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Passport To Peril
THE REDISCOVERED PULP CLASSIC!
Decades before Robert Brown Parker began writing his books about Spenser, a man named Robert Bogardus Parker (1905-1955) penned this extraordinary novel of post-war intrigue.
From the corridors and compartments of the Orient Express to the shadowy, ruined streets of Budapest – which he saw firsthand as a foreign correspondent during World War II – Parker takes you on a nightmare tour of a land where life is cheap, old hatreds run strong, and a couple of Americans can find themselves in more danger than they ever imagined.
With all the immediacy of the wartime dispatches Parker filed from Turkey, Danzig, Warsaw, and Bucharest and all the authority of a man who himself spent three years crossing borders without a passport and narrowly avoiding arrest by the Gestapo, PASSPORT TO PERIL paints a heart-stopping picture of desperate men in a desperate time.
Decades before Robert Brown Parker began writing his books about Spenser, a man named Robert Bogardus Parker (1905-1955) penned this extraordinary novel of post-war intrigue.
From the corridors and compartments of the Orient Express to the shadowy, ruined streets of Budapest – which he saw firsthand as a foreign correspondent during World War II – Parker takes you on a nightmare tour of a land where life is cheap, old hatreds run strong, and a couple of Americans can find themselves in more danger than they ever imagined.
With all the immediacy of the wartime dispatches Parker filed from Turkey, Danzig, Warsaw, and Bucharest and all the authority of a man who himself spent three years crossing borders without a passport and narrowly avoiding arrest by the Gestapo, PASSPORT TO PERIL paints a heart-stopping picture of desperate men in a desperate time.
256 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published January 1, 1951
28 people are currently reading
541 people want to read
About the author
Robert B. Parker
3 books5 followersRobert Bogardus Parker, (1905-1955) not to be confused with Robert B. Parker (1932-2010). A lifelong newspaper man, the elder Parker reported from behind enemy lines during World War II, bringing home news from Germany, Poland, Russia, Turkey, and Japan. He was also an agent for the OSS—the precursor to the CIA—and had a hand in freeing Jewish prisoners in Europe and carrying out communications activities for the U.S. Back home after the war, Parker worked as United Nations bureau chief for the New York Daily News. He wrote three books decades before his namesake (no relation) began writing the best-selling Spenser novels.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 57 reviews
April 25, 2023
Passport to Peril was one of three spy novels written by Robert Bogadus Parker Jr., the original Robert Parker. He was, as his daughter explains in an afterward, "first and foremost a newspaper man." He was a war correspondent and reported from the front lines throughout World War 2. He also worked extensively with the OSS, the forerunner of the CIA, particularly in Budapest.
This story takes place shortly after the war ended and after Eastern Europe was overrun by the Soviets. The narrator of the story is one of the young innocents with no intention of getting caught up in the spy game. As he explains, "It wasn't until the Orient Express was nearing the Hungarian frontier, about two hours out of Vienna, that I found I was traveling on the passport of a murdered man." Wow. What an opening to the story!
It so happens that Maria Torres sits down in the train car with the narrator, John Stodder, thinking that she is meeting up with her employer, Marcel Blaye. It turns out though that Blaye never made it to the train and Stodder bought a false passport from a contact that had belonged to Blaye only with Stodder's picture now in it. To make matters worse, it turns out that Blaye was selling secrets from German scientists who had survived the war to the Soviets. And, Stoddard has not a clue what those secrets are or why they are important.
It is a well-told story, particularly the beginning as Stoddard tries to figure out what he and Maria have gotten themselves into with the Soviets after them, the Germans trying to re-establish a Fourth Reich, and the American spies are there too. There is plenty of intrigue here and gunfights. It is also remarkable how early this was written and how much spy fiction came after.
Most of the action takes place in Soviet-controlled Hungary and Parker does a great job of capturing the life under Soviet domination with
locals afraid to speak their minds and secret police everywhere. Even the cocktail waitresses at the nightclub were fearful to say anything that could be misconstrued. It was not a happy time in Eastern Europe to say the least. Parker points out that for many of the peasants there was not much difference between Soviet and German control.
All in all, it is a fine addition to the Hard Case Crime series.
This story takes place shortly after the war ended and after Eastern Europe was overrun by the Soviets. The narrator of the story is one of the young innocents with no intention of getting caught up in the spy game. As he explains, "It wasn't until the Orient Express was nearing the Hungarian frontier, about two hours out of Vienna, that I found I was traveling on the passport of a murdered man." Wow. What an opening to the story!
It so happens that Maria Torres sits down in the train car with the narrator, John Stodder, thinking that she is meeting up with her employer, Marcel Blaye. It turns out though that Blaye never made it to the train and Stodder bought a false passport from a contact that had belonged to Blaye only with Stodder's picture now in it. To make matters worse, it turns out that Blaye was selling secrets from German scientists who had survived the war to the Soviets. And, Stoddard has not a clue what those secrets are or why they are important.
It is a well-told story, particularly the beginning as Stoddard tries to figure out what he and Maria have gotten themselves into with the Soviets after them, the Germans trying to re-establish a Fourth Reich, and the American spies are there too. There is plenty of intrigue here and gunfights. It is also remarkable how early this was written and how much spy fiction came after.
