Passage of Arms

by Eric Ambler

In this classic thriller, two American tourists find more adventure than they bargained for when they get involved with Chinese gun smugglers and Muslim revolutionaries, learning first hand about the intrigue of the post-colonial world.

Greg and Dorothy Nilsen had wanted to go on an adventurous trip, see some of the more out-of-the-way places. But the cruise they were on was turning out to be a bore. So when the gracious Mr. Tan requests that Greg take a side trip to Singapore to resolve a bureaucratic detail involving a consignment of small arms, Greg is surprisingly receptive. All he has to do is sign some papers, he’s told, and he’ll be paid a handsome fee. And everything does go smoothly, until it comes to getting a check co-signed by the rebel leader…

Genres: Fiction, Thriller, Mystery, Espionage, Crime, Historical Fiction, Asia

256 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1959

About the author

Suspense novels of noted English writer Eric Ambler include Passage of Arms (1959).

Eric Ambler began his career in the early 1930s and quickly established a reputation as a thriller of extraordinary depth and originality. People often credit him as the inventor of the modern political thriller, and John Le Carré once described him as "the source on which we all draw."

Ambler began his working life at an engineering firm and then at an advertising agency and meanwhile in his spare time worked on his ambition, plays. He first published in 1936 and turned full-time as his reputation. During the war, people seconded him to the film unit of the Army, where he among other projects authored The Way Ahead with Peter Ustinov.

He moved to Hollywood in 1957 and during eleven years to 1968 scripted some memorable films, A Night to Remember and The Cruel Sea, which won him an Oscar nomination.

In a career, spanning more than six decades, Eric Ambler authored 19 books, the crime writers' association awarded him its gold dagger award in 1960. Joan Harrison married him and co-wrote many screenplays of Alfred Hitchcock, who in fact organized their wedding.

Reviews

[Sam Reaves · Rating 4 out of 5]

Eric Ambler covered a lot of territory in his career. The books that made his reputation in the thirties were set in Turkey and the Balkans; when he resumed his career after the Second World War it was with Judgment on Deltchev, set in Communist eastern Europe, and The Schirmer Inheritance, which starts in Philadelphia and winds up in Greece. Ambler then evidently got interested in Southeast Asia, because his next two books, State of Siege and this one (published in 1959), were set there.
The arms referred to in the title are a cache of rifles and submachine guns smuggled into Malaya by communist guerillas and securely stored in the jungle near a rubber plantation. After the rebel cell is wiped out in an ambush by the army, the arms are discovered by an enterprising Indian manager at the plantation, who figures out a way to monetize his find by bringing in a local Chinese wheeler-dealer who arranges to sell them to insurgents in Sumatra, just across the strait. The only problem is that they need an intermediary to make the transaction look legit; enter Greg Nilsen, an American businessman on an Asian cruise with his wife. Approached in Singapore by a member of the Chinese merchant's extended family, he agrees to serve as the nominal seller of the arms for customs purposes, for a tidy cut of the proceeds.
As you might expect, things do not go according to plan, and Nilsen is quickly in over his head. The appeal of an Ambler novel lies in the look he gives us at the way things work in the real world-- the calculations, the gamesmanship, the navigation of bureaucracies and military hierarchies, the cautious dealings with men who cannot be trusted. The social background is richly depicted, from the Indian laborers on the plantation to the wide-ranging Chinese diaspora with its family intrigues. And of course the physical environment is vividly there-- the heat, the bugs, the cool drinks on the hotel terrace, the adrenaline shock of sudden violence. And, as always, Ambler's wry understated humor.
Ambler was a master, and this is an entertaining look into the shady business of arms trafficking in a fascinating part of the world.

