A gripping spy thriller that unfolds aboard the majestic Orient Express as it crosses Europe from Ostend to Constantinople. Weaving a web of subterfuge, murder and politics along the way, the novel focuses upon the disturbing relationship between Myatt, the pragmatic Jew, and naive chorus girl Coral Musker as they engage in a desperate, angst-ridden pas-de-deux before a chilling turn of events spells an end to an unlikely interlude. Exploring the many shades of despair and hope, innocence and duplicity, the book offers a poignant testimony to Greene's extraordinary powers of insight into the human condition.
From Library Journal
This novel spins the tale of an assortment of well-drawn characters interacting against a background of intrigue, murder, sex, and treachery as they ride the Orient Express from Ostend to Constantinople. The setting lends a sense of urgency and tension to the action, as well as a sort of glamour associated with the famous train. Described by Greene as an "entertainment," a term he coined to differentiate his melodramatic works from his more serious novels (he later abandoned the separation), this absorbing thriller will be a popular addition to any fiction collection. Reader Michael Maloney has an astonishing range of voices and emotions, and even the most desultory listener will be drawn into the action and the psyches of the various players. Harriet Edwards, East Meadow P.L., NY Copyright 2001 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Review
“A tour de force... The realist and the romantic struggle with each other... inducing a sense of breathlessness and urgency.” —L.P. Hartley
“Graham Greene had wit and grace and character and story and a transcendent universal compassion that places him for all time in the ranks of world literature.” —John Le Carré
A gripping spy thriller that unfolds aboard the majestic Orient Express as it crosses Europe from Ostend to Constantinople. Weaving a web of subterfuge, murder and politics along the way, the novel focuses upon the disturbing relationship between Myatt, the pragmatic Jew, and naive chorus girl Coral Musker as they engage in a desperate, angst-ridden pas-de-deux before a chilling turn of events spells an end to an unlikely interlude. Exploring the many shades of despair and hope, innocence and duplicity, the book offers a poignant testimony to Greene's extraordinary powers of insight into the human condition.
From Library Journal
This novel spins the tale of an assortment of well-drawn characters interacting against a background of intrigue, murder, sex, and treachery as they ride the Orient Express from Ostend to Constantinople. The setting lends a sense of urgency and tension to the action, as well as a sort of glamour associated with the famous train. Described by Greene as an "entertainment," a term he coined to differentiate his melodramatic works from his more serious novels (he later abandoned the separation), this absorbing thriller will be a popular addition to any fiction collection. Reader Michael Maloney has an astonishing range of voices and emotions, and even the most desultory listener will be drawn into the action and the psyches of the various players. Harriet Edwards, East Meadow P.L., NY
Copyright 2001 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Review
“A tour de force... The realist and the romantic struggle with each other... inducing a sense of breathlessness and urgency.”
—L.P. Hartley
“Graham Greene had wit and grace and character and story and a transcendent universal compassion that places him for all time in the ranks of world literature.”
—John Le Carré