Most of the action takes place in Soviet-controlled Hungary and Parker does a great job of capturing the life under Soviet domination with
locals afraid to speak their minds and secret police everywhere. Even the cocktail waitresses at the nightclub were fearful to say anything that could be misconstrued. It was not a happy time in Eastern Europe to say the least. Parker points out that for many of the peasants there was not much difference between Soviet and German control.
All in all, it is a fine addition to the Hard Case Crime series.
July 31, 2009
Pretty good reprint title from the Hard Case Crime line. First off, the author is NOT the Robert B. Parker who writes the Boston P.I. Spenser series.
This author is Robert Bogardus Parker, Jr. who, as his daughter explains in the Afterword, was a newspaperman dying of a heart attack in 1955 at age 50.
PASSPORT TO PERIL starts off on the Orient Express and takes place in Budapest behind the Iron Curtain. The MacGuffin is a manilla envelope of names that everybody wants. Vivid setting, hardboiled characters, and humor without being silly or over-the-top. It'd make a great Hitchcock film.
This author is Robert Bogardus Parker, Jr. who, as his daughter explains in the Afterword, was a newspaperman dying of a heart attack in 1955 at age 50.
PASSPORT TO PERIL starts off on the Orient Express and takes place in Budapest behind the Iron Curtain. The MacGuffin is a manilla envelope of names that everybody wants. Vivid setting, hardboiled characters, and humor without being silly or over-the-top. It'd make a great Hitchcock film.
August 29, 2009
John Stodder, an American reporter, goes to Hungary with a forged passport to look for his brother who disappeared after a bombing run in WWII. Only the passport Stodder received wasn't forged. It was that of a murdered man. And Stodder just happens to run into the murdered man's secretary on the Orient Express. In her possession is a mysterious Manila envelope that belonged to the dead man. Stodder's trip to Hungary to look for his brother goes way off course as both the Russians and the Germans want to take the envelope from him, one way or another...
First off, this isn't a bad book. There is a fair amount of suspense and enough twists to keep it going. So why didn't I like it? It's not much like the other Hard Case novels. It's more like a spy novel than anything else. Not my cup of tea. There were other things that bothered me. Stodder and Maria fall in love a little too fast. All of the non-American characters are one dimensional villains. Most of all, I didn't really care what happened.
This one is definitely going on the Meh pile as far as the Hard Case Crime series goes. I could see giving it a three if I'd been in the mood for something like this.
First off, this isn't a bad book. There is a fair amount of suspense and enough twists to keep it going. So why didn't I like it? It's not much like the other Hard Case novels. It's more like a spy novel than anything else. Not my cup of tea. There were other things that bothered me. Stodder and Maria fall in love a little too fast. All of the non-American characters are one dimensional villains. Most of all, I didn't really care what happened.
This one is definitely going on the Meh pile as far as the Hard Case Crime series goes. I could see giving it a three if I'd been in the mood for something like this.
October 23, 2014
Maybe 1.5 stars. I didn't completely suck, but it failed on most fronts. First, it's a cold war spy novel set in Europe, not what I expect from HCC. Second, it had far too many serendipitous actions.
I never connected with any of the characters. They were cardboard cut outs. The connection between the hero & the heroine was too easy, too. They just never felt real.
Possibly the worst HCC book that I've read since "The Colorado Kid".
I never connected with any of the characters. They were cardboard cut outs. The connection between the hero & the heroine was too easy, too. They just never felt real.
Possibly the worst HCC book that I've read since "The Colorado Kid".
February 19, 2011
With so many Hard Case Crime books in print now, I guess sooner or later I was bound to be disappointed by one. Which is not to say "Passport to Peril" is a bad book. On the contrary, it was enjoyable. It just doesn't stack up to the other books in the series that I've read.
This is another of Hard Case's "finds from the vault," so to speak, a spy thriller that has been out of print for more than 50 years. I'm glad HCC brought it back in print, and I honestly hope they'll bring Parker's other spy novel, Ticket to Oblivion, back as well. This lesser known Robert B. Parker has a good style overall. (This is Robert Bogardus Parker, who only wrote two novels before his untimely death, as the afterword by his daughter explains. He's not the Robert B. Parker of the more well-known Spenser novels.)
Without spoiling anything, what I think did not work for me with this novel was the narrator's constant repetition of certain facts ad nauseum. It's one thing to remind the reader of a pertinent clue or unanswered question once in a while, but it's a bit annoying when those items are brought up repeatedly -- especially when one is eventually dealt with in such an off-hand manner that you can't help wonder if the author got as bored with the subplot as you did.
On the other hand, the repetition drives home the fact that that narrator, while a good strong-willed individual, has been pushed beyond his limits and is perhaps beginning to lose his grip. So what annoyed me might not be the author's usual narrative style but might instead have been an actual character trait he gave the narrator. (A good reason to want to read his other book, actually.)
This is another of Hard Case's "finds from the vault," so to speak, a spy thriller that has been out of print for more than 50 years. I'm glad HCC brought it back in print, and I honestly hope they'll bring Parker's other spy novel, Ticket to Oblivion, back as well. This lesser known Robert B. Parker has a good style overall. (This is Robert Bogardus Parker, who only wrote two novels before his untimely death, as the afterword by his daughter explains. He's not the Robert B. Parker of the more well-known Spenser novels.)
