Eric Ambler

An early classic of espionage fiction. Through the cafes, trains and nighttime cities of Europe, Charles Latimer follows a twisting trail of drug-smugglers, thieves and assassins that will lead him to Dimitrios.

Alfred Hitchcock said, "Mr. Ambler is a phenomenon," and Graham Greene referred to him as "our greatest thriller writer." This is an ideal title for introducing listeners to this master. Ambler brilliantly paints realistic portraits of his characters and the foreign landscape, mixing suspense with a subtle twist for added color. When Arthur Abdel Simpson first spots Harper in the Athens airport, he recognizes him as a tourist unfamiliar with the city...

Book summary: Kenton's career as a journalist depended on his facility with languages, his knowledge of European politics, and his quick judgment. Where his judgment sometimes failed him was in his personal life. When he finds himself on a train bound for Austria with insufficient funds after a bad night of gambling, he jumps at the chance to earn a fee to help a refugee smuggle securities across the border. He soon discovers that the documents he...

"England, 1935. Physicist Henry Barstow is on holiday when he meets the mysterious Simon Groom, a representative for an armaments manufacturer. Groom invites the professor to Ixania, a small nation-state in Eastern Europe whose growing weapons program threatens to destabilize the region. Only after suffering a blow to the head--which muddles his brain into believing he is Conway Carruthers, international spy--does the mild-mannered physicist agree...

The freighter Mary Dear is adrift in stormy seas. All have abandoned ship except for one man-- exhausted first officer Gideon Patch who has taken command. Appearances indicate he's a madman, but Patch isn't a man who relies on appearances.