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Journey Into Fear
It is 1940 and Mr Graham, a quietly-spoken engineer and arms expert, has just finished high-level talks with the Turkish government. And now somebody wants him dead. The previous night three shots were fired at him as he stepped into his hotel room, so, terrified, he escapes in secret on a passenger steamer from Istanbul. As he journeys home - alongside, among others, an entrancing French dancer, an unkempt trader, a mysterious German doctor and a small, brutal man in a crumpled suit - he enters a nightmarish world where friend and foe are indistinguishable. Graham can try to run, but he may not be able to hide for much longer ...
224 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1940
230 people are currently reading
2861 people want to read
About the author
Eric Ambler
98 books480 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.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 343 reviews
June 20, 2020
In this novel set in the months before World War II, Eric Ambler uses his typical hero—a novice inadevertently caught up in the world of international intrigue—to explore the reality of fear: how it affects perceptions, alters attitudes, and undermines the will, and yet how--if embraced and acknowledged--it may lead an ordinary man to perform an extraordinary action.
Our ordinary man is Howard Graham, an English engineer from a British firm who has been assigned to a munitions project for the Turkish government. He considers himself little more than a cog in the wheel of international industry until the evening before his return to England when someone hiding in his Istanbul hotel room takes a shot at him. He begins to realize that his role in Turkey's preparations for war is more important than he thought.
Most of the book takes place on a steamer traveling from Istambul to Genoa, as Graham tries to guess which of the mysterious passengers is the one who is trying to kill him. Is it the attractive Spanish dancer Josette, or her crude husband and protector Jose? The old German scholar Haller who continually discourses on archeology? Or is it the Turkish tobacco salesman Kuvetli who insinuates himself into every conversation?
The book gives us interesting glimpses into the lives and personalities of the passngers, but its primary focus is always the mind of the hero. Will fear blunt his senses into dullness, or excite them to folly? Or will Graham learn to use that fear and save himself from assassination? By the time the novel concludes—but not before a brutal shipboard murder and an exciting chase through the Genoa streets—the reader will have learned the answer.
This novel is not nearly as good as A Coffin for Dimitrios—few spy novels are—but it a superb entertainment, worthy of your attention.
August 15, 2020
”He took his right hand carefully out of his overcoat pocket, and looked at the bandages swathed round it. It throbbed and ached abominably. If that was what a bullet graze felt like, he thanked his stars that the bullet had not really hit him.
He looked around the cabin, accepting his presence in it as he had accepted so many other absurdities since he had returned to his hotel in Pera the night before. The acceptance was unquestioning. He felt only as if he had lost something valuable. In fact, he had lost nothing of any value but a sliver of skin and cartilage from the back of his right hand. All that had happened to him was that he had discovered the fear of death.”
An English engineer by the name of Graham is on a business trip to Istanbul. His country is mired in a war that will soon be called World War Two. He wants to do his part for the war effort, but doesn’t realize that by doing so he has put his life in jeopardy. He surprises someone in his hotel room and is shot. This was supposed to be a business trip; how did it become a nightmare of international intrigue?
What he knows and what he can do is something so vital that, even if he disappears for six weeks it could change the scope of the war. As he makes his way home by ship, German agents are trying to stop him from reaching London. Turkish agents are trying to make sure he has safe passage. Guns appear and disappear. An exotic dancing girl, too gorgeous to resist, is a lovely distraction, but Graham is not a fool. ”Every movement, every piece of affectation was calculated: it was as if she were still dancing.” It’s not only women like Josette he can’t trust; it is everyone, allies, enemies, and everyone in-between.
Graham is going to have to save himself.
The reason Eric Ambler was so popular back in the 1930s and 1940s is because his stories felt like they were ripped from the newspaper headlines. I can imagine many people from that era picking up his latest book in the train station or airport to distract themselves on their travels. Certainly on my next train trip across the country, I will make sure I have an Ambler in my hands to go with my crisp fedora, a snappy red and gray striped tie, and a London Fog trench coat. This was light, quick reading, with a few improbable situations, but it was a time of improbable things. I had my own trepidations for the fate of our hero Graham. I also wondered where Josette will be undulating her sinuous hips next, tempting some man with less fortitude than Graham into her web of deceit.
If you wish to see more of my most recent book and movie reviews, visit http://www.jeffreykeeten.com
I also have a Facebook blogger page at:https://www.facebook.com/JeffreyKeeten and an Instagram account https://www.instagram.com/jeffreykeeten/
He looked around the cabin, accepting his presence in it as he had accepted so many other absurdities since he had returned to his hotel in Pera the night before. The acceptance was unquestioning. He felt only as if he had lost something valuable. In fact, he had lost nothing of any value but a sliver of skin and cartilage from the back of his right hand. All that had happened to him was that he had discovered the fear of death.”
An English engineer by the name of Graham is on a business trip to Istanbul. His country is mired in a war that will soon be called World War Two. He wants to do his part for the war effort, but doesn’t realize that by doing so he has put his life in jeopardy. He surprises someone in his hotel room and is shot. This was supposed to be a business trip; how did it become a nightmare of international intrigue?
What he knows and what he can do is something so vital that, even if he disappears for six weeks it could change the scope of the war. As he makes his way home by ship, German agents are trying to stop him from reaching London. Turkish agents are trying to make sure he has safe passage. Guns appear and disappear. An exotic dancing girl, too gorgeous to resist, is a lovely distraction, but Graham is not a fool. ”Every movement, every piece of affectation was calculated: it was as if she were still dancing.” It’s not only women like Josette he can’t trust; it is everyone, allies, enemies, and everyone in-between.
Graham is going to have to save himself.
The reason Eric Ambler was so popular back in the 1930s and 1940s is because his stories felt like they were ripped from the newspaper headlines. I can imagine many people from that era picking up his latest book in the train station or airport to distract themselves on their travels. Certainly on my next train trip across the country, I will make sure I have an Ambler in my hands to go with my crisp fedora, a snappy red and gray striped tie, and a London Fog trench coat. This was light, quick reading, with a few improbable situations, but it was a time of improbable things. I had my own trepidations for the fate of our hero Graham. I also wondered where Josette will be undulating her sinuous hips next, tempting some man with less fortitude than Graham into her web of deceit.
If you wish to see more of my most recent book and movie reviews, visit http://www.jeffreykeeten.com
I also have a Facebook blogger page at:https://www.facebook.com/JeffreyKeeten and an Instagram account https://www.instagram.com/jeffreykeeten/
April 3, 2021
Once again, the father of the espionage thriller comes thru with another stellar effort. This time Eric Ambler takes us to the very beginning of World War 2, as we follow the exploits of British munitions engineer who is known only by his last name of Graham. We meet up with Graham while he is concluding his companies arms agreement with Turkey and before he leaves for London, the companies representative in Turkey takes him for a night of fun at a Cabaret in Istanbul. While there he is introduced to a sultry lounge dancer before he makes his way back to his hotel to finish packing for his trip home in a few hours.