Without spoiling anything, what I think did not work for me with this novel was the narrator's constant repetition of certain facts ad nauseum. It's one thing to remind the reader of a pertinent clue or unanswered question once in a while, but it's a bit annoying when those items are brought up repeatedly -- especially when one is eventually dealt with in such an off-hand manner that you can't help wonder if the author got as bored with the subplot as you did.
On the other hand, the repetition drives home the fact that that narrator, while a good strong-willed individual, has been pushed beyond his limits and is perhaps beginning to lose his grip. So what annoyed me might not be the author's usual narrative style but might instead have been an actual character trait he gave the narrator. (A good reason to want to read his other book, actually.)
February 22, 2017
PROTAGONIST: John Stodder
SETTING: 1950s Hungary
RATING: 3.25
WHY: This book was written in 1951 by the "original" Robert B. Parker; the more well-known RBP published the first book in the Spenser series in 1973. John Stodder is an American traveling to Hungary trying to find his brother using the passport of a man named Marcus Blaye, who it turns out was murdered. He meets Blaye's secretary, Maria Torres, on the train and soon finds out that Blaye was much more than a Swiss watchmaker. The Russians and Hungarians are after him, which involves Stoddard and Torres in much intrigue. The plot is somewhat tangled, and many of the characters quite stock but the writing was good enough to keep me reading.
SETTING: 1950s Hungary
RATING: 3.25
WHY: This book was written in 1951 by the "original" Robert B. Parker; the more well-known RBP published the first book in the Spenser series in 1973. John Stodder is an American traveling to Hungary trying to find his brother using the passport of a man named Marcus Blaye, who it turns out was murdered. He meets Blaye's secretary, Maria Torres, on the train and soon finds out that Blaye was much more than a Swiss watchmaker. The Russians and Hungarians are after him, which involves Stoddard and Torres in much intrigue. The plot is somewhat tangled, and many of the characters quite stock but the writing was good enough to keep me reading.
August 5, 2009
Laaaame. Maybe Hard Case is cutting back because they can't find enough quality pulp. No shame in that, and better six books a year than this. Bleah. Scheming Nazi who says "ve have vays of making you talk." Instant love between hero and girl. Predictable plot twists. Sometimes a book deserves to stay forgotten.
October 20, 2011
Fast read involving post WWII espionage behind the iron curtain (so don't expect a standard hard case story here), but not without flaws, such as an abrupt and summarized ending that is woefully unsatisfying. In addition the first chapter didn't grab me straightaway but the bulk of the book kept me going.
November 13, 2016
Not to be confused with THE Robert B. Parker of 'Spenser' renown; this is Robert Bogardus Parker (1905-1955), a war correspondent.
May 28, 2025
There are many spy thrillers about plots to bring back the Third Reich or to establish a Fourth Reich. But the ones written shortly after World War II ended have more immediacy. At the time “Passport to Peril” was first published, in 1951, there were still many Nazis and former Nazis scattered all over the world. Some living in hiding. Others working openly for the governments of their new host countries. A resurgence of the Third Reich was not entirely outside the realm of possibility.
In “Passport to Peril” American John Stoddard, traveling to Hungary on the Orient Express, gets drawn into the machinations of one Marcel Blaye, who has compiled a list of names of former Nazis living in different countries in Europe, conspiring to re-establish the Third Reich. Blaye is dead, but his secretary, Maria Torres, is unknowingly carrying the list. Torres shares a compartment on the Orient Express with Stoddard. Of course, when trouble arrives in the form of Dr. Schmidt, a confederate of Blaye’s, Stoddard chooses to risk life and limb to protect Torres.
Although the set-up is fairly standard for an Orient Express spy thriller—really, is it possible to take a trip on the Orient Express without getting mixed up in some sort of intrigue—what makes “Passport to Peril” stand out are its vivid descriptions of Hungary in the years immediately after the war. The re-opened nightclubs, the bombed-out streets, the constant Soviet presence. As author Robert B. Parker had been a war correspondent in this part of Europe, he knows the area well. More than just the local color that most thriller writers add to their books, the descriptions of life in postwar, Soviet-dominated Hungary are central to the story, and have a ring of authenticity.
Parker wastes no words in this punchy, fast-moving thriller. The action takes off beginning with Chapter Two (titled "Desperate Flight"--which gives you an idea of how quickly things started to go really badly for Stoddard and Torres), and doesn't let up until the final chapter.
In “Passport to Peril” American John Stoddard, traveling to Hungary on the Orient Express, gets drawn into the machinations of one Marcel Blaye, who has compiled a list of names of former Nazis living in different countries in Europe, conspiring to re-establish the Third Reich. Blaye is dead, but his secretary, Maria Torres, is unknowingly carrying the list. Torres shares a compartment on the Orient Express with Stoddard. Of course, when trouble arrives in the form of Dr. Schmidt, a confederate of Blaye’s, Stoddard chooses to risk life and limb to protect Torres.
