Alfred Hitchcock said, "Mr. Ambler is a phenomenon," and Graham Greene referred to him as "our greatest thriller writer." This is an ideal title for introducing listeners to this master. Ambler brilliantly paints realistic portraits of his characters and the foreign landscape, mixing suspense with a subtle twist for added color. When Arthur Abdel Simpson first spots Harper in the Athens airport, he recognizes him as a tourist unfamiliar with the city...

Returning to his hotel room after a late-night flirtation with a cabaret dancer at an Istanbul boîte, Graham is surprised by an intruder with a gun. What follows is a nightmare of intrigue for the English armaments engineer as he makes his way home aboard an Italian freighter. Among the passengers are a couple of Nazi assassins intent on preventing his returning to England with plans for a Turkish defense system, the seductive cabaret dancer and...

The freighter Mary Dear is adrift in stormy seas. All have abandoned ship except for one man-- exhausted first officer Gideon Patch who has taken command. Appearances indicate he's a madman, but Patch isn't a man who relies on appearances.