Upon reaching his room, Graham opens the door and gunfire erupts. The shooter only grazes Graham before escaping out the window, and so begins Grahams “Journey into Fear.”
He is quickly taken to the offices of Turkish security commander, Colonel Haki, who lays out the facts that this was not a random burglary gone bad but rather an attempt by the Germans to kill him so as to delay the delivery of the weaponry to Turkey.
Instead of heading out on a train, Graham soon finds himself about a cargo ship bound for Genoa from where he can quickly get across the border into France and then make it back to London. The timeline of the book is fascinating since while Poland has been invaded, France is not considered to be in danger of falling, and Italy is technically neutral, all of which help with the plotline and action.
Onboard the boat Graham has very few fellow passengers since there are only 10 cabins, but one of those cabins belongs to sultry dancer Josette and her husband/partner Jose. Jose is unpleasant and it is obvious to all but Graham that Josette is latching onto him for a good time in Paris before Graham returns home to his wife. We also have a feuding French couple, a German archeologist and his constantly ill wife, a French couple and an Italian mother and son who serve no purpose other than to play bridge at key times so as to allow Graham some free time.
At their first port, which is Athens, the boat takes on a new passenger who turns out to be the person who tried to kill Graham in Istanbul and who is a paid Romanian assassin. But there also is a Turkish tobacco salesman on board who always seems to be hovering around Graham at important times.
Graham now discovers his life is in danger on the boat, from not one but two different people. Who can he trust, how can he escape the boat, how can he get out of Genoa alive and how can he finally get back to London? All these problems are part of a well-devised plot and Ambler again puts an untrained regular person right in the middle of WW2 intrigue. A fish of our water, can Graham somehow manage to extricate himself and who, if anyone will be able to assist him?
Ambler once again comes through with a winning tale and one that makes any reader of the espionage thriller realize why he has been dubbed the “father" of the genre.
Upon reaching his room, Graham opens the door and gunfire erupts. The shooter only grazes Graham before escaping out the window, and so begins Grahams “Journey into Fear.”
He is quickly taken to the offices of Turkish security commander, Colonel Haki, who lays out the facts that this was not a random burglary gone bad but rather an attempt by the Germans to kill him so as to delay the delivery of the weaponry to Turkey.
Instead of heading out on a train, Graham soon finds himself about a cargo ship bound for Genoa from where he can quickly get across the border into France and then make it back to London. The timeline of the book is fascinating since while Poland has been invaded, France is not considered to be in danger of falling, and Italy is technically neutral, all of which help with the plotline and action.
Onboard the boat Graham has very few fellow passengers since there are only 10 cabins, but one of those cabins belongs to sultry dancer Josette and her husband/partner Jose. Jose is unpleasant and it is obvious to all but Graham that Josette is latching onto him for a good time in Paris before Graham returns home to his wife. We also have a feuding French couple, a German archeologist and his constantly ill wife, a French couple and an Italian mother and son who serve no purpose other than to play bridge at key times so as to allow Graham some free time.
At their first port, which is Athens, the boat takes on a new passenger who turns out to be the person who tried to kill Graham in Istanbul and who is a paid Romanian assassin. But there also is a Turkish tobacco salesman on board who always seems to be hovering around Graham at important times.
Graham now discovers his life is in danger on the boat, from not one but two different people. Who can he trust, how can he escape the boat, how can he get out of Genoa alive and how can he finally get back to London? All these problems are part of a well-devised plot and Ambler again puts an untrained regular person right in the middle of WW2 intrigue. A fish of our water, can Graham somehow manage to extricate himself and who, if anyone will be able to assist him?
Ambler once again comes through with a winning tale and one that makes any reader of the espionage thriller realize why he has been dubbed the “father" of the genre.
August 3, 2021
“’[…] Perhaps it is that I am old, but I find it extremely difficult to identify men with their ideas. I can dislike, even hate an idea, but the man who has it seems to be still a man.’”
Let’s keep this interesting statement in mind for a few seconds while pausing to ask ourselves the question as to what to think of a man or a woman who have no particular ideas of what life is or ought to be about. Who go through life without concerning themselves too much about the various conceptions there are of liberty, of responsibility, of justice, and of what our future might look like and who are instead satisfied with a well-ordered existence, their own creature comforts and sensibilities. Are such people more offensive or less so than those who believe in ideas we happen to disagree with?
Such a person can be seen in the protagonist of Eric Ambler’s brilliant novel Journey into Fear, which was written and is set in the period referred to as the Phoney War when England and France had declared war on Germany after the Nazis’ invasion of Poland but when there were actually no war operations going on in the west. Mr. Graham is a British engineer who was sent to Turkey in order to help prepare the Turkish Navy for a potential strike against the Germans and who is now on his way back to England, his head full of knowledge which the Germans do not wish to see arrive in his native country. Only within a hair’s breadth did he escape assassination in Istanbul, and now he finds himself on board a small Italian ship going to Genoa whence he is supposed to take a train to Paris. Among his fellow passengers are the Mathises, a French couple who constantly bicker, Dr. Haller, a German archaeologist, and his ailing wife, Mr. Kuvetli, a seemingly harmless trader in tobacco, a sultry Hungarian dancer named Josette and her cynical husband José, and, to Graham’s dismay, the man in the crumpled suit whom he suspects to have made an attempt on his life. Regarding himself as a mere engineer, an expert in armament, but not as a man experienced in politics or in espionage, and unwilling to risk his skin for a game he never intended to play in the first place, Graham feels like the proverbial fish in the barrel somebody tries to have a shot at, and he does not know whom to trust in his pursuit of saving his life.
Ambler himself was a man with strong political convictions, and as a staunch antifascist, his sympathies lay with the Soviet Union – until 1939, the year that saw the German-Soviet Pact – but still, he managed to present the inner conflict of his unpolitical protagonist in a fair and empathetic light. What Graham faces on board the ship, amidst a handful of strangers, some of whom want to see him dead, is nothing less but a taste of true life, something he has been spared (or denied) up to now in his petty bourgeois existence with a wife he rather likes than loves, and his liaison with the nightclub singer Josette, offering a furlough from his boring life, is but the mirror image of the greater threats that lie between himself and his former harmless life. When Dr. Haller, who is not the real archaeologist but a German spymaster, offers him the opportunity to take a six-week holiday instead of dying for his country and for the advantage of the Allied side, he actually seriously considers this for a while, thinking that it is all very well for people to say that they would go to any length to serve their convictions as long as they are not faced with the immediate choice between risking their own lives and taking an easy way out.