Although the set-up is fairly standard for an Orient Express spy thriller—really, is it possible to take a trip on the Orient Express without getting mixed up in some sort of intrigue—what makes “Passport to Peril” stand out are its vivid descriptions of Hungary in the years immediately after the war. The re-opened nightclubs, the bombed-out streets, the constant Soviet presence. As author Robert B. Parker had been a war correspondent in this part of Europe, he knows the area well. More than just the local color that most thriller writers add to their books, the descriptions of life in postwar, Soviet-dominated Hungary are central to the story, and have a ring of authenticity.
Parker wastes no words in this punchy, fast-moving thriller. The action takes off beginning with Chapter Two (titled "Desperate Flight"--which gives you an idea of how quickly things started to go really badly for Stoddard and Torres), and doesn't let up until the final chapter.
April 11, 2025
I thoroughly enjoyed this title, though I thought I was purchasing a pre-Spencer Parker novel, and this turned out to be a different Robert B. Parker (Who apparently only wrote two novels.)
This one is a post world war II thriller and after the first few chapters becomes a page turning adventure. The hero is a former news correspondent who needs to penetrate the iron curtain in order to try to discover what happened to his brother, shot down during the war. He purchases a passport to assist in this and later discovers that instead of a forged passport, it is a stolen passport, stolen from the dead body of a man involved in a Nazi conspiracy. From there, he tumbles into a conspiracy that has him caught between Russians, Americans, and Nazis, as the quest for a lost envelope becomes essential to his escape. The fact that he is mistaken for the dead man is quite interesting, kind of reminiscent of a Danny Kaye or Donald O'Conner movie, without the humor.
The hero is sort of an everyman-- not a spy, not especially courageous, nothing special-- which makes his frustration and actions allow the reader to enjoy a very suspenseful novel.
The only real complaint I have about the novel is its very quick completion. What could have been another very exciting part of the novel becomes a very short glossed over two pages. The author spent all this time creating a wonderful and tense novel only to mar it slightly with a rushed, simplistic conclusion.
Still, this one was enjoyable.
This one is a post world war II thriller and after the first few chapters becomes a page turning adventure. The hero is a former news correspondent who needs to penetrate the iron curtain in order to try to discover what happened to his brother, shot down during the war. He purchases a passport to assist in this and later discovers that instead of a forged passport, it is a stolen passport, stolen from the dead body of a man involved in a Nazi conspiracy. From there, he tumbles into a conspiracy that has him caught between Russians, Americans, and Nazis, as the quest for a lost envelope becomes essential to his escape. The fact that he is mistaken for the dead man is quite interesting, kind of reminiscent of a Danny Kaye or Donald O'Conner movie, without the humor.
The hero is sort of an everyman-- not a spy, not especially courageous, nothing special-- which makes his frustration and actions allow the reader to enjoy a very suspenseful novel.
The only real complaint I have about the novel is its very quick completion. What could have been another very exciting part of the novel becomes a very short glossed over two pages. The author spent all this time creating a wonderful and tense novel only to mar it slightly with a rushed, simplistic conclusion.
Still, this one was enjoyable.
January 15, 2018
Passport to Peril is an example of finding just the right book at just the right time. I read it on a gray, bitterly cold winter afternoon in Poland, which resonated deeply with the barren ice-encrusted landscape of postwar Budapest depicted in the novel. This is the sort of old-fashioned cold war spy novel that nobody seems to write anymore.
John Stoddard, a foreign correspondent from America, buys a forged passport in Vienna, hoping to sneak across the iron curtain to find information about his brother who has been missing in action since the end of World War II. Unfortunately, the illegal passport actually belonged to a recently-murdered man with ties to a network of former Nazi scientists working underground. Events force John and the dead man’s secretary together because she is carrying an envelope of secret information that everyone is after—the American CIA, the Russians, a beautiful Polish countess with a dubious background, and a sadistic German loyalist.
The action is fast, and the plot twists come about once a chapter. Remarkably, however, the story hangs together and makes a lot of sense. All the characters, nefarious and otherwise, have different perspectives and motives, of course, but their actions remain reasonably consistent and clear. It is not until the final act that the plot begins to show some cracks due to a pileup of a few too many coincidences.
Recommended for a fun, breezy weekend read.
John Stoddard, a foreign correspondent from America, buys a forged passport in Vienna, hoping to sneak across the iron curtain to find information about his brother who has been missing in action since the end of World War II. Unfortunately, the illegal passport actually belonged to a recently-murdered man with ties to a network of former Nazi scientists working underground. Events force John and the dead man’s secretary together because she is carrying an envelope of secret information that everyone is after—the American CIA, the Russians, a beautiful Polish countess with a dubious background, and a sadistic German loyalist.
The action is fast, and the plot twists come about once a chapter. Remarkably, however, the story hangs together and makes a lot of sense. All the characters, nefarious and otherwise, have different perspectives and motives, of course, but their actions remain reasonably consistent and clear. It is not until the final act that the plot begins to show some cracks due to a pileup of a few too many coincidences.
Recommended for a fun, breezy weekend read.
September 23, 2025
Plot
When he buys a passport on the black market to gain entry into post-war Budapest, an American is mistaken for the murdered man the passport belonged to and on the run with the dead man’s beautiful assistant.
My Analysis
As you can see by the cover, this was part of the Hard Case Crime novels. Set a few years after World War II, it’s a good spy thriller with the baddies being both Germans and Russians.
