The Light of Day

Title: The Light of Day

Author: Eric Ambler

Number of pages: 287

Started: 2 February 2009

Finished: 4 February 2009

Opening words:

It came down to this: if I had not been arrested by the Turkish police, I would have been arrested by the Greek police. I had no choice but to do as this man Harper told me. He was entirely responsible for what happened to me.

Plot summary:

When Arthur Abdel Simpson first spots Harper in the Athens airport, he recognizes him as a tourist unfamiliar with city and in need of a private driver. In other words, the perfect mark for Simpson's brand of entrepreneurship. But Harper proves to be more the spider than the fly when he catches Simpson rifling his wallet for traveller's checks. Soon Simpson finds himself blackmailed into driving a suspicious car across the Turkish border. Then, when he is caught again, this time by the police, he faces a choice: cooperate with the Turks and spy on his erstwhile colleagues or end up in one of Turkey's notorious prisons. The authorities suspect an attempted coup, but Harper and his gang of international jewel thieves have planned something both less sinister and much, much more audacious.

What I thought:

I enjoyed this book. It was an easy, nicely paced read that took you through the story of a guy who saw himself very hard done by in life and then gets mixed up in a major sinister plot with the Turks and he isn’t really sure who he can trust. It’s an interesting book and switches between the unfolding tale and the things the main character looks back on to explain how he ended up in the situation he was in.

A good spy type novel and a nicely written book.