As usual, Ambler not only entertains his readers with a first-class spy story enriched by his undoubted talent of pacing and nuanced characterization but he also invites them to deal with ideas such as why wars are really fought and populations are rallied behind certain ideologies. His left-leaning Mr. Mathis proclaims, for example:
This, of course, need not be exclusively true in regard to wars but also other “projects” and “threats” governments choose to sell to their populations. Another interesting impulse to be derived from this novel is the question – as exemplified by the fate of the Italian lady’s husband who survived an earthquake but then got shot as a looter because he carried water in a silver jug he found in the debris of a house – whether death by an act of God is more dignified than death at the hand of a group of soldiers who misjudge your actions, or whether death can dignify a life at all. The climax of dramatic irony is reached, however, when we look at the statement by Dr. Haller with which this review is introduced. We later learn that the real Dr. Haller never boarded the ship but that the spymaster Moeller used his identity to spin his web around Graham and that in impersonating the archaeologist, he mainly drew from what he read in a book written by the real Dr. Haller. In other words, most of the ideas voiced by Moeller were actually Dr. Haller’s ideas, with the probable exception of the statement quoted above – a statement that seems to ring true at first sight and yet comes from a scheming Nazi. This leaves us with an unsettling conundrum: Can we really draw a line between a person and their ideas? And are there not also ideas that, if put into practice, would cause avoidable sufferings to thousands of people – and is not the person who holds this idea responsible for it in a certain way? I think it a very clever move of Ambler’s to put these seemingly appealing words into the mouth of a Nazi murderer, who also says quite reasonable things like this:
All in all, Journey into Fear is actually a journey into some of the elementary questions popping up in our lives from time to time – if only we stopped to consider now and then.
Let’s keep this interesting statement in mind for a few seconds while pausing to ask ourselves the question as to what to think of a man or a woman who have no particular ideas of what life is or ought to be about. Who go through life without concerning themselves too much about the various conceptions there are of liberty, of responsibility, of justice, and of what our future might look like and who are instead satisfied with a well-ordered existence, their own creature comforts and sensibilities. Are such people more offensive or less so than those who believe in ideas we happen to disagree with?
Such a person can be seen in the protagonist of Eric Ambler’s brilliant novel Journey into Fear, which was written and is set in the period referred to as the Phoney War when England and France had declared war on Germany after the Nazis’ invasion of Poland but when there were actually no war operations going on in the west. Mr. Graham is a British engineer who was sent to Turkey in order to help prepare the Turkish Navy for a potential strike against the Germans and who is now on his way back to England, his head full of knowledge which the Germans do not wish to see arrive in his native country. Only within a hair’s breadth did he escape assassination in Istanbul, and now he finds himself on board a small Italian ship going to Genoa whence he is supposed to take a train to Paris. Among his fellow passengers are the Mathises, a French couple who constantly bicker, Dr. Haller, a German archaeologist, and his ailing wife, Mr. Kuvetli, a seemingly harmless trader in tobacco, a sultry Hungarian dancer named Josette and her cynical husband José, and, to Graham’s dismay, the man in the crumpled suit whom he suspects to have made an attempt on his life. Regarding himself as a mere engineer, an expert in armament, but not as a man experienced in politics or in espionage, and unwilling to risk his skin for a game he never intended to play in the first place, Graham feels like the proverbial fish in the barrel somebody tries to have a shot at, and he does not know whom to trust in his pursuit of saving his life.
Ambler himself was a man with strong political convictions, and as a staunch antifascist, his sympathies lay with the Soviet Union – until 1939, the year that saw the German-Soviet Pact – but still, he managed to present the inner conflict of his unpolitical protagonist in a fair and empathetic light. What Graham faces on board the ship, amidst a handful of strangers, some of whom want to see him dead, is nothing less but a taste of true life, something he has been spared (or denied) up to now in his petty bourgeois existence with a wife he rather likes than loves, and his liaison with the nightclub singer Josette, offering a furlough from his boring life, is but the mirror image of the greater threats that lie between himself and his former harmless life. When Dr. Haller, who is not the real archaeologist but a German spymaster, offers him the opportunity to take a six-week holiday instead of dying for his country and for the advantage of the Allied side, he actually seriously considers this for a while, thinking that it is all very well for people to say that they would go to any length to serve their convictions as long as they are not faced with the immediate choice between risking their own lives and taking an easy way out.
As usual, Ambler not only entertains his readers with a first-class spy story enriched by his undoubted talent of pacing and nuanced characterization but he also invites them to deal with ideas such as why wars are really fought and populations are rallied behind certain ideologies. His left-leaning Mr. Mathis proclaims, for example:
“’You are right. It is not for us to ask questions. And why? Because the only people who can give us the answers are the bankers and the politicians at the top, the boys with the shares in the big factories which make war materials. They will not give us answers. Why? Because they know that if the soldiers of France and England knew those answers they would not fight. […] No, it is not good for those who fight to know too much. Speeches, yes! The truth, no!’”
This, of course, need not be exclusively true in regard to wars but also other “projects” and “threats” governments choose to sell to their populations. Another interesting impulse to be derived from this novel is the question – as exemplified by the fate of the Italian lady’s husband who survived an earthquake but then got shot as a looter because he carried water in a silver jug he found in the debris of a house – whether death by an act of God is more dignified than death at the hand of a group of soldiers who misjudge your actions, or whether death can dignify a life at all. The climax of dramatic irony is reached, however, when we look at the statement by Dr. Haller with which this review is introduced. We later learn that the real Dr. Haller never boarded the ship but that the spymaster Moeller used his identity to spin his web around Graham and that in impersonating the archaeologist, he mainly drew from what he read in a book written by the real Dr. Haller. In other words, most of the ideas voiced by Moeller were actually Dr. Haller’s ideas, with the probable exception of the statement quoted above – a statement that seems to ring true at first sight and yet comes from a scheming Nazi. This leaves us with an unsettling conundrum: Can we really draw a line between a person and their ideas? And are there not also ideas that, if put into practice, would cause avoidable sufferings to thousands of people – and is not the person who holds this idea responsible for it in a certain way? I think it a very clever move of Ambler’s to put these seemingly appealing words into the mouth of a Nazi murderer, who also says quite reasonable things like this:
“‘[…] One must understand a person thoroughly before one can insult him effectively. The French lady, for example, called me a filthy Bosche. I am unmoved. I bathed this morning and I have no unpleasant habits.’”
All in all, Journey into Fear is actually a journey into some of the elementary questions popping up in our lives from time to time – if only we stopped to consider now and then.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
September 14, 2025
This book was chosen as the book to read for September by my local book club, I have been putting off reading it as it’s not normally what I’d choose to read but I was pleasantly surprised and really enjoyed it.
It’s 1940 and Mr Graham a softly spoken engineer and arms expert has just finished negotiations with the Turkish government over a new arms deal, he is looking forward to going home. However when he arrives back at his hotel someone fired three shots at him, realising that someone wants him dead he has no choice but to abandon his plans to take the train back to France. He has no choice but to flee instead on a passenger steamer from Istanbul. As he travels home is not able to determine friend from foe amongst the other passengers as the man who wants him dead, maybe closer than he thinks.