Very good characters with Stoddard, our hero, showing that you do one thing wrong (buying a forged passport) results in deadly consequences. He’s on the run, escaping danger at every turn, and finding himself caught up in a situation he can’t control and must forge through.
There’s the innocent girl (always have to have the girl) who doesn’t know anything and becomes the fixation for Stoddard.
There’s Hiram and Teensy, the quirky couple who are after the papers that both the Russians and the Germans are after.
The baddie Schmidt and the sultry Russian woman are wonderful, too.
There’s no sex, no gore (the torture is glossed over), no foul language. But there is plenty of action and gunfire and death and tension and intrigue.
I was surprised to see Parker write something like this because I don’t see his voice that is so prevalent in the Spencer and other series novels. It’s completely different. And good. Harkens back to the good ole spy thrillers of the fifties and sixties.
Great read.
My rank:
Blue Belt
When he buys a passport on the black market to gain entry into post-war Budapest, an American is mistaken for the murdered man the passport belonged to and on the run with the dead man’s beautiful assistant.
My Analysis
As you can see by the cover, this was part of the Hard Case Crime novels. Set a few years after World War II, it’s a good spy thriller with the baddies being both Germans and Russians.
Very good characters with Stoddard, our hero, showing that you do one thing wrong (buying a forged passport) results in deadly consequences. He’s on the run, escaping danger at every turn, and finding himself caught up in a situation he can’t control and must forge through.
There’s the innocent girl (always have to have the girl) who doesn’t know anything and becomes the fixation for Stoddard.
There’s Hiram and Teensy, the quirky couple who are after the papers that both the Russians and the Germans are after.
The baddie Schmidt and the sultry Russian woman are wonderful, too.
There’s no sex, no gore (the torture is glossed over), no foul language. But there is plenty of action and gunfire and death and tension and intrigue.
I was surprised to see Parker write something like this because I don’t see his voice that is so prevalent in the Spencer and other series novels. It’s completely different. And good. Harkens back to the good ole spy thrillers of the fifties and sixties.
Great read.
My rank:
Blue Belt
May 28, 2023
Early Cold War international suspense, and an unusual “plot hook” to start things off…our accidental “hero” buys what he assumes is a forged passport to look for his missing brother after WWII, unable to get into Hungary on an American passport. Unfortunately, what he gets isn’t forged — it’s stolen off a dead man, and the case of mistaken identify that ensues mixes him up with American intelligence, Soviet law enforcement, and secret Nazi hold-outs hiding in Eastern Europe.
The author spent time in Hungary as a war correspondent during WWII (just as his protagonist had), so the details and description of the area are really well done…the unusual blend of cultures that is the city of Budapest leaps off the page, and it’s easy to see the seedy culture of black marketeers, smugglers, and spies all watching each other and looking to seize the advantage. Parker’s cast of characters are straight out of Clancy or Fleming. If you’re a fan of either of those folks (or Le Carre, for that matter), this one is an entertaining diversion for sure.
The author spent time in Hungary as a war correspondent during WWII (just as his protagonist had), so the details and description of the area are really well done…the unusual blend of cultures that is the city of Budapest leaps off the page, and it’s easy to see the seedy culture of black marketeers, smugglers, and spies all watching each other and looking to seize the advantage. Parker’s cast of characters are straight out of Clancy or Fleming. If you’re a fan of either of those folks (or Le Carre, for that matter), this one is an entertaining diversion for sure.
June 4, 2021
Nice reissue of a Pulp story back in the early days of the cold war centered in Communist Occupied Hungry. Lots of intrigue & death all happening behind closed doors so to speak.
The story starts off with the main character looking to sneak into Budapest to try and locate or at least gain information regarding his missing brother. He might have been better off if he didn't use the passport of a spy who has documentation that everyone is looking for or trying to protect.
Very entertaining, especially for those of us who like Pulp.
The story starts off with the main character looking to sneak into Budapest to try and locate or at least gain information regarding his missing brother. He might have been better off if he didn't use the passport of a spy who has documentation that everyone is looking for or trying to protect.
Very entertaining, especially for those of us who like Pulp.
Read
October 11, 2022The fifty-seventh hcc novel finished #passporttoperil by #robertbparker originally published in 1951. Spies in post war Europe, the orient express, murder, mistaken identity, missing documents, escape, torture. Fast paced and full of intrigue. Not much in terms of humour or character development, but a rip-roaring plot full of twists and turns and unexpected revelations. It reminded me of one of Michael Crichton’s early John Lange novels also published by #hardcasecrime
May 26, 2017
Found this a very slow story and I took a long time to get through it as my interest waned. The plot is based after WW2 and the struggle still was on between Russia and Germany, the UK and America as spies and murder take place in Budapest It is a short read but it was story that could have and likely was based on true happenings,
January 8, 2018
This book starts off really good. The opening pages create a really odd mystery that sort of has a weird nightmare edge to it. But then, as the book goes on, the narrator acts increasingly foolish and irrational. He is suddenly in love with someone he's known for one day, so much so that he is willing to be tortured and risk his life to get revenge for her (after she's already been saved, no less). I don't buy it. But still, it is a pretty fun story for the most part.
September 29, 2024
Grabbed because of the Hard Case Crime designation. Written by the original Robert B. Parker. Dated glimpse behind the Iron Curtain before it became the Iron Curtain. Riding the Orient Express, running from Russians, avoiding the remnants of the Nazis.