[Blaine DeSantis · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another highly enjoyable read from the Father of the Espionage genre! This time we are taken to 1959 and are treated to a plot that includes: captured weapons in Malaya, an American couple on a cruise, an Indian clerk who has dreams of building a vast bus and transportation company, a boring lady on a cruise (who may be a lesbian) and whom our cruise couple try to escape in Singapore, gun running, Muslim freedom fighters, Indonesian intrigue and a whole lot more and all in a mere 250 or so pages!
I have read earlier works of Ambler and like his style - he is a thinking persons writer. He gets us into the minds and motives of most all of his characters as we weaves a tale, a typical tale, of a person out of their element who gets caught up in international intrigue. If you are looking for flash, bang and pizzaz you will not get it with Ambler, but instead you get solid and realistic espionage writing. If you like le Carre than Ambler is your cup of tea. I have many more of his works in my library and look forward to all of them!
This is a 4.5* for me only because I thought the reason for the American couple getting involved in the entire situation was a tad bit weak and unrealistic

[George K. · Rating 5 out of 5]

Βαθμολογία: 9/10

Το 2009 και το 2010, όταν ήμουν ακόμα μαθητής της Γ' Λυκείου, διάβασα τέσσερα μυθιστορήματα του Έρικ Άμπλερ. Πώς έτυχε να διαβάσω κοτζάμ τέσσερα παλαιάς κοπής κατασκοπευτικά θρίλερ ενός Άγγλου συγγραφέα την εποχή που έδινα για Πανελλήνιες, δεν το ξέρω. Πάντως από τότε έχω να διαβάσω βιβλίο του! Όσο το σκέφτομαι, τόσο δυσκολεύομαι να το πιστέψω ότι εγώ, ένας φανατικός του είδους, παραμέλησα τόσο πολύ έναν τόσο καλό συγγραφέα, που επηρέασε συγγραφείς όπως ο Γκράχαμ Γκριν και ο Τζον Λε Καρέ.

Τέλος πάντων, αποφάσισα να διαβάσω το "Επικίνδυνο πέρασμα", μιας και ήθελα να διαβάσω ένα κλασικό θρίλερ που να διαδραματίζεται σε εξωτικά μέρη, και ιδιαίτερα προς Νοτιοανατολική Ασία μεριά, που δυστυχώς μόνο... νοητικά έχω επισκεφτεί. Και, ω Θεέ μου, τούτο το βιβλίο πραγματικά με ενθουσίασε. Ήταν ακριβώς όπως το περίμενα: Καλογραμμένο, ενδιαφέρον, κυνικό και άκρως ψυχαγωγικό. Σίγουρα δεν είναι από αυτά τα θρίλερ με την καταιγιστική δράση και την έντονη αγωνία που σε γραπώνουν αμέσως από τον γιακά, αντίθετα είναι ένα έξυπνο κατασκοπευτικό/πολιτικό θρίλερ με αργούς και σταθερούς ρυθμούς στην πλοκή (τουλάχιστον στην αρχή), που χτίζει σταδιακά ένταση και αγωνία, μέχρι το δυναμικό και κάπως κυνικό φινάλε. Είναι προϊόν της δεκαετίας του '50, και το δείχνει.

Μπορεί να πει κανείς ότι ο Άμπλερ βρήκε την ευκαιρία να επεξηγήσει στους αδαείς πώς γίνονταν (και γίνονται ακόμα, βέβαια) οι δουλειές με το εμπόριο όπλων σε χώρες όπου επικρατεί πολιτικός αναβρασμός, και πώς μπορεί να μπλέξει σε επικίνδυνες ιστορίες ένας αφελής τουρίστας από χώρα της Δύσης, που απλώς ήθελε να ζήσει μια περιπέτεια, πιστεύοντας παράλληλα ότι θα βάλει το λιθαράκι του στον αγώνα εναντίον των Κόκκινων. Οπωσδήποτε υπάρχουν σκηνές δράσης (ειδικά προς το τέλος), αλλά βασικά έχουμε να κάνουμε με παιχνίδια και κομπίνες γύρω από ένα φορτίο όπλων, που βρέθηκε τυχαία μέσα στη ζούγκλα της Μαλαισίας. Έχουμε διάφορους χαρακτήρες που μπλέκουν στην όλη υπόθεση και ο καθένας προσπαθεί να βγάλει κέρδος, με τον έναν ή τον άλλο τρόπο. Αν μη τι άλλο, ο Άμπλερ ήξερε να πλάθει χαρακτήρες και, με βάση τα κίνητρα και τις πράξεις τους, να αναδεικνύει τα κακώς κείμενα του σύγχρονου κόσμου.