I surprised myself by enjoying this book, it was a quick read but it was packed full of intrigue and suspense and to think I never would have read it if it hadn’t been chosen for book club. Our protagonist Mr Graham is quite a humble man as he does not realise his own importance or why someone wants to kill him, he does not realise he is vital to the war effort. So when it sinks in that someone wants to kill him and why, he is terrified and I think the author does a really good job with this as I think his portrayal of a man terrified for his life is very accurate. As this book was written at the time of the Second World War, it was like stepping back in time into a history lesson so we can see what life was life then. We met a variety of side characters and I think they were all fleshed out well with back stories, I didn’t really have a favourite. The pacing of this book was really good as it’s not long before the action starts and the suspense starts to build, overall I really enjoyed this book and would highly recommend it.
It’s 1940 and Mr Graham a softly spoken engineer and arms expert has just finished negotiations with the Turkish government over a new arms deal, he is looking forward to going home. However when he arrives back at his hotel someone fired three shots at him, realising that someone wants him dead he has no choice but to abandon his plans to take the train back to France. He has no choice but to flee instead on a passenger steamer from Istanbul. As he travels home is not able to determine friend from foe amongst the other passengers as the man who wants him dead, maybe closer than he thinks.
I surprised myself by enjoying this book, it was a quick read but it was packed full of intrigue and suspense and to think I never would have read it if it hadn’t been chosen for book club. Our protagonist Mr Graham is quite a humble man as he does not realise his own importance or why someone wants to kill him, he does not realise he is vital to the war effort. So when it sinks in that someone wants to kill him and why, he is terrified and I think the author does a really good job with this as I think his portrayal of a man terrified for his life is very accurate. As this book was written at the time of the Second World War, it was like stepping back in time into a history lesson so we can see what life was life then. We met a variety of side characters and I think they were all fleshed out well with back stories, I didn’t really have a favourite. The pacing of this book was really good as it’s not long before the action starts and the suspense starts to build, overall I really enjoyed this book and would highly recommend it.
December 22, 2024
Set during the "Phoney War," Journey Into Fear captures completely those opening moments of World War II before the Fall of France and the entry of Italy into the war on the side of Hitler. Nobody really had an idea where the war would lead, and certainly nobody could imagine the outcome and devastation that would be the result five years later. Yet Ambler somehow seems to have a premonition of it all. And in this straight forward linear thriller, his characters all seem immersed in the moment. Because the moment is all you have. At book's end, the threat is literally on the horizon.
For this tale, Ambler creates a sinister pair of Nazi agents, an English moralist under the siege of temptations towards both lust and fear, and set of quirky Spaniards, surprising French, and woe begotten Italians, all encompassed by clever Turkish policemen.
The latter point is especially important. For Ambler specialized in bring Turkey and Greece into the picture of his crime settings. He does so again, here. And he also goes one better, incorporating a Romanian member of the Iron Guard into the action. I believe this is actually the second or third time Ambler used a member of the Iron Guard. That is fairly notable. Rarely do they figure into the fiction of pre-war or war fiction. In fact, rarely do they make it into fiction at all. That is one of the joys of Ambler, seeing him stake out territory that others miss or don't have the background to understand.
Oh, by the way, the story is the usual excellent Ambler style thriller. A page turner that will not loosen its grip on your interest.
For this tale, Ambler creates a sinister pair of Nazi agents, an English moralist under the siege of temptations towards both lust and fear, and set of quirky Spaniards, surprising French, and woe begotten Italians, all encompassed by clever Turkish policemen.
The latter point is especially important. For Ambler specialized in bring Turkey and Greece into the picture of his crime settings. He does so again, here. And he also goes one better, incorporating a Romanian member of the Iron Guard into the action. I believe this is actually the second or third time Ambler used a member of the Iron Guard. That is fairly notable. Rarely do they figure into the fiction of pre-war or war fiction. In fact, rarely do they make it into fiction at all. That is one of the joys of Ambler, seeing him stake out territory that others miss or don't have the background to understand.
Oh, by the way, the story is the usual excellent Ambler style thriller. A page turner that will not loosen its grip on your interest.
August 2, 2013
All ratings relative to the genre, of course.
3.5 stars.
Ambler wrote a series of novels from 1936-1940, then stopped for 12 years, returning to fiction in 1952. This is the last of the early works. Though these early works are considered "Classics", I found this book a shade immature in its technique, compared (at least) to Passage of Arms, which is truly brilliant. The lead character, Graham, is foolish (in a very British way), and so not wholly believable. Because of this, the plot (which hinges on this character) suffers somewhat. But the secondary characters are vivid and, in some cases, compelling. And the finale compensates for any flaws leading up to it. An excellent book for Ambler fans, but not necessarily the best starter book.
3.5 stars.
Ambler wrote a series of novels from 1936-1940, then stopped for 12 years, returning to fiction in 1952. This is the last of the early works. Though these early works are considered "Classics", I found this book a shade immature in its technique, compared (at least) to Passage of Arms, which is truly brilliant. The lead character, Graham, is foolish (in a very British way), and so not wholly believable. Because of this, the plot (which hinges on this character) suffers somewhat. But the secondary characters are vivid and, in some cases, compelling. And the finale compensates for any flaws leading up to it. An excellent book for Ambler fans, but not necessarily the best starter book.
August 5, 2020
Istanbul, January 1940. English armaments engineer Graham is in Turkey on business crucial to the Turkish Navy's preparation for war. On the night before he's supposed to return to England, upon getting back late to his hotel room, he discovers an intruder who fires three shots before escaping out the window, wounding Graham's hand.
Just a failed burglary, he tries to persuade Kopeiken, a Russian employed in Turkey by his company; but Colonel Haki, head of the Turkish secret police (with whom Kopeiken enjoys some sort of mysterious connection), persuades Graham that he has misread the situation, that there are people with Axis sympathies who want to ensure that Graham's work for the Turkish Navy goes uncompleted, and that it would be safest for Graham to miss his scheduled train to Paris that morning, and instead take an Italian freighter to Genoa.
Once aboard the freighter, however, Graham encounters a motley crew of fellow-travelers- a Turkish tobacco salesman, a dancer Graham met in a nightclub the night before and who is now coincidentally (?) traveling with him, a French couple who never stop arguing, an archeologist who introduces himself as "a good German"- any one of whom could be an assassin.
I settled down with this book sometime around noon yesterday. My lamp light was flickering every few minutes, as the east coast was being menaced by a quote tropical storm unquote, but all the storm really did was whip around the branches of the trees outside my window for an hour or two. And there was some rain. Frankly, it was one of the puniest tropical storms I've ever experienced. A little disappointing, I must say.
