Tt may seem remarkable that the British Government did no more than say, "Oh, how very annoying' after the massacre: but still more strange that the Soviet agent shoul be able to get into England unchallenged, rig up a sort of fortress in the country, kidnap the young lady and a newly-found friend, and detain them against the handing-over of the jewel. Enter again the military diplomatic officer, the spinster Indy, the Grand Vizier, and supers, and exit the Soviet agen: with a knife in his wame, deposited there by the Grand Vizier. And again the British Government only says, "Oh, how very annoying," and not even the wild men of the Clyde isk questions in Parliament. £0 the Grand Viaier goes back with the jewel.. Unreal, all of it, bue quite exciting—1.K.s. of handling and expression that one may well be astonished to find it. a first novel. The opening and closing scenes in the book are fall of Uramatie force. One can picture the tortured workings of the man' Andrews' mind, alternating between fear and swagger, doubt and hope, calleasnese and despair—all the find to overdo it, but here this tendency, if it existed, has been rigidly stifled 0 that there is never a false note. It is surprisingly well done. fr. Greene has set himself a high he can maintain it, and! it is assumed this will only be the forerunner of many another book from his able pen, there can be no question that his future in the field of novel assured. In this book one is, at times, irresistibly reminded of Conrad, which is mo mean compliment to pay Mr. Greene. I shall make a point of looking out for more of his work.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.