- Paperback: 320 pages
- Publisher: No Exit Press; 18th Birthday ed edition (1 Aug 2005)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 1842431498
- ISBN-13: 978-1842431498
- Product Dimensions: 19.3 x 13 x 2.3 cm
- Average Customer Review: 4.9 out of 5 stars See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 891,890 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
The Levanter
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More About the Author
Product Description
Review
The foremost thriller writer of our time --Sunday Times
--This text refers to an alternate
Paperback
edition.
Product Description
Syria: 1970. Three years after the Six Days War. Michael Howell - utterly apolitical and genetically programmed for survival. A Levantine mongrel of Armenian, Lebanese, Greek Cypriot, Syrian and "fractionally" British blood who possessed profitable businesses throughout the Middle East and an Italian mistress who doubled as the office manager. So life was sweet for Michael Howell until one night in Damascus he discovered that his factories had become the clandestine operations base of the Palestinian Action Force - a fanatical terrorist organisation committed to the destruction of Israel - and he was caught in the middle with nowhere to run.
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
The Levanter is a book I buy again and gain in order to re-read it, and of how many thrillers can one say that? Le Carré at his best writes this well. Chandler merits regular re-readings, as does Elmore leonard sometimes ('Glitz', 'La Brava'....). Who else?
The narrator of this story is a science graduate of the University of London, like Ambler himself, so the scientific detail is all accurate, unforced and down to earth. Ambler never wastes a word and yet somehow he manages to enter the mindset of the (anti-) hero who is blackmailed into joining a Palestinian terrorist organisation. He is not 'a man of violence' but in the end decisions have to be taken.
Ambler is a supremely cerebral novelist but that does not prevent him from writing very exciting stories. His characters are usually ambiguous which merely serves to make the stories more believable and indeed more enjoyable. When you've read this - and you must - try the 'Schirmer Inheritance', 'A Kind of Anger', 'Passage of Arms'. 'The Intercom Conspiracy'.......damn it all. Read them all.
The narrator of this story is a science graduate of the University of London, like Ambler himself, so the scientific detail is all accurate, unforced and down to earth. Ambler never wastes a word and yet somehow he manages to enter the mindset of the (anti-) hero who is blackmailed into joining a Palestinian terrorist organisation. He is not 'a man of violence' but in the end decisions have to be taken.
Ambler is a supremely cerebral novelist but that does not prevent him from writing very exciting stories. His characters are usually ambiguous which merely serves to make the stories more believable and indeed more enjoyable. When you've read this - and you must - try the 'Schirmer Inheritance', 'A Kind of Anger', 'Passage of Arms'. 'The Intercom Conspiracy'.......damn it all. Read them all.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
This novel is set in Syria over a period of three months in the early 1970s. It describes how a businessman, Michael Howard, the head of a family business that has traded in the middle east for 70 years, is forced to assist a terrorist group in planning and enabling a major attack on Israel, and how the execution of that attack is eventually foiled.
It begins with an American journalist, Lewis Prescott, describing how he agreed to interview Salah Ghaled, the sadistic leader of a small terrorist group, the Palestinian Action Force (PAF). The interview itself is described in a later chapter. Then Howard tells the story of how he got sucked into the activities of the PAF. It starts with him negotiating with a junior minister, Dr Hawa, for a joint venture with the Syrian government to make batteries, and as a consequence he hired a chemist called Issa. Later, Teresa Malandra, who runs Howard's office, alerts him that chemicals have been purchased that are not used in making batteries. He suspects fraud, and one evening he and Malandra go to the plant to investigate. There he finds Issa giving bomb-making instructions to a group of young Arabs. Also there is Ghaled. He forces Howard and Malandra to co-operate with the PAF by threatening their lives. In a short chapter by Malandra we then learn more of Howard's personality, partly shrewd trader, partly engineer and partly wily politician. He is a complex man, and this helps us understand Howard's later actions, some of which are open to criticism.