In any case, I finished the novel by about 9:30. It's a real page-turner. Sharp dialogue, interesting characters, great suspense. Ambler is very perceptive about the actual physical effect fear can have on the body. He makes it easy to visualize the boat, the sea, the faces of the characters as well as their shoulders, their hands; you can almost hear their voices. The novel reminded me of a well-done old Hollywood thriller, in the vein of Five Fingers or The Third Man. Sure enough, it turns out that Orson Welles wrote a film adaptation for RKO (released in 1943; Ambler's novel was published in 1940) and gave himself the role of Colonel Haki; Welles's buddy Joseph Cotten stars as Graham.
He plays it subtly, but I particularly enjoyed Ambler's hints that there is a part of Graham that has been waiting for this kind of experience, that it offers him something that his quiet life back in England simply can't. The stakes are always high for all of us, they're always life or death, but we expend a great deal of effort in civilized society towards forgetting that. With the veneer of civilized life stripped away, maybe the question is whether Graham will find unknown capacities within himself, or will be paralyzed by fear and the proximity to death. On the world-historical level, Graham's "journey" mirrors the journey of Europe in the 30s from uneasy peace to the reality of war.
November 29, 2016
Eric Ambler has chosen "an everyman" to be the protagonist of this suspenseful novel. Graham is a nice, quiet, intelligent armaments engineer from northern England who has just finished a long business trip advising the Turkish navy. He goes back to his hotel room in Istanbul and is surprised by a man who shoots several times before disappearing out the window. Fortunately, he is not seriously hurt. Graham thinks the intruder might be a thief, but Turkish intelligence tells him that the Nazis are trying to kill him. It's just at the start of World War II, and the Germans do not want Graham to bring the classified armaments information that he has memorized back to his English employer. His travel plans back to England are changed, and he sets off on an Italian freighter. A small group of international passengers is on the boat. During the voyage, we are in Graham's mind as he tries to determine who he can trust. The tension and fear increase as the voyage continues, and the true identities of the passengers are revealed. Graham's fear intensifies as he is put in a no-win situation where his survival hangs by a thread.
One of the passengers on the boat is a leftist Frenchman who thought that wars were created by international bankers and armaments manufacturers who would profit from the conflicts. Ambler was known for his leftist views, especially in his early works prior to World War II. Another passenger is a Serbian nightclub dancer who remembers the atrocities of World War I and will not associate with the Turkish passenger. A French couple will not sit at the same table as a German archeologist as a political statement. Although the book is mainly an entertaining international psychological thriller, it is interesting to read the political messages too. When the book was published in 1940, at the advent of World War II, the author did not know exactly which countries would be allies, or the outcome of the war.
Eric Ambler is known to have been an influence on authors Graham Greene and John LeCarre, as well as filmmaker Alfred Hitchcock.
Thanks to my GR friend Judy for suggesting this book.
One of the passengers on the boat is a leftist Frenchman who thought that wars were created by international bankers and armaments manufacturers who would profit from the conflicts. Ambler was known for his leftist views, especially in his early works prior to World War II. Another passenger is a Serbian nightclub dancer who remembers the atrocities of World War I and will not associate with the Turkish passenger. A French couple will not sit at the same table as a German archeologist as a political statement. Although the book is mainly an entertaining international psychological thriller, it is interesting to read the political messages too. When the book was published in 1940, at the advent of World War II, the author did not know exactly which countries would be allies, or the outcome of the war.
Eric Ambler is known to have been an influence on authors Graham Greene and John LeCarre, as well as filmmaker Alfred Hitchcock.
Thanks to my GR friend Judy for suggesting this book.
Read
February 6, 2017As I hardly recall this book, I decided to flip through it before writing a short review. In short order, I found a few passages that capture some of the reasons why I enjoy reading Eric Ambler.
From page 7 (in the mass-market edition that I have):
And from page 46:
I love how well Ambler captures the tempest of events that descended upon Europe in the 1930s and 1940s, and how he weaves his story in and out of the real world. There's something comforting, too, about the fact that, even as crazy things were going on, a writer still wrote tales for people to lose themselves within.
From page 7 (in the mass-market edition that I have):
Over dinner at the Pera Palace Hotel, Kopeikin gave war news. For him, the Soviets were still "the July assassins" of Nicholas the Second, and Graham heard much of Finnish victories and Russian defeats. The Germans had sunk more British ships and lost more submarines. The Dutch, the Danes, the Swedes and the Norwegians were looking to their defences. The world awaited a bloody Spring. They went on to talk about the earthquake. It was half-past ten when Kopeikin announced that it was time for them leave for Le Jockey Cabaret.
And from page 46:
"A shock, Mr. Graham? You do not like it, eh? It is not pleasant. War is war. But it is one thing to be a soldier in the trenches: the enemy is not trying to kill you in particular because you are Mr. Graham: the man next to you will do as well: it is all impersonal. When you are a marked man it is not so easy to keep your courage. I understand, believe me. But you have advantages over the solider. You have only to defend yourself. You do not have to go into the open and attack. And you have no trench or fort to hold. You may run away without being a coward. You must reach London safely. But it is a long way from Istanbul to London. You must, like the soldier, take precautions against surprise. you must know your enemy. You follow me?"
I love how well Ambler captures the tempest of events that descended upon Europe in the 1930s and 1940s, and how he weaves his story in and out of the real world. There's something comforting, too, about the fact that, even as crazy things were going on, a writer still wrote tales for people to lose themselves within.
June 16, 2024
Εκπληκτικός Αμπλερ (ο συγγραφέας για τον οποίο ο Λε Καρέ είπε ότι είναι η πηγή από όπου όλοι μας αντλούμε έμπνευση και επηρέασε όσο κανείς άλλος και τον σπουδαίο Γκράχαμ Γκριν).
Ο Αμπλερ χτίζει μεθοδικά μια ιστορία που εκτυλίσσεται κατά την έναρξη του Β Παγκοσμίου πολέμου και ξεκινάει από την Κωνσταντινούπολη, όπου συνανταμε ξανά τον γνωστό μας από τη Μάσκα του Δημητριου, Τούρκο αξιωματικό των μυστικών υπηρεσιών Χακί, εκτυλίσσεται σε ένα εμπορικό πλοίο με προορισμό την Ιταλία και καταλήγει στους δρόμους της Γένοβας.
Ενας Άγγλος μηχανικός βρίσκεται στην Τουρκία απεσταλμένος της εταιρείας του, μιας πολεμικής βιομηχανίας για την επίτευξη μιας συμφωνιας.
Το deal γιορτάζεται σε ένα καμπαρέ στην Κωνσταντινούπολη παρά την αρχική απροθυμία του Άγγλου οικογενειάρχη. Εκεί ο Γκράχαμ γνωρίζει μια γοητευτικη Ισπανίδα αρτιστα και λίγες ώρες αργότερα γίνεται θύμα απόπειρας δολοφονίας.
Η αγωνία κορυφώνεται κλιμακωτά και οι αποκαλύψεις φέρνουν ανατροπές.