Θεωρώ ότι από άποψη ποιότητας, ο Έρικ Άμπλερ είναι πάνω-κάτω στο ίδιο επίπεδο με τον Γκράχαμ Γκριν και τον Τζον Λε Καρέ, αν και σαφώς ο κάθε συγγραφέας έχει το δικό του στιλ και τα δικά του πλεονεκτήματα και μειονεκτήματα. Αναμφισβήτητα, ο Έρικ Άμπλερ ανήκει στους οξυδερκείς συγγραφείς κατασκοπευτικών/πολιτικών θρίλερ που με την πένα τους κατάφεραν να αναδείξουν τον βρώμικο και περίπλοκο κόσμο της κατασκοπείας και της πολιτικής. Το βιβλίο αυτό ίσως να μην είναι για όλα τα γούστα και όλες τις ορέξεις (είπαμε, δεν είναι ένα θρίλερ με καταιγιστική δράση και έντονους ρυθμούς), προσωπικά όμως κάτι τέτοια βιβλία τα απολαμβάνω πάρα, μα πάρα πολύ.

Υ.Γ. Μου φάνηκε εξίσου καλό και κυνικό με το "Ο άνθρωπός μας στην Αβάνα" του Γκράχαμ Γκριν, που (ξανά)διάβασα μέσα στον μήνα.

[Philip · Rating 4 out of 5]

In the late 1950's, Graham Greene and William Lederer gave us two classic novels of the Cold War in Southeast Asia, The Quiet American and The Ugly American. In Passage of Arms, Ambler in effect completes the trilogy with what could be called "The Stupid American," about an in-over-his-head Delaware businessman who gets sucked into an illicit arms deal between Malaya and Indonesia.

This is frankly an odd little book, neither spy story nor thriller, although it's been classified as both. In reality, it's more a travelogue gone wrong or even a sort of horror story, with the only real action briefly taking place in the final third of the story where you find yourself yelling at the characters "don't go to Indonesia, DON'T GO TO INDONESIA!!" But like any good horror story, they of course DO go to Indonesia, where things go seriously wrong.

I'm actually surprised that PoA averages a 3.88 Goodreads score, since based on the story and writing alone I would have just given this a 3. But in my case I had to give it an extra star for purely sentimental reasons. I first spent time in Malaysia, Singapore and Hong Kong — the three main locations of the story — as a touring back-up guitarist for a Taiwanese pop star in 1980, a full 20 years (and a full Vietnam War) later than the story told here. But yet the Southeast Asia I knew then is much more similar to the one Ambler describes than it is to today's modernized and overly-Westernized tourist traps. So while some other — and obviously younger — readers even classified this as "historical fiction," for me it was a pleasant trip down a relatively recent memory lane.

[Ian Laird · Rating 2 out of 5]

This one suffers because I read it immediately after Ambler’s excellent Journey Into Fear, which in turn was not quite as gripping as The Mask of Dimitrios.

Passage of Arms continues the Ambler trope of an innocent naïve man caught up in the middle of a conflict, although there is a distinction between the all-encompassing theatre of World War Two compared with the smaller scale Malayan Emergency and the subsequent trouble caused by communist insurgents in Indonesia in the late fifties. The protagonists in the World War Two stories are surrounded by the war, buffeted by the storms around them, barely understanding what’s happening, bewildered because almost everyone is not who they pretend to be. In Passage of Arms the decision by Greg the American tourist to dabble in the same trade is one which anyone with half a brain would avoid given a moment to think about it. But then we would not have a story.