The co-operation with the PAF consists of allowing the resources of Howard's business to be used to supply and test materials used in making bombs that will be used in an attack on Israel, and of altering the route of one of his cargo ships so that it passes close to the shore of Israel to enable the attack. From what he has seen, Howard deduces that this will consist of the detonation by a radio signal from the ship of large caches of explosives smuggled into Israel, coordinated with a rocket attack from a smaller boat that will `shadow' his own ship. Howard attempts to frustrate the plan by enlisting the help of Hawa, but this fails because of the Syrian government's dived loyalties. In desperation, Howard contacts the Israeli secret service and alerts them to the plot. He also arranges to travel on the ship with the small party of terrorists, which includes Ghaled. By altering the course of the ship, he is able to put Israel out of range and so thwart the attack. In the ensuing struggle Ghaled is shot and killed, probably by Howard, but this is never made clear, and in later court proceeding no mention is made of this.
The book ends with Prescott reviewing the events and interviewing Howard. The latter is angry that people do not understand what happened, that the Israelis have not said anything by way of explanation, having presented the incident as a simple highjacking by pirates, and that as a result his family business is finished in Syria and at great loss is having to re-establish itself in Italy.
This is a superb political thriller with an original plot that is totally believable. It captures the political atmosphere of Syria at the time, with deceit and intrigue everywhere, Howard not being exempt from this. It describes in a convincing way the difficult balancing act that had to be performed by anyone trying to do business in the region at that time. The portraits of not only the main characters, but also the many `bit players' are very well drawn. It is an excellent read.
It begins with an American journalist, Lewis Prescott, describing how he agreed to interview Salah Ghaled, the sadistic leader of a small terrorist group, the Palestinian Action Force (PAF). The interview itself is described in a later chapter. Then Howard tells the story of how he got sucked into the activities of the PAF. It starts with him negotiating with a junior minister, Dr Hawa, for a joint venture with the Syrian government to make batteries, and as a consequence he hired a chemist called Issa. Later, Teresa Malandra, who runs Howard's office, alerts him that chemicals have been purchased that are not used in making batteries. He suspects fraud, and one evening he and Malandra go to the plant to investigate. There he finds Issa giving bomb-making instructions to a group of young Arabs. Also there is Ghaled. He forces Howard and Malandra to co-operate with the PAF by threatening their lives. In a short chapter by Malandra we then learn more of Howard's personality, partly shrewd trader, partly engineer and partly wily politician. He is a complex man, and this helps us understand Howard's later actions, some of which are open to criticism.
The co-operation with the PAF consists of allowing the resources of Howard's business to be used to supply and test materials used in making bombs that will be used in an attack on Israel, and of altering the route of one of his cargo ships so that it passes close to the shore of Israel to enable the attack. From what he has seen, Howard deduces that this will consist of the detonation by a radio signal from the ship of large caches of explosives smuggled into Israel, coordinated with a rocket attack from a smaller boat that will `shadow' his own ship. Howard attempts to frustrate the plan by enlisting the help of Hawa, but this fails because of the Syrian government's dived loyalties. In desperation, Howard contacts the Israeli secret service and alerts them to the plot. He also arranges to travel on the ship with the small party of terrorists, which includes Ghaled. By altering the course of the ship, he is able to put Israel out of range and so thwart the attack. In the ensuing struggle Ghaled is shot and killed, probably by Howard, but this is never made clear, and in later court proceeding no mention is made of this.
The book ends with Prescott reviewing the events and interviewing Howard. The latter is angry that people do not understand what happened, that the Israelis have not said anything by way of explanation, having presented the incident as a simple highjacking by pirates, and that as a result his family business is finished in Syria and at great loss is having to re-establish itself in Italy.
This is a superb political thriller with an original plot that is totally believable. It captures the political atmosphere of Syria at the time, with deceit and intrigue everywhere, Howard not being exempt from this. It describes in a convincing way the difficult balancing act that had to be performed by anyone trying to do business in the region at that time. The portraits of not only the main characters, but also the many `bit players' are very well drawn. It is an excellent read.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
Perhaps this is only my own ignorance of the genre, but an unreliable narrator is not something I would have expected to find in a spy story. Not that this is exactly what we get, but still, the competing perspectives of the three narrators in this novel mean that central protagonist Michael Howell is nicely decentred, and we quickly learn that we shouldn't quite trust his opinion of himself. For depite what the back cover would have us believe, he is not really apolitical, being complicit with Syrian government officials long before the mechanics of the novel's plot involves him with Palestinian terrorists.