August 18, 2017
Fast-paced suspense story, apparently well-informed as to its postwar Budapest setting. However the characters are just plot counters and I found the plot itself confusing.
October 3, 2018
Not really my cup of tea, and I had so hoped it would me. A little too much international intrigue for my taste. I was hoping for a bit more “hard-boiled” detective thriller.
October 18, 2020
1939ish spy thriller. It was OK. It dragged a lot. I would not ask you to read it.
January 5, 2021
4.5/10
254 pages
Hard Case Crime # 55
254 pages
Hard Case Crime # 55
July 8, 2025
A pretty good story and good enough writing and decently paced-but with kind of a weak ending.
February 18, 2018
Wow! This Robert B. Parker guy is something else. Born in 1932, he wrote a suspense novel at just 12 years old, 1944's Headquarters Budapest. He then followed that up with 1950's Ticket to Oblivion and 1951's Passport to Peril before going silent until 1973's The Godwulf Manuscript.
Wait, what? Oh, Robert Bogardus Parker, not Robert Brown Parker. Well, now that makes more sense. The original writin' Robert B. was actually born in 1905 and spent World War II as a war correspondent who also did some work for the Office of Strategic Services (O.S.S.), the forerunner of the CIA. His wartime espionage fueled his three novels and especially Passport to Peril, a cloak-and-dagger tale of mistaken identity set in Cold-War era Budapest.
American John Stoddard is on the Orient Express, trying to get into Communist-ruled Hungary in order to lay to rest some personal demons left over from his time flying bombers during Word War II. Stoddard, a reporter by trade, is traveling under an assumed name and what he believes is a false passport because the Hungarian Communists are keeping Americans from entering their country. On the train, he meets Maria Torres, who turns out to be fleeing some menacing folks that may have harmed her boss. When the beautiful Ms. Torres tells Stoddard who her boss was, he realizes trouble is ahead, because the name is exactly the same as the one on his supposedly false passport.
Stoddard and Torres wind up on the run from several different intelligence agencies, and find out that there was more to Torres' employer than she knew, as well as the fact that (surprise, surprise), they can trust no one but each other.
This Parker writes in a good deal more workmanlike style than the writer who brought us Spenser, even though it's perfectly serviceable narrative and has every now and again some snappy wit of its own that Spenser might have appreciated. Passport to Peril has some plot holes and a couple of confusing patches, as well as one more plot thread than it actually needs. But it's a fine piece of pulp storytelling (complete with a killer opening sentence), and one might wonder what kind of career Parker would have had had he not died of a heart attack just before his 50th birthday in 1955.
This edition of Passport to Peril, published by the pulp revivalists at Hard Case Crime, contains a short afterward with a little bit of biography and remembrance from Parker's daughter Dorothy (no, not that one). In it, she notes that before divorcing, her parents had her as well as her brother, Robert Bogardus Parker III, leaving yet another Robert B. Parker wandering around out there. Robert B. Parker the Spenser creator, who passed away in 2010, had two sons, but named neither of them after him, which we can hope will begin to narrow the confusion a little.
Original available here.
Wait, what? Oh, Robert Bogardus Parker, not Robert Brown Parker. Well, now that makes more sense. The original writin' Robert B. was actually born in 1905 and spent World War II as a war correspondent who also did some work for the Office of Strategic Services (O.S.S.), the forerunner of the CIA. His wartime espionage fueled his three novels and especially Passport to Peril, a cloak-and-dagger tale of mistaken identity set in Cold-War era Budapest.
American John Stoddard is on the Orient Express, trying to get into Communist-ruled Hungary in order to lay to rest some personal demons left over from his time flying bombers during Word War II. Stoddard, a reporter by trade, is traveling under an assumed name and what he believes is a false passport because the Hungarian Communists are keeping Americans from entering their country. On the train, he meets Maria Torres, who turns out to be fleeing some menacing folks that may have harmed her boss. When the beautiful Ms. Torres tells Stoddard who her boss was, he realizes trouble is ahead, because the name is exactly the same as the one on his supposedly false passport.
Stoddard and Torres wind up on the run from several different intelligence agencies, and find out that there was more to Torres' employer than she knew, as well as the fact that (surprise, surprise), they can trust no one but each other.
This Parker writes in a good deal more workmanlike style than the writer who brought us Spenser, even though it's perfectly serviceable narrative and has every now and again some snappy wit of its own that Spenser might have appreciated. Passport to Peril has some plot holes and a couple of confusing patches, as well as one more plot thread than it actually needs. But it's a fine piece of pulp storytelling (complete with a killer opening sentence), and one might wonder what kind of career Parker would have had had he not died of a heart attack just before his 50th birthday in 1955.
This edition of Passport to Peril, published by the pulp revivalists at Hard Case Crime, contains a short afterward with a little bit of biography and remembrance from Parker's daughter Dorothy (no, not that one). In it, she notes that before divorcing, her parents had her as well as her brother, Robert Bogardus Parker III, leaving yet another Robert B. Parker wandering around out there. Robert B. Parker the Spenser creator, who passed away in 2010, had two sons, but named neither of them after him, which we can hope will begin to narrow the confusion a little.
Original available here.
