Eric Ambler - Journey into Fear

In 1940, during the "phoney" years of the Second World War, the conflict looked very different. Bombs had yet to fall on British or Germany cities. France was still uninvaded, and undefeated, and most people thought the war would probably end up like the First - bogged down in trenches. This entertaining spy thriller written during that period, thus lacks the knowledge of what would come next, and it makes for a surprisingly low key, if tense novel that lays the foundations of thrillers to come.

Eric Ambler's Journey into Fear features Graham - an unassuming military engineer who is in Turkey to sell weapons to a country that many hoped would become an early ally of Britain and France against Germany. (Spoiler: It didn't). As such these arms sales are vital to British interests, and the Turkish government. Graham survives two assassination attempts and the authorities put him on a ship as the train to France and on to England is too dangerous. Graham quickly realises that the assassins are with him on the ship. The crew think him paranoid, and he has only a nightclub dancer and an assortment of eccentric travellers to assist him. 

Its an unusual combination of espinoage thriller and locked room mystery. Who is exactly who is as important as the build up to the action packed ending. There's little here of the military details and sex that bedevils those who came after. But there's some brilliant period background and an exciting plot. You can see shades of Len Deighton, John le Carre and others here. Entertaining and nostalgic. I'm delighted to discover it was made into a Orson Welles' film in 1943.

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