Nor is this exactly a spy story either, with the spies largely kept to the margins of the narrative, the focus remaining on Michael Howell, for whom the text is an attempt to exonerate himself from charges his unwilling involvement has brought about from the international community, and on the terrorist leader Ghaled. Ambler's depiction of Ghaled has the feel of an authentic portayal of a fanatic, a man who despite his devotion to his political cause is also clearly guilty of overweaning pride and arrogance, not only a terrorist, but also a manipulative gangster. He is neither a monster, but nor is there any attempt to 'explain' his murderous actions by resort to cheap psycologising.
Whilst Ambler is excellent at maintaining the ambiguity of his characters, and in conveying the details of Howell's business dealings, Arabic society and the Palestinian/Israeli confict as it then was in ways that rarely feel forced, if I have one criticsm it's that I didn't get much of a feel for the various locations where the story takes place. The cover of No Exit Press' edition is wonderfully evocative, but some of that was missing from a narrative which is otherwise a little terse, detail being conveyed as much through dialogue as through sometimes rather plain description. This could of course be considered a strength. Ambler has little time for cheap exoticism, but is instead chiefly concerned with the morality and actions of his deaply flawed central character, and with how Howell contrives to deal with the intricate trap which he has found himself in.
An interesting novel, which shows how Ambler was as much interested in probing the subtleties of character and motive as he was in composing a thrilling narrative.
Nor is this exactly a spy story either, with the spies largely kept to the margins of the narrative, the focus remaining on Michael Howell, for whom the text is an attempt to exonerate himself from charges his unwilling involvement has brought about from the international community, and on the terrorist leader Ghaled. Ambler's depiction of Ghaled has the feel of an authentic portayal of a fanatic, a man who despite his devotion to his political cause is also clearly guilty of overweaning pride and arrogance, not only a terrorist, but also a manipulative gangster. He is neither a monster, but nor is there any attempt to 'explain' his murderous actions by resort to cheap psycologising.
Whilst Ambler is excellent at maintaining the ambiguity of his characters, and in conveying the details of Howell's business dealings, Arabic society and the Palestinian/Israeli confict as it then was in ways that rarely feel forced, if I have one criticsm it's that I didn't get much of a feel for the various locations where the story takes place. The cover of No Exit Press' edition is wonderfully evocative, but some of that was missing from a narrative which is otherwise a little terse, detail being conveyed as much through dialogue as through sometimes rather plain description. This could of course be considered a strength. Ambler has little time for cheap exoticism, but is instead chiefly concerned with the morality and actions of his deaply flawed central character, and with how Howell contrives to deal with the intricate trap which he has found himself in.
An interesting novel, which shows how Ambler was as much interested in probing the subtleties of character and motive as he was in composing a thrilling narrative.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
Plus Ca Change, Plus C'Est La Meme Chose!
To read or not to read the great espionage novels of Eric Ambler? That is the question most people ignore because they are not familiar with Mr. Read more
Published on 25 Jun 2004 by Donald Mitchell
Plus Ca Change, Plus C'Est La Meme Chose!
To read or not to read the great espionage novels of Eric Ambler? That is the question most people ignore because they are not familiar with Mr. Read more
Published on 25 Jun 2004 by Donald Mitchell
Plus Ca Change, Plus C'Est La Meme Chose!
To read or not to read the great espionage novels of Eric Ambler? That is the question most people ignore because they are not familiar with Mr. Read more
Published on 25 Jun 2004 by Donald Mitchell
Plus Ca Change, Plus C'Est La Meme Chose!
To read or not to read the great espionage novels of Eric Ambler? That is the question most people ignore because they are not familiar with Mr. Read more
Published on 13 Jun 2004 by Donald Mitchell
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