Girija the enterprising Indian in Malaya, captivated by an old English bus catalogue is an interesting character, who searches for and finds an arms cache. Conveniently the soldiers guarding the cache have all been wiped out. The two Chinese Tan brothers are colourful indeed: one a canny business man, but too clever by half, the other a surly pickle market gambler, not so clever. The problem from a narrative point of view is that all the characters hardly intersect. The plot clunks into separate sections, especially aboard the vessel ‘Silver Ilse’, then in the action set piece on Indonesian soil. And these parts are peopled mainly by caricatures, especially Captain ‘old boy’ Lukey and the leader of the insurgents, admittedly a contrast with the bland American.

Ambler gets the history and geography right, as you would expect, and I can readily understand the dated attitudes and mores, but overall the tale is just OK.

[AC · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wonderfully intelligent, flawlessly constructed, deft (and believable) characterization.... A bit like reading Le Carré in the careful insightfulness... very British, to be sure... though not as cragged as Le Carré.

This book stands well with writers like Graham Greene (who's Quiet American is actually mentioned here in an amusing aside).

[Bruce Beckham · Rating 4 out of 5]

Eric Ambler hit on an ingenious formula for his ‘thrillers’ – in which the hero is an amateur who unwittingly finds himself tangled with professionals in some web of intrigue – in ‘Passage of Arms’ this happens to be gunrunning (I guess the clue is in the title).

It was published in 1959, and provides a tantalising contemporary insight into both the struggles for independence in post-war Southeast Asia, and the lives of wealthy travellers from the United States – for the book has not one, but two amateur protagonists.

I use inverted commas above for ‘thrillers’ because the pace is generally slow (which personally I prefer), and suspense more to the fore. However, there is a short battle-scene at one point, rather graphic, but nonetheless authentic and no doubt based upon the author’s wartime service in the British Army.

In general the subject matter is more mundane (in that this is not a war novel), and the main thrust is psychological: it has you rooting for the ‘amateurs’ but at the same time questioning their morals. Cleverly done.

If I had a complaint, it would be that I wrestled with the similar-sounding names (and thus identities) of a number of the oriental characters.

[Thomas · Rating 5 out of 5]

A particularly satisfying Ambler.

[Ed · Rating 3 out of 5]

The biggest problem with Ambler's books is that they are dated and read as if they are dated. Either the spy story genre has really improved or Ambler wasn't that great a writer in the first place.

This story, originally published in 1959, involves the sale of a supply of arms left behind by a Communist Guerilla group in "Malaya" and discovered by an Indian supervisor on a rubber plantation prior to Malaysia's independence. The plot involves three Chinese brothers in Malaya, The Philippines and Singapore respectively all of whom plan to take a cut of the profits. The brothers enlist an American tourist as the bonded recipient of the arms in Singapore. They are destined for a group of right wing rebels in Sumatra. Eventually, the American ends up in deep trouble in Sumatra. Revealing the conclusion of which would be a spoiler.

The writing is somewhat stilted. The characters are fairly well drawn, though. The plot gets more and more interesting as the story goes on and comes to a satisfying if not somewhat unrealistic conclusion.

I've got a couple more Amblers and will undoubtedly read them at some point, if for no other reason than they do expose the attitudes of the time and for that reason are historically interesting.

[Mary Alice · Rating 3 out of 5]

Fun thriller about a naive American who agrees to help pass arms to anti Communist Muslim forces as he passes through Singapore. It's a bit much to believe that an intelligent American, and later his level-headed wife, can be soooooo bamboozled. But the story is a good romp...and, believe it or not, it's not anti-American.

