 First edition (publ. Farrar Straus Giroux) | |
| Author | Eric Ambler |
|---|---|
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Language | English |
| Publisher | Farrar, Straus and Giroux |
Publication date | 1981 |
| Media type | |
| OCLC | 952979775 |
| Preceded by | Send No More Roses |
The Care of Time (1981) is the last novel by British spy fiction writer Eric Ambler. It deals with the theme of international terrorism, using fictional unpublished memoirs of Russian terrorist Sergey Nechayev as a plot device.
Robert Halliday is forced by Karlis Zander to help edit the memoirs of a 19th century Russian terrorist Sergey Nechayev, otherwise Zander will detonate a bomb. Halliday soon discovers that Zander and his daughter are themselves threatened by a Middle Eastern terrorist group.
Kirkus Reviews wrote that the book is "elaborately farfetched" and "doesn't quite triumph by the more conventional criteria for suspense". [1] However, P.D. James wrote "Ambler controls his complicated plot with brilliant expertise". [2]
Writing in 2015, John Gray described the book as "prescient". [3]
The book was adapted for television in 1990, directed by John Davies, with Michael Brandon as Robert Halliday and Christopher Lee as Karlis Zander.
Spy fiction is a genre of literature involving espionage as an important context or plot device. It emerged in the early twentieth century, inspired by rivalries and intrigues between the major powers, and the establishment of modern intelligence agencies. It was given new impetus by the development of fascism and communism in the lead-up to World War II, continued to develop during the Cold War, and received a fresh impetus from the emergence of rogue states, international criminal organizations, global terrorist networks, maritime piracy and technological sabotage and espionage as potent threats to Western societies. As a genre, spy fiction is thematically related to the novel of adventure, the thriller and the politico-military thriller.
Passage of Arms is a 1959 novel by Eric Ambler.
Eric Clifford Ambler OBE was an English author of thrillers, in particular spy novels, who introduced a new realism to the genre. Also working as a screenwriter, Ambler used the pseudonym Eliot Reed for books co-written with Charles Rodda.
Sergey Gennadiyevich Nechayev was a Russian anarchist, part of the Russian nihilist movement, known for his single-minded pursuit of revolution by any means necessary, including revolutionary terror.
Licence Renewed, first published in 1981, is the first novel by John Gardner featuring Ian Fleming's secret agent, James Bond. It was the first proper James Bond novel since Kingsley Amis's Colonel Sun in 1968. Carrying the Glidrose Publications copyright, it was first published in the United Kingdom by Jonathan Cape and in the United States by Richard Marek, a G. P. Putnam's Sons imprint.
Mao II, published in 1991, is Don DeLillo's tenth novel. The book tells the story of a novelist, struggling to finish a novel, who travels to Lebanon to assist a writer being held hostage. The title is derived from a series of Andy Warhol silkscreen prints depicting Mao Zedong. DeLillo dedicated the book to his friend Gordon Lish. Major themes of the book include crowds and the effects of political terrorism. Mao II received positive reviews from critics and won the PEN/Faulkner Award in 1992.
Journey into Fear is a 1940 spy thriller novel by Eric Ambler. Film adaptations were released in 1943 and 1975.
Cause for Alarm is a novel by Eric Ambler first published in 1938. Set in Fascist Italy in that year, the book is one of Ambler's classic spy thrillers.
The Master of Petersburg is a 1994 novel by South African writer J. M. Coetzee. The novel is a work of fiction but features the Russian writer Fyodor Dostoyevsky as its protagonist. It is a deep, complex work that draws on the life of Dostoyevsky, the life of the author and the history of Russia to produce profoundly disturbing results.
Free Agent is a 2009 spy thriller novel written by Jeremy Duns. It is the first in a trilogy of spy thrillers featuring MI6 agent Paul Dark and is set at the height of the Cold War in 1969. The novel is set in London and Nigeria during the Nigerian Civil War. Duns has said he was influenced by the novels A Dandy in Aspic, by Derek Marlowe and The Human Factor by Graham Greene.
Dirty Story: A Further Account of the Life and Adventures of Arthur Abdel Simpson is a 1967 novel by Eric Ambler. It was also published as This Gun for Hire.
A Kind of Anger is a novel by British thriller writer Eric Ambler, first published in 1964. Like many of Ambler's post-war novels the thriller plot is laced with elements of comedy.
The Mask of Dimitrios is a 1939 novel by Eric Ambler. In the United States it was published as A Coffin for Dimitrios.
Gray Day: My Undercover Mission to Expose America's First Cyber Spy is a 2019 non-fiction book by Eric O'Neill, published by Crown Books, about his mission to collect evidence against Robert Hanssen, an employee of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) who spied for Russia.
Epitaph for a Spy is a 1938 spy novel by Eric Ambler.
Judgment on Deltchev is a 1951 novel by Eric Ambler. It was his first solo novel for eleven years, and Ambler was worried about producing a bad novel, but did not. The book is a courtroom drama based on the show trial of Bulgarian politician Nikola Petkov. It provoked hostile responses from Communist fellow travellers.
The Light of Day is a 1962 novel by Eric Ambler.
The Levanter is a 1972 novel by Eric Ambler.
Send No More Roses is a 1977 novel by Eric Ambler. It was published in the United States as The Siege of the Villa Lipp.
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