Ένας μαέστρος του σασπένς και ένας φοβερός και ευρυμαθης αφηγητής.
Ο Αμπλερ χτίζει μεθοδικά μια ιστορία που εκτυλίσσεται κατά την έναρξη του Β Παγκοσμίου πολέμου και ξεκινάει από την Κωνσταντινούπολη, όπου συνανταμε ξανά τον γνωστό μας από τη Μάσκα του Δημητριου, Τούρκο αξιωματικό των μυστικών υπηρεσιών Χακί, εκτυλίσσεται σε ένα εμπορικό πλοίο με προορισμό την Ιταλία και καταλήγει στους δρόμους της Γένοβας.
Ενας Άγγλος μηχανικός βρίσκεται στην Τουρκία απεσταλμένος της εταιρείας του, μιας πολεμικής βιομηχανίας για την επίτευξη μιας συμφωνιας.
Το deal γιορτάζεται σε ένα καμπαρέ στην Κωνσταντινούπολη παρά την αρχική απροθυμία του Άγγλου οικογενειάρχη. Εκεί ο Γκράχαμ γνωρίζει μια γοητευτικη Ισπανίδα αρτιστα και λίγες ώρες αργότερα γίνεται θύμα απόπειρας δολοφονίας.
Η αγωνία κορυφώνεται κλιμακωτά και οι αποκαλύψεις φέρνουν ανατροπές.
Ένας μαέστρος του σασπένς και ένας φοβερός και ευρυμαθης αφηγητής.
Read
December 31, 2018A bourgeois technocrat is targeted for assassination by Nazi agents. As I said last week, Ambler wrote the best spy novels of anybody ever. The plot is airtight, he has a real gift for the internal mechanics of the story. His everyman almost hero is thoughtful and human in a way we don’t normally see in this type of book, and he has an admirable subtlety in his character building. Lots of fun.
February 6, 2018
Classic WWII espionage novel. A civilian engineer working on a pivotal project for the Turkish navy is singled out for assasination by Nazi spies. Can he survive the trip back to England? The writing is more Le Carre than James Bond: more talking than action. A quick read.
October 25, 2024
Minor grammatical amendments 25 October 2024
This is a classic story of a man out of his depth who at first doesn’t believe any of the sharks might attack him, if indeed there are sharks, then realizes there are a lot of them circling around and what’s worse he’s not sure which ones are the really dangerous sharks. Moreover he has no shark fighting skills.
Howard Graham is an English armaments engineer in Turkey, in the early days of World War Two, before either Turkey or Italy make up their minds which side they would like to be on: Graham has been advising the Turkish navy on their war preparations but he is already out of his comfort zone.
Then someone takes a pot shot at him. In his hotel room. This is a little close for comfort. Shaken but not badly wounded it dawns on Graham that he’s in actual danger and what is worse he doesn’t know from who (whom).
Not in any reassuring way, Colonel Haki, the head of the Turkish Secret Police, explains to Graham that the vital information in his head means it would be an advantage to the Germans not to have him alive. Even though Colonel Haki seems to be a man who knows more than he is telling he does fill Graham in about the murderous spies intent on killing him. Accordingly, rather than let him catch a train, Haki has organised safe passage to Genoa aboard a small Italian freighter.
And who is on board the vessel? To save himself Graham needs to find courage and fortitude he may not ever had known he possess. Does he save himself? What do you think?
This is a classic story of a man out of his depth who at first doesn’t believe any of the sharks might attack him, if indeed there are sharks, then realizes there are a lot of them circling around and what’s worse he’s not sure which ones are the really dangerous sharks. Moreover he has no shark fighting skills.
Howard Graham is an English armaments engineer in Turkey, in the early days of World War Two, before either Turkey or Italy make up their minds which side they would like to be on: Graham has been advising the Turkish navy on their war preparations but he is already out of his comfort zone.
Then someone takes a pot shot at him. In his hotel room. This is a little close for comfort. Shaken but not badly wounded it dawns on Graham that he’s in actual danger and what is worse he doesn’t know from who (whom).
Not in any reassuring way, Colonel Haki, the head of the Turkish Secret Police, explains to Graham that the vital information in his head means it would be an advantage to the Germans not to have him alive. Even though Colonel Haki seems to be a man who knows more than he is telling he does fill Graham in about the murderous spies intent on killing him. Accordingly, rather than let him catch a train, Haki has organised safe passage to Genoa aboard a small Italian freighter.
And who is on board the vessel? To save himself Graham needs to find courage and fortitude he may not ever had known he possess. Does he save himself? What do you think?
October 13, 2022
An international suspense story rather than atle of espionage as Graham, the man whose journey this is, is not a spy at all, merely an engineer whose survey on Turkey's defence systems could accelerate Turkey's participation against Germany in WWII. This is enough to make him a target and having been entertained in an Istanbul cabaret, including a tete-a-tete with a sultry dancer, on the eve of his departure, he narrowly escapes an assassination attempt. The authorities agree that the safest passage for him back to England is on a cargo freighter bound for Genoa. Travelling with him are Josette, the dancer, and her jealous husband, a loquacious German archeologist, a bickering French couple and a slimy Turkish tobacco dealer. Somewhere among the passengers is a killer. Another of Ambler's excellent Ordinary Joes struggling to stay alive against the forces of evil.
April 24, 2013
From BBC Radio 4:
Unassuming engineer Mr Graham runs for his life across war-torn Europe. Classic 1940s thriller read by Richard Greenwood.
I also read the printed version of this book by my rating didn't change.
Unassuming engineer Mr Graham runs for his life across war-torn Europe. Classic 1940s thriller read by Richard Greenwood.
I also read the printed version of this book by my rating didn't change.
February 11, 2016
It's Eric Ambler. That's all you need to know.
April 1, 2019
A classic Eric Ambler thriller, found in the library in this Penguin reissue.
January 11, 2009
I liked A Coffin for Demetrios, and wanted to read more Eric Ambler. All our library system seemed to have was one of those four-in-one volumes of Mr. Ambler's work, of which the first was Journey Into Fear. Having just finished that, I'm glad there are three more (well, really only two, because ACfD is also in this volume and, although I liked it a lot, I'm not ready to read it again.)
It's well known I like thirties and WW II espionage stories, and Mr. Ambler does them so well. In this case, a clueless English engineer, Graham, working for an armaments company in Turkey in 1939 attracts the attention of some German agents who don't want him to get back to England. The story chronicles his descent from a naive expectation of a happy reunion with his wife in England to the realization that he is a marked man, and the resulting development of a hopeless fear of his impending demise. Awash with atmosphere and inscrutable characters, the short novel moves implacably ahead, with Graham lurching from despair to exhilaration and back to despair as the reality of his problem becomes clearer. Through it all, while Graham is likeable enough, Mr. Ambler manages to paint a realistic picture of a typical (stereotypical?) Englishman, smug in his beliefs and attitudes, who suddenly is confronted with a situation beyond his control.
