Intrigue: Journey Into Fear, A Coffin For Dimitrios, Cause For Alarm and Background to Danger

by Eric Ambler, Alfred Hitchcock (Introduction)

From dust jacket notes: "If you are one of the hundreds of thousands who already know Eric Ambler's superb 'thrillers' - he hates the word himself, but there is no other convenient designation for these extraordinary tales of undercover plottings and spies at work - you will certainly want this book. If you have not yet read Ambler, you have been missing the man who is absolutely the best in his field. Because, as Alfred Hitchcock points out in his Introduction, Ambler writes first-rate, suspense-filled, exciting stories about entirely credible, decent, very human fellows in tough situations. They are filled with equally credible pictures of the suave political gangsters, disreputable big-business men, and riffraff of the cheap cafes who made life on the political fringes of continental Europe an unpleasant thing for decent fellows to stumble into during the 1930's. You can take Eric Ambler, if you wish, on several levels at once; and on every one of them he is tops...."

Genres: Mystery, Thriller, Espionage

Hardcover

First published January 1, 1943

About the author

Suspense 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.

Reviews

[Michael · Rating 5 out of 5]

The settings of both "A Coffin for Dimitrios" and "Journey Into Fear" include Istanbul as a starting point, which later influenced Ian Fleming's plotting for his From Russia With Love. I believe James Bond (Sean Connery) is seen reading one or the other of these books as he settles into his sleeper car accomodations on the Orient Express in the film (as an homage to Ambler). Both these novels also contain the enigmatic figure of Colonel Zia Haki, chief of the Turkish secret police. Does anyone know if he appears in any other Ambler novels or stories? Both of these novels will appeal to the Turkophile Benjamin Lynch-- if he hasn't read them already!

[Ron Kastner · Rating 4 out of 5]

A Coffin for Demetrios is well worth the read. Cynical and a bit humorous; so wonderfully self-justifying by the villains for their evil.

[Michael · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a rare and special collection, featuring four of Ambler's six between the wars "Golden Era" novels. The only real classic missing is Epitaph for a Spy. The novels range from good (Background to Danger) to extraordinary (Dimitrious). Reading Dimitrious will forever compromise the way you feel about Graham Greene's The Third Man, which a tremendous debt to Ambler's masterpiece. Hitchcock wrote the foreward. What else do you need to know?

[Teatime · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love Eric Ambler. Some of the stories in this collection are among his best. I wish it also contained "Epitaph for a Spy." Excellent overall. I also enjoyed the insightful prologue by none other than Alfred Hitchcock.