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Light of Day
 
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Light of Day [Large Print] (Hardcover)

by Eric Ambler (Author)
4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)

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Product Description

Product Description

The Light of Day was the basis for Jules Dassin’s classic film, Topkapi.

When Arthur Abdel Simpson first spots Harper in the Athens airport, he recognizes him as a tourist unfamiliar with city and in need of a private driver. In other words, the perfect mark for Simpson’s brand of entrepreneurship. But Harper proves to be more the spider than the fly when he catches Simpson riffling his wallet for traveler’s checks. Soon Simpson finds himself blackmailed into driving a suspicious car across the Turkish border. Then, when he is caught again, this time by the police, he faces a choice: cooperate with the Turks and spy on his erstwhile colleagues or end up in one of Turkey’s notorious prisons. The authorities suspect an attempted coup, but Harper and his gang of international jewel thieves have planned something both less sinister and much, much more audacious. --This text refers to the Paperback edition.


Ingram

English novelist Eric Ambler does a masterful job of painting realistic portraits of characters and foreign landscapes and mixes suspense and a subtle twist for added color. 5 cassettes. --This text refers to the Audio Cassette edition.

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Customer Reviews

3 Reviews
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Average Customer Review
4.7 out of 5 stars (3 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
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5.0 out of 5 stars The Light of Day - Possibly Best Novel by Eric Ambler, April 26 2003
By Michael Wischmeyer (Houston, Texas) - See all my reviews
(TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   
This review is from: The Light of Day (Library Binding)
The Light of Day is an exceptionally good story that involves a rather unusual protagonist for a suspenseful thriller, a petty crook named Arthur Abdel Simpson. The setting is Athens and Instanbul in 1962. The book was a best seller, and it was adapted into a successful movie, a lighthearted caper titled Topkapi (1964). Peter Ustinov received an academy award for his portrayal of Arthur Simpson.

Arthur, as the protagonist in The Light of Day, is disagreeable, dishonest, and disreputable. He blames others for his failings, he cheats his clients, and he has served a short sentence for distributing pornographic material. Arthur is caught stealing and is blackmailed into driving a car from Athens to Istanbul. The bumbling Arthur is arrested for smuggling at the Turkish border and now finds himself working unwillingly for the Turkish secret police. Neither Arthur nor the reader quite understands the situation. Is he mixed up with a political plot, arms smuggling, drug trafficking, or something else? Despite my misgivings, I found myself becoming sympathetic to Arthur. Had he conned me too?

I highly recommend this suspenseful novel by Eric Ambler. I enjoyed (and reviewed) both Ambler's A Coffin for Dimitrios and Journey into Fear, but The Light of Day is even better. This book would be a good starting point for anyone new to Eric Ambler.

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4.0 out of 5 stars Lively thriller by a genre master, Jan 3 2002
By F. J. Harvey "Cricket ,country music and a go... (Birmingham England) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   
This review is from: The Light of Day (Paperback)
Not least among the delights of this splendid book is that,until quite late in the day,the reader is never quite certain what type of book it is going to be.It hints at a spy story,it could easily turn out to be a political thriller with a coup at its centre In the event,it is a caper-heist story wih a gang of criminals intent on a daring museum robbery.(It was the source for the Peter Ustinov movie "Topkapi")
The other great achievement of the novel is its narrator,"Arthur Abdel Simpson".He is the son of an Anglo-Egyptian couple,educated in a minor English private school and a man of dubious honesty and an ex-con into the bargain ,having served time for the dissemination of pornographic magazines.When the book opens he is eking out a living as an Athens taxi driver/tourist guide/pimp.He is interrupted in the act of robbing an American tourist,"Harper",who blackmails him into delivering a car from Athens to Turkey neglecting to mention the illegal cargo concealed in the vehicle .When the Turks discover this they force the reluctant coward to act as their agent within the gang to whom he is delivering the car and its contents
The gang are intent on robbing the Topkapi museum and the robbery forms the climax of the novel.

Arthur is a masterly creation-cowardly,quick witted,oleaginous,and physically unprepossessing,yet strangely likeable
You end up caring for him and this transforms a well written thriller into something a little bit more memorable.The other characters are more sketchily drawn but this a minor caveat

Recommended!

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5.0 out of 5 stars The Light of Day, April 1 2000
By Ray Edwards "raypated" (Henderson, Texas) - See all my reviews
This review is from: The Light of Day (Paperback)
Having been to the Topkapi Museum in Istanbul, Turkey, I can say that Erich Ambler's book is geographically accurate. It is also breathtaking. I had read it years before, but find it even more interesting now.
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