November 30, 2014
This is a fine thriller of post-war intrigue, reputed to be one of the first Cold War thrillers. The story itself is well constructed, involving American John Stodder finding that the passport and Orient Express ticket he purchased under-the-table was from a murdered man, as revealed to him by the dead man’s secretary, a woman named Maria Torres. Stuck with the rotten identity, Stodder has to uncover the secret of why the man was murdered before the same fate befalls him. On the run behind the Iron Curtain, the duo are chased by Soviets and their Hungarian allies, ex-Gestapo thugs still revering Hitler, and ends up aided by some OSS agents at the right place and the right time.
The plot is complex and aided by the great description and the pacing. Even the characters feel very realistic; Stodder frequently makes dumb mistakes, like leaving the dead man’s manila folder of secret info behind on a train, not realizing just how important the cryptic data is. This one is a real page-turner, and is an amazing thriller overall. I can’t believe the amount of people giving it shitty reviews because they bought the wrong book. I’m really hoping Hard Case picks up Parker’s other thriller novels, all long-unpublished since the 1950’s, based on this novel alone.
There’s a number of small problems that would have been easily fixed by an editor, which is annoying but doesn’t subtract too much from the story. The OSS agents reek of deus ex machina, arriving always at the proper dramatic time (and not a moment before). Worse, Stodder has the urge to repeat information, sometimes within pages of explaining it, while at other points re-capping the events of the last chapter or so. The most damning error I noted was when Stodder flipped backstories, changing between being an Air Force officer and a spy during the war.
Maybe it’s my fascination with Cold War-era spy thrillers, but I really enjoyed this book: I’d put it in my top-ten favorite Hard Cases overall. It’s a good old-fashioned thriller with a complex plot; the early Cold War world is a great setting, with Soviet and ex-Nazi adversaries, back before the Russians had atom bombs. Parker writes with a competent hand, and his knowledge of this part of Europe comes across in his descriptions. A very fun, very adventurous thriller, though not as much of a standout as it could be.
Full review (and other Hard Case reviews) found here.
The plot is complex and aided by the great description and the pacing. Even the characters feel very realistic; Stodder frequently makes dumb mistakes, like leaving the dead man’s manila folder of secret info behind on a train, not realizing just how important the cryptic data is. This one is a real page-turner, and is an amazing thriller overall. I can’t believe the amount of people giving it shitty reviews because they bought the wrong book. I’m really hoping Hard Case picks up Parker’s other thriller novels, all long-unpublished since the 1950’s, based on this novel alone.
There’s a number of small problems that would have been easily fixed by an editor, which is annoying but doesn’t subtract too much from the story. The OSS agents reek of deus ex machina, arriving always at the proper dramatic time (and not a moment before). Worse, Stodder has the urge to repeat information, sometimes within pages of explaining it, while at other points re-capping the events of the last chapter or so. The most damning error I noted was when Stodder flipped backstories, changing between being an Air Force officer and a spy during the war.
Maybe it’s my fascination with Cold War-era spy thrillers, but I really enjoyed this book: I’d put it in my top-ten favorite Hard Cases overall. It’s a good old-fashioned thriller with a complex plot; the early Cold War world is a great setting, with Soviet and ex-Nazi adversaries, back before the Russians had atom bombs. Parker writes with a competent hand, and his knowledge of this part of Europe comes across in his descriptions. A very fun, very adventurous thriller, though not as much of a standout as it could be.
Full review (and other Hard Case reviews) found here.
December 4, 2015
I'm surprised by the generally lukewarm response this book has gotten. Personally, I thought it was a blast! Not only do you get 250 pages of globe-trotting adventure, but the suspense seldom lets up from beginning to end.
Perhaps some of the poor reviews are due to the manner in which the book was re-released. Obviously, a bunch of Robert B. Parker fans picked this up not realizing it was written by a DIFFERENT Robert B. Parker that virtually no one has ever heard of. And I'm sure a lot of regular Hard Case readers bought it expecting a noir-ish crime novel, when, in fact, PASSPORT TO PERIL is a straight-forward WWII thriller that feels like a cross between Alfred Hitchcock and Robert Ludlum.
I have only a couple of very minor complaints. First, there's a "shocking twist" that occurs about halfway through the book and comes across as such a monumental coincidence that it will momentarily shatter your suspension of disbelief. The other mildly annoying thing is that Parker doesn't trust his readers to be able to follow the complicated plot, and, as a result, has a tendency to overexplain and/or repeat certain aspects of the story unnecessarily. Then again, maybe he was just trying to pad out the book in order to get it to the proper length.
Robert B. Parker (the one you've never heard of) wrote only two novels during his relatively short life. After reading PASSPORT TO PERIL, I can't help but pray that Hard Case re-releases his other novel sometime in the very near future.
Perhaps some of the poor reviews are due to the manner in which the book was re-released. Obviously, a bunch of Robert B. Parker fans picked this up not realizing it was written by a DIFFERENT Robert B. Parker that virtually no one has ever heard of. And I'm sure a lot of regular Hard Case readers bought it expecting a noir-ish crime novel, when, in fact, PASSPORT TO PERIL is a straight-forward WWII thriller that feels like a cross between Alfred Hitchcock and Robert Ludlum.
