Journey into Fear

'The new crime and espionage series from Penguin Classics makes for a mouth-watering prospect' Daily Telegraph 1940. An unassuming English engineer has travelled to Turkey on business. And somebody wants him dead. It all began when Graham was taken to a nightclub in Istanbul and noticed a man in a crumpled suit, watching him. Then he narrowly missed being killed by gunfire on returning to his hotel room. Now, terrified, he has been helped to escape in secret on a passenger steamer home. But although Graham may try to run, he cannot hide from his pursuers forever, and soon he is caught up in a nightmare beyond his control.

Eric Ambler (1909-98) was born in London to parents who were part-time entertainers. Between 1937 and 1940, he published his great anti-fascist spy thrillers, from Uncommon Danger to Journey into Fear. In 1940, he joined the Royal Artillery and was later transferred to the army film unit. After the war he worked as a screenwriter in England and Hollywood, and wrote novels including Passage of Arms, The Light of Day and A Kind of Anger.