a newsletter anonymously or how to publish secrets without revealing yourself or what does a Swiss banker consider unethical?
The story moves along quickly. It is told in taped interviews, letters, transcribed dictation tapes and notes.
This is a very clever espionage caper.
The premise is that two Intelligence Agency directors from two unnamed small European countries decide to cash in by purchasing a right-wing conspiracy newsletter. They start to have the editor publish highly classified information and they wait to get bought out. It is blackmail by publication.
Ambler always has great fun telling a story. Here he shifts viewpoint between a novelist, Charles Latimer, who is trying to write a non-fiction book about the caper and Theodore Carter, who was the publisher of the newsletter. Ambler drops into straight narrative when it helps the story along.
Carter is a wonderful character. He is a cynical hack journalist who is out for a buck. He is the kind of alcoholic who always denies he is an alcoholic. He has a nagging conscience about being a real journalist. It is usually overwhelmed by his greed. He is brave in a raggedy disorganized way.
The two intelligence guys are mostly offstage. Carter's daughter and son-in-law try to protect Carter from himself.
Ambler is great at laying out the mechanics of the plot; how to buy a newsletter anonymously or how to publish secrets without revealing yourself or what does a Swiss banker consider unethical?
The story moves along quickly. It is told in taped interviews, letters, transcribed dictation tapes and notes.
This is a very clever espionage caper.
December 30, 2024
Theodore Carter is the editor of a low circulation newsletter which is owned by an eccentric ex-US army general. Intercom publishes absurd fabricated stories with an anti-Communist narrative which are presented as genuine news, but entirely from the imagination of Carter (a bit like Fox News I suppose). When the General dies suddenly Intercom is taken over by unseen investors who require Carter to maintain the old style, but to publish additional articles which they supply. The additional items turn out to be big secrets from NATO and the Soviet Union and Carter finds himself at the centre of attention for the world's intelligence agencies.
Now I like Eric Ambler. When I pick up an Ambler I know it's going to be generally good writing with well-thought out plots, but with old-fashioned characters and plot settings. It's comforting stuff. The Intercom Conspiracy was however rather different with the tale told from three different angles in three very different styles. I initially found this to be a bit jarring and irritating, but as I settled in and adjusted to those styles it became more enjoyable. However, when I got to the end I was left feeling "is that it?", as things just stopped abruptly with no satisfactory denouement. In fact at the end it seemed that every aspect of the conspiracy actually didn't matter that much to any of the protagonists. If it had ended with the line "and then they all went home for tea", it wouldn't have been any less satisfying.
Now I like Eric Ambler. When I pick up an Ambler I know it's going to be generally good writing with well-thought out plots, but with old-fashioned characters and plot settings. It's comforting stuff. The Intercom Conspiracy was however rather different with the tale told from three different angles in three very different styles. I initially found this to be a bit jarring and irritating, but as I settled in and adjusted to those styles it became more enjoyable. However, when I got to the end I was left feeling "is that it?", as things just stopped abruptly with no satisfactory denouement. In fact at the end it seemed that every aspect of the conspiracy actually didn't matter that much to any of the protagonists. If it had ended with the line "and then they all went home for tea", it wouldn't have been any less satisfying.
August 4, 2022
In this current era of crackpot conspiracy theories, mainstream political grifters, and rampant peddling of misinformation, Ambler's 1969 tale feels quaint but is nevertheless compelling. It concerns a small political newsletter, Intercom, that is commandeered by two disillusioned intelligence agents who use it to stir up international trouble by publishing top secret material amidst the rag's usual claptrap. Is their motive ideological? Do they serve a higher purpose? No - it's just about money. They bet - correctly - that foreign security services will pay handsomely to shut Intercom down. The story is told in the form of notes and transcripts from an incomplete book left behind by now-missing journalist, Charles Lattimer, and through the recollections of the newsletter's editor, Theodore Carter. Carter starts off as an unwitting pawn in the game, but after the new material from the new owners starts to raise eyebrows, he must avoid being arrested, kidnapped, or simply murdered. He tries to clear his name, discover the identities of Intercom's new owners, and find out what happened to Lattimer. Despite the rather dry nature of the topic and minimal action, Ambler (as always) keeps things riveting and enjoyable.