I have only a couple of very minor complaints. First, there's a "shocking twist" that occurs about halfway through the book and comes across as such a monumental coincidence that it will momentarily shatter your suspension of disbelief. The other mildly annoying thing is that Parker doesn't trust his readers to be able to follow the complicated plot, and, as a result, has a tendency to overexplain and/or repeat certain aspects of the story unnecessarily. Then again, maybe he was just trying to pad out the book in order to get it to the proper length.
Robert B. Parker (the one you've never heard of) wrote only two novels during his relatively short life. After reading PASSPORT TO PERIL, I can't help but pray that Hard Case re-releases his other novel sometime in the very near future.
October 19, 2013
I got this book because the author is Robert B. Parker, and since I had read everything that Parker had written (The Spenser series, Jesse Stone, and all the rest) I decided to read this one too. Turns out that this book was written by a completely different Robert B. Parker - Robert Bogardus Parker. In addition to this book Robert Bogardus Parker also wrote another spy story, Ticket to Oblivion, and then died young.
The story is set shortly after the end of WWII and John Stoddard is taking the Orient Express to Budapest to search for his brother, a pilot who was shot down during the war. On the trip John befriends a beautiful woman and learns that another passenger on the train is trying to kill her. At that point John's problems begin as he runs into ex-nazis, Russian spies, Hungarian police, a Polish Countess, and numerous dead bodies - all while rescuing the girl and recovering the top secret papers. The story is fun although it lacks the polish one would expect from a more experienced author. The protagonist is a bit of a klutz, being captured by everyone, then tortured and beaten, and never once doing anything right to advance a positive outcome - at least not until the last chapter when he saves the girl, recovers the papers, and escapes from Hungry.
No one is going to mistake this for great literature, but it turned out to be a fast, fun read - 3.5 stars.
The story is set shortly after the end of WWII and John Stoddard is taking the Orient Express to Budapest to search for his brother, a pilot who was shot down during the war. On the trip John befriends a beautiful woman and learns that another passenger on the train is trying to kill her. At that point John's problems begin as he runs into ex-nazis, Russian spies, Hungarian police, a Polish Countess, and numerous dead bodies - all while rescuing the girl and recovering the top secret papers. The story is fun although it lacks the polish one would expect from a more experienced author. The protagonist is a bit of a klutz, being captured by everyone, then tortured and beaten, and never once doing anything right to advance a positive outcome - at least not until the last chapter when he saves the girl, recovers the papers, and escapes from Hungry.
No one is going to mistake this for great literature, but it turned out to be a fast, fun read - 3.5 stars.
March 3, 2010
John Stoddard is traveling from Vienna to Budapest just after WW II to see if he can locate his brother, a navigator in a plane that was forced down after it ran out of fuel, calculations for which John had been responsible. Unable to obtain a visa from the Russians, John pays for a forged passport and visa only to discover on the train that a young woman thinks he is someone else and he has the passport of a man wanted by several governments because of some information he has and who was killed just before John left the country. Soon the Russians, OSS, and ex-Nazis are chasing John around trying to discover what names were in the envelope that the murdered man had given to the girl.
This is by Robert Bogardus Parker who died in 1955, long before Robert Brown Parker wrote his Spenser novels, and it's based in part on his personal experiences in eastern Europe (although the use of the formal Sie instead of Du when the German boss is talking to his underlings was a little jarring.
Amusing story but nothing great. Interesting that it was republished by Hard Case because it doesn't really fit with their normal run of titles.
This is by Robert Bogardus Parker who died in 1955, long before Robert Brown Parker wrote his Spenser novels, and it's based in part on his personal experiences in eastern Europe (although the use of the formal Sie instead of Du when the German boss is talking to his underlings was a little jarring.
Amusing story but nothing great. Interesting that it was republished by Hard Case because it doesn't really fit with their normal run of titles.
January 3, 2017
This is an old reprint of a 1951 Cold War thriller. It tells the story of John Stodder who with a fake passport tries to enter into post WWII Budapest to find out what happened to his deceased brother, and take revenge. What happens is the fake passport he bought happens to be a real passport of a man who was killed that very same day, and this man had an envelope of names that the Russians, the Americans, and the Germans are all looking for.
So John gets drawn in as he is originally mistaken for this man. Along the way he falls for a woman named Maria, who gets captured, along with John, by a German named Dr. Schmidt. Two American agents get John away from Dr. Schmidt as they are looking for the envelope. John doesn't want to give up on Maria and wants to save her, so he teams up with the Americans.
The story ends in the usual fashion, and we also get a few sub plots revealed like what happened to John's brother. This was an entertaining and easy read, and was kinda fun going back to a Cold War book from the early 50's, but overall this wasn't rocket science. It's a fun book, nothing more.
So John gets drawn in as he is originally mistaken for this man. Along the way he falls for a woman named Maria, who gets captured, along with John, by a German named Dr. Schmidt. Two American agents get John away from Dr. Schmidt as they are looking for the envelope. John doesn't want to give up on Maria and wants to save her, so he teams up with the Americans.
The story ends in the usual fashion, and we also get a few sub plots revealed like what happened to John's brother. This was an entertaining and easy read, and was kinda fun going back to a Cold War book from the early 50's, but overall this wasn't rocket science. It's a fun book, nothing more.
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