Eric Ambler, a British author of thrillers and screenplays, was well-known for The Mask of Dimitrios, which I haven't read but probably will in the foreseeable future. He is not as well known for Send No More Roses, published in the US as The Siege of the Villa Lipp. That's probably because it's not one of his books adapted into a film or miniseries. One line from it is on his Wikiquote page, however: "What use is an honest lawyer when what you need is a dishonest one?" This is eerily similar to that line about Saul Goodman, "You don't want a criminal lawyer... you want a 'criminal' lawyer."
Anyway, Send No More Roses, or whatever you want to call it, is great. The narrator, Paul Firman, is a great rogue. Frits Krom, a man staying in his house with two younger colleagues, is a social scientist who believes Firman is one of the world's great unpunished criminals. Krom is very much an irritating fool, an Ahab who couldn't beat the Whale in a game of checkers. But he's not Firman's biggest problem. No, that would be Mat Williamson, a sometime business partner who finds it convenient to end his association with Firman in a very permanent way. Things get tense, but they never stop being funny. Ambler was 68 when he published it and I think it was his second-to-last. In top form, though.
Final blogger's note: Yes, this post should have gone up last night. I mostly had it written in my head, and only after going to bed did I realize I hadn't set it down on paper. Or whatever.
1 comment:
Your brief review of Eric Ambler's Send No More Roses convinced me to search out his books - not understanding immediately of course that they might be difficult to find after so long a time. I found Cause for Alarm at Russel's today and this evening I've ordered A Coffin for Dimitrios and Send No More Roses (from Thrift) because you made it sound interesting. Getting two of his early books and a later one should be interesting.
Also interesting is the news he was married to Joan Harrison, who wrote or co-wrote many of Alfred Hitchcock's screenplays - in fact Hitchcock organized their wedding.
I also found the following comments on Fantastic Fiction:
He is often credited as the inventor of the modern political thriller and John Le Carré once described him as 'the source on which we all draw.'
and
"Our greatest thriller writer." - Graham Greene
plus, a mention of a book that was made into one of my favorite movies:
Topkapi "Arthur Abdel Simpson . . . is one of fiction's most delightful rogues, and his adventures provide the best Ambler entertainment in years." - Anthony Boucher (wrote some mysteries under the name H.H. Holmes.)
Older books are definitely interesting and well worth discovering or finding again.
Jer found this odd cartoon called Elvis and Jack Mysteries. It's pretty entertaining.
https://youtu.be/ZvZGXrrtRNA?si=eJIIBhkTouHdCvrM
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