[Eleanor]

The blurring of the lines between reality and illusion, deception and truth, is several layers deep in Passage of Arms; it starts with an Indian clerk in Malaysia realising that he can achieve his dream (of owning and operating a rural bus company) by selling the guns and ammunition he’s discovered in a cache abandoned by Communist guerrillas. Through layers of middlemen and foreign contacts, the chickens come home to roost on the shoulders of Greg and Dorothy Nilsen, an American tourist couple (he’s an engineer, again!) who foolishly agree to sign some papers to help someone out of a loophole in Filipino law, and find themselves accused of conspiracy to arm Indonesian insurgents. (Actually, Greg agrees; Dorothy is far more sensible, and comes out of the whole affair as perhaps the most intelligent and ethical character of them all.) You can absolutely see the influence of Ambler’s 1950s novels on Ian Fleming—Dr. No was published in 1958 and Fleming definitely reviewed some of Ambler’s books—but Ambler is in a higher, Greeneian league. Entertainingly, there’s even a reference within Passage of Arms to The Quiet American: in Saigon, “the café where the bomb went off” is pointed out to tourists, although The Quiet American is fiction and that particular bomb never really happened.

Most of the point-of-view characters here are Asian—there’s Girija Krishnan, the clerk, who’s a dreamer but not a fool; Tan Siong Mow, the Chinese businessman who begins to help Krishnan with logistics, as well as his brothers Tan Yam Heng and Tan Chack Chee, comprising a small business empire spread across the ports of South-East Asia; Khoo Au An, the driver in Hong Kong who recruits Greg Nilsen; and many more, including Indonesian government and insurgent players. Ambler’s willingness to ascribe complex motive and humanity to each of these characters makes his work stand out in the sea of 1950s thriller racism that authors like Ian Fleming tend to display. Mixed-race identity and its complex social repercussions seems to interest him, too; there’s another Anglo-Indian woman in this novel, Mrs. Lukey, to go with Rosalie from The Night-Comers (1956) (and indeed the Anglo-Arab protagonist, Arthur Abdel Simpson, from The Light of Day [1962].) Passage of Arms is an incredibly rich novel, and the latest-dated Ambler I’ve read so far other than The Light of Day (not my favourite); he seems to just keep getting better.

[ParisianIrish · Rating 5 out of 5]

Eric Ambler's Passage of Arms is a flawless exercise in tension, intellect, and subtle satire, reaffirming his status as the undisputed master of the literary thriller. With elegance and restraint, Ambler builds a web of international intrigue that is as quietly dangerous as it is wickedly entertaining.

The novel follows Greg and Dorothy Nilsen, a mild-mannered American couple on a Far East vacation, whose accidental involvement in an illicit arms deal transforms their banal cruise into a taut geopolitical chess match. Ambler is at his best when thrusting ordinary people into the murky world of espionage, and the Nilsens are his most delightfully awkward pawns yet. Their naiveté becomes both a source of humor and horror, as Ambler turns the screws with every chapter.

What makes Passage of Arms so compelling is its meticulous attention to detail. The narrative unfolds like a customs form—deliberate, clinical, loaded with implication—before detonating into moments of quiet terror. Ambler writes Southeast Asia not as a backdrop, but as a breathing character: post-colonial, corrupted, restless. The political tension is as thick as the jungle air, and Ambler’s grasp of arms trade logistics is disarmingly precise.

But beyond the mechanics of smuggling and espionage, Ambler is interested in people—how greed, idealism, and fear move them. There are no Bond-like heroes here, only flawed men and women navigating a world where ideology and commerce bleed together. The genius of the book is how it refuses to shout. Instead, it whispers—until you realize you’ve walked into a trap along with the characters.

Rarely has the machinery of a thriller been this finely tuned. Passage of Arms is cerebral without being cold, thrilling without cheap tricks, and political without preaching. It’s the kind of novel that rewards patience—and punishes it, deliciously.

If you haven't read Ambler before, start here. If you have, you’ll recognize the sly grin behind every twist. Either way, Passage of Arms is essential reading for anyone who appreciates thrillers written not just with skill, but with conscience.

[John McCaffrey · Rating 5 out of 5]

I'm nearly complete in my reading of Eric Ambler novels, and Passage of Arms was a welcome leg on this journey. It's a slow burn of a book - patient prose, detail-driven, and setting-rich. It takes place in Malaya, mostly, but travels in the area, focusing first on a local manager of a rubber estate who finds himself with the opportunity to make needed money in the selling of arms, and then finishing with an America tourist who gets more involved than he wants in the actually selling of these weapons. The book has all of Ambler's trademark themes, especially the "ordinary" person becoming enmeshed in the extraordinary. Some good debate here on morality and responsibility when it comes to guns and war. A worthy read.

