One of the two or three novelists who really count

A slim and curious tale

At once Dickensian and new, an exploration of the soul of a young boy and a portrait of sad loving by memorable adults

In this short, skillful book we enter those disparate worlds Greene has made his own - the England of Brighton Rock and the exotic Central American territories in which his restless talent has so often roamed

A rattling good yarn. Under the spur of Greene's sharp, light touch, its narrative gallops along. Opening with a chase across a playground, rapidly followed by an abduction, it nimbly twists and turns through a maze of imposture, jewel robbery and fleeings from the law before leaping overseas for a final burst of international espionage, weapon-smuggling, freedom fighting and political murder

Purely enjoyable...a small miracle of construction