Without Orders

by Martha Albrand

Charles Barrett, a young American officer, awakes to find himself a prisoner in an asylum outside Rome. The doctor keeps telling him he's not Barrett, but an Italian who has been an inmate there for years. -- To get released, Barrett acts "cured", assuming the identity of the Italian. Following the strange suggestion of another patient, Barrett begins a search for a beguiling girl...a girl who turns out to be the key to a bizarre, jagged puzzle of espionage, Nazi terror and one of the cleverest charades ever conceived!

Genres: Mystery, Fiction, Gothic

Paperback

First published January 1, 1943

About the author

Pseudonym for Heidi Huberta Freybe.

AKA Katrin Holland, Christine Lambert, Heidi Huberta Freybe Loewengard Lamon, Mrs. Sydney J. Lamon, Heidi Huberta Freybe Loewengard, and Loewengard-Griffith

Reviews

[Karen Boblett · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a book given to me years ago. I finally sat down this evening and couldn't put its 281 pages down. This book was written in 1943 and can still be found on Thriftbooks. They have over 19 million listed, according to their web site.

The book is about an American GI in World War II who is taken to a POW camp and sent on to an asylum in Italy. He is told he is someone else who has been in the asylum for 20 some years and given an Italian name. Of course, at first he rejects the idea but decides that if he wants to get out of there, he will have to cooperate. He is discharged with papers of the other person he is suppose to be. He gets dropped off in Rome where he has been before the war. He remembers a name that is told to him about someone who can help him. After getting himself situated at a pension room, he goes on where he meets the daughter of the woman who is going to help him. The rest of the story gets more complicated but keeps the reader wondering what will happen next.

The story is well written. It keeps the reader wondering what will happen next. It is a story that could almost happen today although it was told 80 years ago. This book can be found at Thriftbooks. Their web site says they have 19 million titles and I found seven books of this novel.

[David · Rating 3 out of 5]

Written during the war. The main character wakes up in an insane asylum. He thinks he is a POW but he is told he is an Italian citizen. In this story is is trying to make sense on the forces acting on him as opposed to most mystery stories where the main character is the observer.

[Kathryn Baron]

Written during WWII, 1943.
I inherited my copy from my dad. He liked adventure stories. 1st impressions - similar to Helen Macinnes.