[Perry Whitford · Rating 3 out of 5]

Passage of Arms is an apt title for this typically spare and cynical effort from Ambler, where people are less important than the movement of cargo.

Ignorant Americans, arrogant Englishmen, inspired Indians, toughened Tamils, they all play a part in the shipment of illegal weapons across borders and bag men, destined to benefit someone, if only by imperfect design.

A dry, wise yarn, still largely in tune with today's times. Something not too dissimilar, only with modern trappings, is probably happening somewhere right now.

It's no great shakes though, a Graham Greene plot sketch only without the richness of character or religious subtexts.

[Evan Thomas · Rating 5 out of 5]

My favorite of all Ambler's books. It is a rare picture of life in SE Asia after WWII and before Vietnam. The characters: good, bad, and ugly are worthy of empathy. It shocks the conscience that movies like the Tourist are made, yet this novel hasn't yet been made into a film.

[Alex · Rating 5 out of 5]

A thoroughly readable and enjoyable plot line without any annoying features. The story had a good pace to it. Clearly an author to seek out more of.

[Elizabeth · Rating 4 out of 5]

Beautifully crafted, neat ending.

[Jordan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Intricate slow-burn. Not my favorite by Ambler so far but one of his most fully realized, satisfying, and uniquely structured.

[Paul Cornelius · Rating 5 out of 5]

Quite a stylish spy novel. A unique thriller located in Southeast Asia, from Malaya (events take place just as the Malayan Emergency has played out) to Singapore, from Manila to Sumatra. And what makes it all so interesting is the quite large cast of characters. At the center is a naive American couple, Greg and Dorothy Nilsen, who find themselves caught up in an arms smuggling operation. There is plenty to explore in the motivations of these two innocents abroad. But there is also quite a bit of time given to various figures that surround them. This includes the typically British prig, Colonel Soames of the police in Singapore, on one hand, and the raffish British rogue, Captain Lukey and his Eurasian wife, on the other. The entire scheme starts because of the entrepreneurial dreams of an Indian plantation foreman, Girija Krishnan, and his willingness to take a forgotten cache of Communist weapons and deal them through the three unscrupulous Tan brothers, who have built out their would-be empire in Manila, Malaya, and Singapore. All is enhanced with Communist Malays, Major Gani, Indonesian government loyalists, Gen. Iskaq, Muslim Malay rebels, Col. Oda and Maj. Sutan, and for the first half of the book, a particularly ugly American, in the pushy and obnoxious form of Arlene Drecker.

Passage of Arms makes for a trilogy of sorts that concerns Southeast Asian politics and spies from three British authors. The first was Norman Lewis' A Single Pilgrim, with much of the atmosphere coming from his earlier travel book, A Dragon Apparent; and the second had been Graham Greene's The Quiet American. There is an evolution from the early 1950s to Ambler's view of things in Southeast Asia at the end of the decade. Truth be said, it appears that Greene was "inspired" by much of the plot and ideas contained in Lewis' A Single Pilgrim. Both are serious works, with moral overtones. The issue of moral corruption is here in Ambler's novel, too, but it is treated in a much more breezy fashion than with the other two.

Also apparent is the influence of Alfred Hitchcock on Ambler. He was married to Hitchcock associate Joan Harrison. And there is a common thread running through Ambler and Hitchcock's works of sidetracked naifs drawn into a subterranean world of intrigue and murder/killing, from which they only escape through the courage to dare to survive--and a little luck.

[Kate · Rating 3 out of 5]

For my full review click on the link below:
https://crossexaminingcrime.wordpress...

[Ivan Monckton · Rating 5 out of 5]

Superb crime/ political thriller, where every detail is believable, and the depictions of people and places so vivid, this reader almost felt he was in the story!