It's well known I like thirties and WW II espionage stories, and Mr. Ambler does them so well. In this case, a clueless English engineer, Graham, working for an armaments company in Turkey in 1939 attracts the attention of some German agents who don't want him to get back to England. The story chronicles his descent from a naive expectation of a happy reunion with his wife in England to the realization that he is a marked man, and the resulting development of a hopeless fear of his impending demise. Awash with atmosphere and inscrutable characters, the short novel moves implacably ahead, with Graham lurching from despair to exhilaration and back to despair as the reality of his problem becomes clearer. Through it all, while Graham is likeable enough, Mr. Ambler manages to paint a realistic picture of a typical (stereotypical?) Englishman, smug in his beliefs and attitudes, who suddenly is confronted with a situation beyond his control.
March 24, 2022
Graham is a British armaments engineer who has been working in Istanbul. Returning to his hotel room, he is shot at but the bullet just grazes his hand. He learns that German secret agents are trying to assassinate him to prevent his work helping the Turkish government. He is secretly put on a boat to Genoa but things do not go to plan, and before long he finds himself trapped.
Ambler really is a master of the thriller. The scenes in Istanbul are exciting as the rather naive Graham gradually realises the danger he is in, and once he is on the boat the tension builds dramatically. The style is straightforward and the plot moves on at a good pace, with a cinematic feel. The other characters on the boat all have their part in the plot, from a glamorous dancer and her sulky husband to a quarrelling French couple and a rather dull German archaeologist.
Colonel Haki, the chief of the secret police, makes a memorable appearance, as he does in several of Ambler’s novel. The climax of the chase isn’t wholly convincing, but is satisfying nonetheless. I enjoyed this immensely and will now read The Mask of Dimitrios, one of Ambler’s best known novels and the one that introduces Colonel Haki.
Ambler really is a master of the thriller. The scenes in Istanbul are exciting as the rather naive Graham gradually realises the danger he is in, and once he is on the boat the tension builds dramatically. The style is straightforward and the plot moves on at a good pace, with a cinematic feel. The other characters on the boat all have their part in the plot, from a glamorous dancer and her sulky husband to a quarrelling French couple and a rather dull German archaeologist.
Colonel Haki, the chief of the secret police, makes a memorable appearance, as he does in several of Ambler’s novel. The climax of the chase isn’t wholly convincing, but is satisfying nonetheless. I enjoyed this immensely and will now read The Mask of Dimitrios, one of Ambler’s best known novels and the one that introduces Colonel Haki.
November 18, 2018
This was my first Eric Ambler book. While at times it felt a little wordy, and the main female character was especially 'easy', she comes off as a horny idiot, the plot itself and the suspense is all very well done. After this, I'd give any Eric Ambler novel a chance.
December 21, 2021
Not a character I have particular empathy for, but an intricate and enticing read nonetheless (especially under the spell of a few lager pints provided my 'Perfect Draft' beer machine)
July 10, 2025
This was an exciting read. I'm not usually a fan of espionage books, but what made this so enjoyable were the characters. Our main character Graham is so normal but in a good way. He's reactions are probably the same as all of our reactions would be when a government is trying to kill you.
One of my favourite things about this were the conversations that took place between the passengers. It was quite philosophical in moments and though I didn't agree with much that was said, it did make me pause and think.
The ending did feel a bit abrupt and for that it lost a star, but such a fun read.
One of my favourite things about this were the conversations that took place between the passengers. It was quite philosophical in moments and though I didn't agree with much that was said, it did make me pause and think.
The ending did feel a bit abrupt and for that it lost a star, but such a fun read.
April 11, 2023
Mr Graham, ingegnere inglese esperto in armi navali, sta rientrando in Inghilterra da un lungo e impegnativo viaggio di lavoro in Turchia. In un locale a Istanbul, la notte prima della partenza, nota un uomo che lo tiene d'occhio; rientrato in hotel, qualcuno tenta di sparargli.
Il resto del libro è il racconto del viaggio per mare di Graham sulla Sestri Levante, da Istanbul a Genova.
Il romanzo è scritto benissimo, la trama regge e si dipana tra colpi di scena (credibili, ben costruiti), personaggi secondari efficaci, un'atmosfera tesa e claustrofobica. Un thriller sobrio e di grande compagnia.
Il resto del libro è il racconto del viaggio per mare di Graham sulla Sestri Levante, da Istanbul a Genova.
Il romanzo è scritto benissimo, la trama regge e si dipana tra colpi di scena (credibili, ben costruiti), personaggi secondari efficaci, un'atmosfera tesa e claustrofobica. Un thriller sobrio e di grande compagnia.
August 14, 2020
È buono ma se cominciate a leggere Ambler da qui potrebbe sembrarvi uno qualsiasi. Allora mettetelo in attesa e leggetevi Topkapi o Il caso Shirmer o Il levantino.
Se Ambler riesce a conquistarvi con la sua ironia, la sua scrittura leggera, i suoi mitici dialoghi, poi potrete leggere anche a questo.
L'uomo comune, solo, di fronte a una sfida che rompe inaspettatamente la routine dei suoi giorni.
Come reagirà? Questa è la domanda che sta al centro di tutti i romanzi dell'autore
Se Ambler riesce a conquistarvi con la sua ironia, la sua scrittura leggera, i suoi mitici dialoghi, poi potrete leggere anche a questo.
L'uomo comune, solo, di fronte a una sfida che rompe inaspettatamente la routine dei suoi giorni.
Come reagirà? Questa è la domanda che sta al centro di tutti i romanzi dell'autore
February 4, 2024
I really enjoyed this. A pre-WWII spy thriller that starts in Istanbul and journeys to France. A lot of the story is told through the dialogue - very effectively. Some great characters- I will definitely read more from Ambler.
March 29, 2019
Eric Ambler is called the master of suspense and he is also one of the pioneer of spy thrillers before more famous spies like James Bond came into picture. But unlike James Bond or some kind of Tom Clancy techno thriller, Amblers stories does not show bombastic heroism of the protagonist. Ambler’s story is more close to reality, feels like can happen to real people in real life. That’s why the suspense feels real. In this novel, Ambler’s unlikely hero is an Englishman named Graham who is an Engineer working on a secret project for the allied force in Turkey. Two nazi assassin is on his trail to kill him before he can reach England. Graham is not a spy but he have to survive the killers as he is trying to escape from Turkey on a steamboat. Things got interesting when the enemies also got onboard. Nice thriller, feels more like North by the Northwest by Alfred Hitchcock, if you are fan of that kind of classic thriller, this book is for you.
