Eric Ambler has built up a reputation for creating what is today considered the espionage story 'stereotype': men meeting on dim cobbled street corners, late at night, in a central European locale dressed in suits under belted trenchcoats and fedoras, smoking cigarettes after ever third syllable uttered ... or the rank amateur, caught up in a situation far larger than they are equipped to handle and -- somehow -- managing to hold their own against the professionals.



This novel has elements -- and first-time stereotypes -- like these within its pages. Desmond Kenton is strapped for cash and accepts a small job from a strange man he meets on-board a train. Simple put, he is to deliver a parcel -- which this man will give him -- to the man on the train! Although it sounds ludicrous, the payment certainly does not and Kenton accepts. The problem starts when Kenton tries to deliver the parcel and he soon learns not to trust strangers.



Ambler is a master storyteller and weaves a fast-paced plot with an eye for detail and a desire to mislead. There are times when the reader feels like Kenton and cannot distinguish friend from foe.