Uncommon Danger (Audible Audio Edition) Eric Ambler Simon Poland Audible Studios Books
Download As PDF : Uncommon Danger (Audible Audio Edition) Eric Ambler Simon Poland Audible Studios Books
Kenton's career as a journalist depends on his facility with languages, his knowledge of European politics and his quick judgement. Where his judgement sometimes fails him, however, is in his personal life.
When he travels to Nuremberg to investigate a story about a top-level meeting of Nazi officials, he inadvertently finds himself on a train bound for Austria after a bad night of gambling. Stranded with no money, Kenton jumps at the chance to earn a fee helping a refugee smuggle securities across the border. Yet he soon discovers that the documents he holds have far more than cash value - and that they could cost him his life...
Uncommon Danger (Audible Audio Edition) Eric Ambler Simon Poland Audible Studios Books
Everywhere Kenton goes, he seems to have the misfortune of finding a dead body with a knife protruding from its back. The police believe Kenton is responsible for at least one of the deaths, so he is on the run. His only chance to prove his innocence lies in recovering the photographs that a stranger gave him while he was on a train to Austria -- photographs he no longer possesses. Unfortunately for Kenton, at least two adversaries are also determined to find the photographs. As Kenton makes his way from Nuremberg to Linz to Prague, a journey that becomes more desperate by the minute, he tries to puzzle out the relationships between the various parties who are after the photographs. Along the way, he attempts to anticipate their next moves, the better to survive the journey.This formula -- an innocent man caught in a web of intrigue must use his wits to save himself while thwarting the evildoers -- is the sort of thing that Alfred Hitchcock loved to film (Background to Danger was, in fact, filmed in 1943, but by Raoul Walsh). Background to Danger has all the hallmarks of a black-and-white Hitchcock film: a brooding atmosphere, a strong sense of place, quirky characters, sharp dialog, and suspense that begins to build from the opening scene. Yet the plot wasn't formulaic when Eric Ambler wrote Background to Danger; Ambler is one of the formula's originators, and writers who subsequently followed the formula have rarely done it better than Ambler.
The plot (as we learn in the prologue, it all has to do with oil) is complex without becoming convoluted. Action scenes alternate with chapters that engage the intellect, producing a story that drives forward at a brisk pace without ever becoming mindless. Ambler didn't feel the need to bog down the text with unnecessary verbiage as have so many of his successors; the story is tight. This isn't Eric Ambler's best novel (my favorite so far is A Coffin for Dimitrios) but it is more entertaining than most of the thrillers written in more recent decades. If I could, I would give Background to Danger 4 1/2 stars.
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Uncommon Danger (Audible Audio Edition) Eric Ambler Simon Poland Audible Studios Books Reviews
Vintage Ambler. I really enjoy his stories as they are mostly set in pre-war Europe and as I continually travelled all of Eastern and Western Europe from the 60s to date one can compare then and now and get a very good feel for the changes that have taken place since the second WW
Nothing to add.
Eric Ambler was a prolific and talented suspense writer. Background to Danger is about an ordinary civilian, a freelance reporter, caught up in pre-war intrigue he does not understand. It is amazing that Ambler wrote this book before the outcome of the war could be known. Brilliant.
It's not one of Ambler's best but maybe it's me. There's much more action than most of his novels that I've read. There's too many surprises and getting out of impossible situations. And the names of the characters? So many characters with difficult names. Well, many it was me but I've read other Ambler books I enjoyed much more.
I generally like Eric Ambler but found this book more tedious than most of his. The ultimately complicated plot required several pages of dense exposition at the end; this was not only dry reading but it broke down the limited perspective and the desperate immediacy established in the earlier chapters. Almost seemed as though the author just grew tired of this tale and decided to wrap it all up as quickly as possible. Maybe his publisher gave him a deadline?
Might add more to this later.
I'm am surprised I enjoyed this as much as I did! It's not the typical type of story I read. The mysteries I'm used to reading are far more "fluffy" than this. However, the characters in "Background to Danger" were so intriguing and - oddly enough, warm - that I found myself sucked into the characters as much as the mystery.
I've only given this four stars because, really, of my own personal tastes and lack of knowledge on the countries and foreign relationships the story deals with. I'm sure the book is worthy of 5 stars for anyone who knows more about this era, and is more used to this kind of mystery.
Being the squimish person that I am, I was very pleased that the book isn't very graphic. Yes, people get killed, but, happily, Ambler doesn't go into much detail.
I also appreciated the good guy/bad guy, somewhat blurred lines of right and wrong... the story presents interesting circumstances that place our protagonists in situations where what would appear to be "wrong" is, perhaps, actually "right." This said, the story focuses on the mystery and the "messages" aren't overly apparent and really just a subtext for those wishing to seek them.
This is a very interesting read and I'd be more than happy to read it again and partake of another Ambler adventure.
Once again an "ordinary man" is thrust into extraordinary circumstances. In this case, a freelance newspaper writer (last name Kenton) becomes entangled in an espionage game in the period just before WWII. Kenton has suffered losses at cards and, broke, catches a train out of Germany to Austria, where he hopes to borrow money. A fellow traveler with a strange tale that Kenton doesn't believe asks Kenton to carry some papers across the border for him. Despite misgivings, Kenton is persuaded by a welcome cash payment to accommodate the man. True to form, the papers are photo images of military plans which, in the wrong hands, could cause great harm to the peace. Thus begins a story of murder, deceit, thrilling chases, and improbable escapes. Best of all, we see Kenton evaluating his various responses to these swiftly changing circumstances, finding in himself a courage and resourcefulness that surprises him and those he meets. In the end, he finds himself allied with Communists in opposition to Fascists, not for any political conviction, but because the Fascist faction seeks to do harm and the Communist faction seeks to prevent harm. This is an easy read about a likable character (actually several likable characters).
Everywhere Kenton goes, he seems to have the misfortune of finding a dead body with a knife protruding from its back. The police believe Kenton is responsible for at least one of the deaths, so he is on the run. His only chance to prove his innocence lies in recovering the photographs that a stranger gave him while he was on a train to Austria -- photographs he no longer possesses. Unfortunately for Kenton, at least two adversaries are also determined to find the photographs. As Kenton makes his way from Nuremberg to Linz to Prague, a journey that becomes more desperate by the minute, he tries to puzzle out the relationships between the various parties who are after the photographs. Along the way, he attempts to anticipate their next moves, the better to survive the journey.
This formula -- an innocent man caught in a web of intrigue must use his wits to save himself while thwarting the evildoers -- is the sort of thing that Alfred Hitchcock loved to film (Background to Danger was, in fact, filmed in 1943, but by Raoul Walsh). Background to Danger has all the hallmarks of a black-and-white Hitchcock film a brooding atmosphere, a strong sense of place, quirky characters, sharp dialog, and suspense that begins to build from the opening scene. Yet the plot wasn't formulaic when Eric Ambler wrote Background to Danger; Ambler is one of the formula's originators, and writers who subsequently followed the formula have rarely done it better than Ambler.
The plot (as we learn in the prologue, it all has to do with oil) is complex without becoming convoluted. Action scenes alternate with chapters that engage the intellect, producing a story that drives forward at a brisk pace without ever becoming mindless. Ambler didn't feel the need to bog down the text with unnecessary verbiage as have so many of his successors; the story is tight. This isn't Eric Ambler's best novel (my favorite so far is A Coffin for Dimitrios) but it is more entertaining than most of the thrillers written in more recent decades. If I could, I would give Background to Danger 4 1/2 stars.
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