[VT Dorchester · Rating 4 out of 5]

I wasn't sure if I'd read this before when I picked it up - but I have.

I didn't mind at all reading it again, although it's not quite as fun as some of the other Ambler I've read - I think the "problem" might be that this book has two "main characters" and while one has
immediate sympathy for the first, the Indian clerk who want to run a bus line, the second character, the American tourist, is a bit more difficult to sympathize with, especially as (British) Ambler has some sarcastic/cutting comments to offer about the whole phenomenon of The American Tourist. He is also, it should be noted, ultimately a bit skeptical also about the 'n0ble British officer' and gets rather cynical about things in general towards the end.
It's possible that some people will miss some of the humour.
It's also, obviously, a book written in 1959, and some things have changed since then.
Some things have stayed rather the same, old chap.

The start of this book is a masterclass in intriguing and page-turning introduction, and while the pace does relent, the first sequence had me grinning in awe.
There is a minor but very colourful "bad guy" with a history of fighting Communists who a) has stainless steel teeth and b) reminds you that a lot of Ambler's good guys were communists, even though in this book the American is (almost to a comic effect) reflexively very anti-Communist.

This book has me contemplating buying all the Ambler I can find and reading one a month as a project.

[Pirate · Rating 5 out of 5]

Classic outstanding Ambler with his usual array of accidental heroes lolloping from one mishap to another with the initial premise like a butterfly flapping its wings the waves that creates. Terrific story and prescient re well meaning patronising Americans thinking money will be the panacea for all the world's ills in the time of the Cold War and European powers beginning to lose their colonial gems....this came before the gross misadventure in Vietnam and there is a telling exchange between a French character Monsieur Seguin and the American 'hero' Greg Nilsen. The Frenchman needless to say is not taken by the American cuisine on the cruise ship but free with his lessons about the USA's gifts to the world..."America is rich and behave like the rich always behave. When they begin to fear death, they become philanthropists." Away from such speak there are also moments of great humour ...the passenger from hell you do not wish to be tied in with on a cruise ship Arlene and her fancy dress effort is laugh out loud stuff......magical magical Ambler. Greene was great -- there is a reference to The Quiet American in the book when they disembark in Vietnam -- but Ambler for me is on a higher plane.

[Melanie Smallman · Rating 3 out of 5]

Warning - spoilers.

I'd read other works by Ambler and found them enjoyable, but running to a certain formula - an innocent abroad gets caught up in underworld and/or political shenanigans in Eastern Europe, the Balkans, Turkey, but manages to come out reasonably unscathed. This one seemed to be breaking the mould somewhat at the start, since the main protagonist in the opening chapters was much more streetwise and shady than his usual heroes. The setting was definitely out of his usual haunts, since it shifts from Europe to Asia, and the politically charged environment of Malaysia, Singapore and Indonesia in the fifties. However, before I had read all that far, out went the savvy Indian character and in came the naive American. After that it was business as usual - hero gets drawn into murky business, gets into deadly danger, but with some luck and help from various people manages to come out okay and do the bad guys a bad turn. It was quite entertaining, but nothing new. And I definitely do not recommend it if you are easily upset by racist or sexist language and attitudes; this is not a modern novel and does not read like one.

[Lloyd Hughes · Rating 4 out of 5]

Girija was a clerk on an estate in Malay (Indonesia). Originally from India, his father had just enough status to get Girija a good education that would enable a solid middle class lifestyle. But alas his father died unexpectedly and Girija had to resort to Plan B and was indeed fortunate to land a position on an estate. He was bright enough to work his way up to clerical and accounting duties for the estate manager. He also had dreams of owing a bus service in the small village near where he lived. Fortune presented him with opportunity, he grabbed hold, exhibited great patience, negotiation skills, moxie, and ability to plan and execute. As a result we meet a cast of characters who are filled with the human condition; Greg and Dorothy Nielsen from Wilmington DE on a world-wide tour; the Tan brothers who play fast and loose in the import/export business; Mr Ludeker who has a knack of selling other persons’ property and pocketing the proceeds; and ambassadors representing Great Britain and USA all in an Indonesian setting.