November 25, 2021
We first meet Mr Charles Latimer many years ago in ‘A Coffin for Dimitrios’. Flash forward a couple of decades and we are re-introduced. This time, however, Mr Latimer isn’t the protagonist, his presence is abstract and inferred through letters. It seems he has gone missing. Some presume he’s dead but it’s never official…does author Ambler plan to find him alive in some future edition? If so, it never made it into print.
Our narrator and protagonist is Theodore Carter. When we first encounter him he is a weak, functioning alcoholic living in Geneva working as managing editor for a right-wing, anti-communist periodical ‘The Intercom’ owned by a retired U.S. General, recently deceased. When we wave goodbye he still enjoys his libations but he’s taken ownership of his life’s direction and all the decisions that necessitates.
It’s a fun, enjoyable read, and Eric Ambler is essential reading, but ‘The Intercom Conspiracy’ is not on my list of one of his essential reads. However, I recommend it for anytime especially on a cold, wet, rainy weekend. 4 stars.
Our narrator and protagonist is Theodore Carter. When we first encounter him he is a weak, functioning alcoholic living in Geneva working as managing editor for a right-wing, anti-communist periodical ‘The Intercom’ owned by a retired U.S. General, recently deceased. When we wave goodbye he still enjoys his libations but he’s taken ownership of his life’s direction and all the decisions that necessitates.
It’s a fun, enjoyable read, and Eric Ambler is essential reading, but ‘The Intercom Conspiracy’ is not on my list of one of his essential reads. However, I recommend it for anytime especially on a cold, wet, rainy weekend. 4 stars.
April 1, 2022
Another brilliant novel by Ambler, this one written during the Cold War rather than the period prior to World War II, when some of his best-known books were published.
Successful novelist Charles Latimer (protagonist of 'A Coffin for Dimitrios') gets involved when an obscure political newsletter run by an old friend suddenly begins publishing what appears to be some very important, and very dangerous, information. It's the kind of information that could only be obtained by someone with access at the highest level of one of the Western intelligence agencies. But where is it coming from, and why would anyone choose to circulate it by sending it to such a minor publication? An even better question: how can Latimer protect his friend (and himself) when this activity attracts the attention of intelligence agencies on both sides of the Iron Curtain, all of which want to know the source of the information, but for very different reasons. Highly recommended.
Successful novelist Charles Latimer (protagonist of 'A Coffin for Dimitrios') gets involved when an obscure political newsletter run by an old friend suddenly begins publishing what appears to be some very important, and very dangerous, information. It's the kind of information that could only be obtained by someone with access at the highest level of one of the Western intelligence agencies. But where is it coming from, and why would anyone choose to circulate it by sending it to such a minor publication? An even better question: how can Latimer protect his friend (and himself) when this activity attracts the attention of intelligence agencies on both sides of the Iron Curtain, all of which want to know the source of the information, but for very different reasons. Highly recommended.
March 28, 2020
I am unable to make my mind about whether I liked this book or not. It certainly held me in its grip, more due to the multi-perspective narrative that was confusing than to the pace of the story. I may sound dumb, but I could not understand what the Intercom Conspiracy was about for quite a long way into the novel. Even now, after finishing it, I have a very hazy understanding. But, I can say that I did not dislike this book. The characterisation is engaging, especially the character of Theodore Carter. And the multiple mediums of narration used in this book are quite unique, at least for me. The way the author has described the people and the events is very amusing. So, considering the positives and negatives, I can safely say that I enjoyed reading it - all the while cursing the author for the confusing narrative.
December 14, 2024
This is an old book written in 1969. Eric Ambler wrote 14 novels beginning in 1937. He wrote novels of intrigue which have been classics. He also wrote screen plays and "The Cruel Sea" was up for an Academy Award in 1951. You can find his books on Thrift books. This book can be read in a short time as it is only 241 pages. I found it very well written, interesting and moves right along.
It is about a money making scheme where two men, each of which is a head of an intelligence network of a Western Power devise a plan to finance their comfortable retirement. Their plan involves purchasing a newsletter to leak NATO and Warsaw Pact classified intelligence. They make it so menacing that interested governments will be forced to bid outrageous amounts for the paper to silence it.