August 6, 2016
I picked this one up from the library because I’d read the name somewhere and heard good things about it, and I’m glad I did. It’s an extremely enjoyable genre piece, full of strong writing that’s breezy and fun, but also atmospheric and even gently philosophical. Eric Ambler was a very well regarded author of thrillers and spy novels, and it’s interesting that while he seems to have slipped quietly out of the mass market readership he has been adopted and reprinted by Penguin Modern Classics in a line of editions seemingly targeted at the more literary end of the noir-ish market. Ambler’s seen as important now not only for the quality of his writing, but for the influence he had on writers like Ian Fleming, Graham Greene, and (a bit later on) John Le Carré.
The story of this book is set in 1940, in the early days of the Second World War. The protagonist is Graham, a British ballistics engineer on the way home from Turkey where he’s been doing important and secret work regarding the preparedness of the Turkish navy. After a late night in Istanbul, he returns to his hotel where he narrowly avoids an assassination attempt; later, having been persuaded that going straight to the police would be a bad idea, he places his trust in a scheme concocted by the Turkish secret services to get him home. And so it is that Graham winds up steaming slowly through the Mediterranean on a dilapidated little ferry where most of the plot occurs. Naturally, at first he believes he’s safe, but he very suddenly comes to realise that his other passengers might not entirely be all they seem.
Graham is no spy, and this isn’t exactly a mystery novel either — unlike in Le Carré, the reader is given pretty much full access to our hero’s complete thoughts, and there’s rarely much that is obscured about the plot. Graham is an everyman figure who acts as a kind of reader-surrogate; he’s never less than sympathetic, never especially objectionable; the archetypal plucky Brit surrounded by Johnny Foreigner. In fact he is really quite dull in many ways. But you forgive the author everything because the writing is so good it keeps you wanting more from every page. And at least he's not James bloody Bond.
It also makes interesting reading as a cultural document of an intriguing point in history: WWII has clearly begun, and there’s a great deal made of it in the book, but at the time it was written the author could still suggest the protagonist stopping off for a romantic jolly in Paris on the way home. The war had started, but the terms on which it was to be fought were still distinctly unclear, especially for the British. All of this very much stands out today, and I’m sure by the time it was read in the ‘40s much of it must have seemed idyllic to contemporary readers.
That’s not the only thing that stands out. The stereotypes of the different European ethnicities are uncomfortable, but perhaps not badly intentioned. And there is a very sudden and very peculiar twist at the end regarding one of the female characters which makes for extremely peculiar reading by modern standards. I should perhaps have been frustrated by its latent misogyny, but instead I mostly found it bizarre. It seemed to me that the author had sacrificed something true and humane in pursuit of maintaining a sense of decency and propriety about his hero. I'd really like to know more about how and why that part was written, but I doubt I'll ever get to find out.
The story of this book is set in 1940, in the early days of the Second World War. The protagonist is Graham, a British ballistics engineer on the way home from Turkey where he’s been doing important and secret work regarding the preparedness of the Turkish navy. After a late night in Istanbul, he returns to his hotel where he narrowly avoids an assassination attempt; later, having been persuaded that going straight to the police would be a bad idea, he places his trust in a scheme concocted by the Turkish secret services to get him home. And so it is that Graham winds up steaming slowly through the Mediterranean on a dilapidated little ferry where most of the plot occurs. Naturally, at first he believes he’s safe, but he very suddenly comes to realise that his other passengers might not entirely be all they seem.
Graham is no spy, and this isn’t exactly a mystery novel either — unlike in Le Carré, the reader is given pretty much full access to our hero’s complete thoughts, and there’s rarely much that is obscured about the plot. Graham is an everyman figure who acts as a kind of reader-surrogate; he’s never less than sympathetic, never especially objectionable; the archetypal plucky Brit surrounded by Johnny Foreigner. In fact he is really quite dull in many ways. But you forgive the author everything because the writing is so good it keeps you wanting more from every page. And at least he's not James bloody Bond.
It also makes interesting reading as a cultural document of an intriguing point in history: WWII has clearly begun, and there’s a great deal made of it in the book, but at the time it was written the author could still suggest the protagonist stopping off for a romantic jolly in Paris on the way home. The war had started, but the terms on which it was to be fought were still distinctly unclear, especially for the British. All of this very much stands out today, and I’m sure by the time it was read in the ‘40s much of it must have seemed idyllic to contemporary readers.
That’s not the only thing that stands out. The stereotypes of the different European ethnicities are uncomfortable, but perhaps not badly intentioned. And there is a very sudden and very peculiar twist at the end regarding one of the female characters which makes for extremely peculiar reading by modern standards. I should perhaps have been frustrated by its latent misogyny, but instead I mostly found it bizarre. It seemed to me that the author had sacrificed something true and humane in pursuit of maintaining a sense of decency and propriety about his hero. I'd really like to know more about how and why that part was written, but I doubt I'll ever get to find out.
May 11, 2018
I’ve read Eric Ambler twice before, and was entertained both times. This one follows the same basic template – average middle-class mild-mannered Englishman suddenly finds himself up to his neck in spy-thriller shenanigans and completely out of his depth as he struggles to comprehend his situation and what to do about it. In this case, armaments manufacturing engineer Mr Graham – in Istanbul circa 1940 to help consult the Turkish military on naval guns – is shocked to discover someone is trying to kill him. The Turkish secret police – who need him alive to compete his work – try to get him back to England safely via a steamer ship, but Graham soon discovers that he is anything but safe as some of his fellow passengers may not be who they seem to be.
It’s classic Ambler – Graham swerves between incredulous indignation at the very idea that anyone would want to kill him (where his biggest fear is looking foolish for believing such nonsense) to paranoia (as he tries to figure out who he can trust) and desperation (as his well thought out, logical plans keep falling apart because he really has no idea what he’s doing). In other words, he’s no James Bond or John McClane – he’s a normal person placed in a terrifying position. The twists aren’t necessarily surprising, but they’re entertaining as hell. Of the Ambler novels I’ve read so far, this is the best of the bunch.
It’s classic Ambler – Graham swerves between incredulous indignation at the very idea that anyone would want to kill him (where his biggest fear is looking foolish for believing such nonsense) to paranoia (as he tries to figure out who he can trust) and desperation (as his well thought out, logical plans keep falling apart because he really has no idea what he’s doing). In other words, he’s no James Bond or John McClane – he’s a normal person placed in a terrifying position. The twists aren’t necessarily surprising, but they’re entertaining as hell. Of the Ambler novels I’ve read so far, this is the best of the bunch.
May 12, 2014
Graham, a British engineer who specializes in munitions, becomes the target of German spies as he travels from Turkey to England in the months preceding WWII. He takes passage on a small boat, where many of his fellow passengers will reveal surprises about themselves and he will encounter both friends and foes in unexpected places.
Eric Ambler's prose is efficient and graceful as he moves his plot along smoothly. His characters are delineated well, their interactions are well-focused, and the twists and turns in the plot are satisfying.
Eric Ambler's prose is efficient and graceful as he moves his plot along smoothly. His characters are delineated well, their interactions are well-focused, and the twists and turns in the plot are satisfying.
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