The Night-Comers
![]() First edition | |
Author | Eric Ambler |
---|---|
Language | English |
Publisher | Heinemann |
Publication date | 1956 |
Publication place | United Kingdom |
Media type | |
OCLC | 752399447 |
Preceded by | The Schirmer Inheritance |
Followed by | Passage of Arms |
The Night-Comers is a 1956 novel by Eric Ambler. In the United States it was published as State of Siege.[1]
The cover artist when the book was reprinted by Pan Books was S. R. Boldero.[2]
Plot
[edit]Steve Fraser is an engineer working on a dam on the Southeast-Asian island of Sunda. Sunda is a former Dutch colony, which has recently become independent. Fraser's period of employment at an end, he goes to town to catch a plane out. He meets a half Dutch, half Sundan girl, Rosalie and both get caught up in a fundamentalist Islamic group's attempt to overthrow the provisional government and the subsequent battle around the radio station. An atmospheric tale of love and adventure.
Reception
[edit]The book was inspired by the recent Indonesian National Revolution.[3]
Kirkus Reviews described it as "a sophisticated, circumspect drama of revolution and political terrorism... Not as sinister a chimera of intrigue as his earlier books, but an assured adventure tale to which the shifty, shifting character of this part of the world lends substance."[4]
References
[edit]- ^ Ambler, Eric (1956). "State of siege". Knopf.
- ^ "J.J. Marric (John Creasey) Close Up". www.shotsmag.co.uk.
- ^ "Red & White – review". the Guardian. 7 November 2010.
- ^ "State of Siege". Kirkus Reviews. 17 September 1956.