It is about a money making scheme where two men, each of which is a head of an intelligence network of a Western Power devise a plan to finance their comfortable retirement. Their plan involves purchasing a newsletter to leak NATO and Warsaw Pact classified intelligence. They make it so menacing that interested governments will be forced to bid outrageous amounts for the paper to silence it.
June 14, 2018
Even late Ambler is better than most. This novel, from 1969, relates a sinister scheme where a pair of retired spies buy a cheesy newspaper and use it to print NATO AND Warsaw Pact intelligence and force the naturally alarmed governments to pay them off to shut it down. Caught in the middle is poor pathetic editor Theodore Carter who struggles fruitlessly to escape the forces bearing down on him. Charles Latimer, Ambler's hero from COFFIN FOR DEMETRIOS also enters the fray.
It's a funny book, a comic novel really--Carter is a comic gem, indignantly full of himself and outrageous in his insults and though the novel doesn't wind up with a whole lot of pizzazz, it manages to both reflect its time and ours--fake news was as much a problem then as now.
Highly recommended.
It's a funny book, a comic novel really--Carter is a comic gem, indignantly full of himself and outrageous in his insults and though the novel doesn't wind up with a whole lot of pizzazz, it manages to both reflect its time and ours--fake news was as much a problem then as now.
Highly recommended.
September 8, 2019
This has an interesting twist to the story, with two jaded Eastern European"security officials," basically spies, using their access to classified information, which they make public through their purchase of a right-wing newsletter called The Intercom, to provoke spy agencies of the major powers to want to purchase the newsletter for a hefty sum to shut it down. The plot is laid out in a series of letters and other communications surrounding a book a man named Latimer is trying to write about the conspiracy after the fact. What was a drawback for me was the character of the editor of The Intercom, totally unaware of the conspiracy at first, who is a jackass as the book opens, often drunk, and morphs into a more rational being by the end. I did not entirely buy it.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
September 26, 2025
An intriguing and different book from Eric Ambler.
Here the story is told by a number of participants from within the story, almost as though the police were putting together the case against a criminal, but in this case, from interview and notes found in a writers file and pulled together by a third person, who is also in the story. Different, in perspective and format, but still in the same vein as his much earlier novel 'Mask of Dimitris' with Charles Latimer, the professor cum detective novelist, following real spies, with the associated consequences.
Different in style, yes, but still with the classic Ambler characters and suspense that follows the story from the first page to the last.
Here the story is told by a number of participants from within the story, almost as though the police were putting together the case against a criminal, but in this case, from interview and notes found in a writers file and pulled together by a third person, who is also in the story. Different, in perspective and format, but still in the same vein as his much earlier novel 'Mask of Dimitris' with Charles Latimer, the professor cum detective novelist, following real spies, with the associated consequences.
Different in style, yes, but still with the classic Ambler characters and suspense that follows the story from the first page to the last.
May 17, 2020
While The Intercom Conspiracy is listed on Goodreads as "Charles Latimer 02", it is by no means necessary to read A Coffin for Dimitrios first. And, not reading A Coffin for Dimitrios first will not in any way spoil The Intercom Conspiracy. To call these books a series is a true stretch of that term.
This is a brilliant read. Ambler's use of different perspectives is carried off masterfully.
The Intercom Conspiracy is best served by reading it whilst sipping a tall cocktail. It makes for a great evening.
This is a brilliant read. Ambler's use of different perspectives is carried off masterfully.
The Intercom Conspiracy is best served by reading it whilst sipping a tall cocktail. It makes for a great evening.
August 14, 2022
A brilliant cold war conspiracy. Intricately constructed and masterfully narrated. Ambler's stories are unique and original.
A subscription newsletter aimed at irritating and embarrassing communists, (never mind the facts), wages its own private war against the Red Scare. European governments, NATO operatives, MI5, CIA, KGB, old broken-down spies soon to be retired; all come together in a clash of interests that become the ingenious Intercom Conspiracy.
A subscription newsletter aimed at irritating and embarrassing communists, (never mind the facts), wages its own private war against the Red Scare. European governments, NATO operatives, MI5, CIA, KGB, old broken-down spies soon to be retired; all come together in a clash of interests that become the ingenious Intercom Conspiracy.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 53 reviews