Waiting for Orders [Hardcover]

Eric Ambler (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: February 1, 1991

Eric Ambler is a master of narrative and an elder statesman of suspense. He virtually created the modern spy story with his ground-breaking series of pre-WWII novels; A Coffin for Dimitrios and Journey into Fear are hailed as classics of the form. Waiting for Orders is the first volume to collect Mr. Ambler's shorter works, most of which date from the period of his greatest literary triumphs.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Most of these eight mildly diverting short stories disinterred from the work of British suspense master Ambler were written in 1939-1940 as Ambler, already a successful novelist ( A Coffin for Dimitrios ), awaited his call to military duty. Six ingenious detective short-shorts star a heel-clicking, umbrella-toting refugee ("Dr. Jan Czissar. Late Prague police. At your service") who infuriates the outclassed Mercer of Scotland Yard by being insufferably and invariably correct. In a preface, Ambler relates that the ideas for these tales came from a standard two-volume work on forensic medicine. Two suspense stories, however, beg for further development. In "The Army of the Shadows" an English surgeon driving in the Swiss Alps becomes stranded during a snow storm and then entangled in the intrigues of prewar anti-Nazis. Here Ambler expressed the soon-to-be-unpopular view that the enemy was not the German people but the Nazi tyranny. In "The Blood Bargain," salvaged from a failed novel, a corrupt Latin American tyrant uses subtle psychological tactics to gain his release from insurgents, then finds exile extremely dangerous.
Copyright 1991 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From the Publisher

5 1-hour cassettes --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 144 pages
• Publisher: Mysterious Press; 1St Edition edition (February 1, 1991)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0892962410
• ISBN-13: 978-0892962419
• Product Dimensions: 8.5 x 5.6 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 10.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,880,948 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Eric Ambler is the recipient of four Gold Dagger Awards and one Silver. In 1975, he was named Grand Master by the Mystery Writers of America.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars The Complete Short Stories, April 21, 2006

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Acute Observer (By the Shore NJ) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Waiting for Orders (Hardcover)

Waiting for Orders, by Eric Ambler

These short stories were written while Eric Ambler was waiting for the orders that would enlist him into the 1939 British Army. "The Army of the Shadows" was written for a book sold to raise money for the Red Cross. Its story is similar to his early novels: a traveler happens across a dangerous situation (and makes a political point). Was this story just sentiment?

The six very short detective stories were commissioned by a magazine. Ambler bought the standard book on forensic medicine to gain the technical material needed to create these mysteries. He created a "Czech refugee" as the detective. The "Pinchbeck Locket" explains why an accident was really murder. The clues needed to solve this case came from a newspaper story. The "Emerald Sky" is about the death of a rich man; anonymous letters claim a poisoning. The mans' son was arrested. Dr. Czissar points out the correct conclusion as to the poisoner. The "Cycling Chauffeur" is about an accidental shooting. Dr. Czissar investigated the background and found murder. The "Overheated Service Flat" tells how Mr. Jones's wife died of carbon monoxide poisoning (just like his earlier wives). Dr. Czissar explains the significance of an electric radiator. The "Drunken Socrates" is about a man whose widow soon married the man who last say him alive. Dr. Czissar tells what must be done to test for a poison. The "Gentleman Poet" tells about an apparent suicide. Dr. Czissar explains why this was in fact murder.

"The Blood Bargain" came from "a failed novel". It reads like the ending chapter of his other post-war novels, but set in South America.