Eric Ambler is amazing, 4 stars.

[Nigel · Rating 5 out of 5]

There's a sort of thriller, and I don't know if they do this any more or if things have changed so radically since their heyday they're simply unrecognisable, that takes the research-driven mechanics of its plot profoundly seriously, such that much of it is the meticulous working out of practical solutions to obstacles that are either physical, financial or even philosophical. Hence, we have an Indian clerk in Malaysia who finds a cache of arms and has to work out how best to turn them into capital for his endearingly modest dream of owning and running a bus service. It's the financial side of things that draws in an American tourist to act as a broker in name only, and it's tricky dealings over getting a cheque signed that sends him and his wife into danger, because, of course, practical solutions are all very well until they meet various unavoidable imponderables to do with human nature, politics and prejudice. Intelligent, sly, and rich in setting, milieu and assorted colourful characters.

[Omanik · Rating 4 out of 5]

Wahrscheinlich Amblers absolutes Meisterwerk. Ein Roman, angesiedelt in den 50er Jahren in Malaya, der sehr viel des Lebens und der politischen Realität Ostasiens beleuchtet und gleichzeitig eine spannende Geschichte erzählt.
Der besondere Kniff dieses Romans: Er beginnt mit der Entdeckung eines Waffenlagers durch einen indischen Sekretär einer malayischen Plantage. Doch unvermittelt schwenkt der Fokus über auf ein amerikanisches Ehepaar auf Weltreise. Wie diese in den Plot involviert werden, soll hier nicht verraten werden.
Ich frage mich, ob es von diesem Roman eine Verfilmung gibt. Der Stoff wäre eindeutig etwas für Hitchcook als Regisseur und James Stewart in der Rolle des Mr. Nilsen gewesen.

[Tom · Rating 5 out of 5]

I haven't read am Ambler is quite a while, and I remember now how much I appreciate his style of storytelling. I read this book in small snippets, maybe fifteen to twenty pages a day, and I found myself very much looking forward to this reading time. There's a lot of politics and international intrigue set in Southeast Asia. You get a strong sense of the time period (post WWII when the U.S. was perhaps cresting in its hegemony) and how this impacted the book's many characters. It's not an suspense book with one or two main characters, but how the plan to sell the weapons comes to fruition - with much intrigue from beginning to end.

[Rena I. · Rating 5 out of 5]

Πρώτη επαφή με τον συγκεκριμένο συγγραφέα. Έπεσε στα χέρια μου τυχαία και εξεπλάγην ευχάριστα. Ωραίος λόγος, μια ιστορία που εξελίσσεται σε περιοχή της Νοτιοανατολικής Ασίας και έτσι μπορούμε και ταξιδεύουμε και εμείς μέσα από τις σελίδες του βιβλίου. Θεωρώ πολύ σημαντικό να καταφέρνει ο συγγραφέας να μας παίρνει από το καναπέ, κρεβάτι ή όπου και να διαβάζουμε το βιβλίο και να μας μεταφέρει σε άλλα μέρη, άλλους πολιτισμούς. Καταφέρνει και μας περιγράφει την κατάσταση που επικρατούσε εκείνη την εποχή στην περιοχή της Νοτιοανατολικής Ασίας, μέσα από μια ιστορία που δεν έχει πολύ δράση αλλά είναι ενδιαφέρουσα, όπως και οι χαρακτήρες του. Διαβάζετε ευχάριστα

[Heep · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wow - this is the third Ambler novel for me and it is great. Although not the author's most acclaimed, I found it totally engrossing. The narrative is meticulously and beautifully crafted - a wonderful demonstration of bait and switch. It is like a magic trick. The closer you look the more you are distracted. Even a compelling and intelligent protagonist is not able to navigate a Goldberg machine of double-dealing and greed. In fact, it is the protagonist's wile that keeps things credible. Ambler is often cited as an inspiration for Le Carre, and this book gives proof.