More of a detective story than a spy thriller, A Kind of Anger displays yet another side of Eric Ambler. The so-called "progressive Left" novels of the 1930s are long behind him. But so are the most argumentative of the post World War II anti-totalitarian novels. In its place, is a bit of a spoof, a story that highlights the absurdity of criminal procedures along with the ineptness of international plotters of intrigue. Topkapi had much better comic moments than this book, but A Kind of Anger still has its moments, as everyone gets cheated after a fashion at the end.

This is much lighter fare than I've seen so far from Ambler. Even Topkapi was more hardened. And The Levanter, a representative work from the 1970s, has a political cynicism and psychological depth that A Kind of Anger cannot begin to match. Ambler seems to have been recharged somewhat in the 1970s, as far as the political messaging goes. But I think I prefer the 1950s and 1960s works above all others.

I've become somewhat enamored of these stories. Funny, I was in the process of reading through John le Carré, when I was sidetracked by my first Ambler novel. Now? I think Ambler much the superior of the two. Primarily because he shows the ability to adapt, to change. In some ways, he grows more than his protagonists do. And he can always bring you into a story in just a few pages. ( )

Written in 1964, "A Kind of Anger" is a "thriller" with subtle, comedic overtones. Dutch journalist Piet Maas, is an unusual protagonist. He has failed in business, his job as a magazine journalist is at risk due to a supervisor who dislikes him, his past girlfriend had been cheating on him, and he had tried to kill himself without success. And now, the news magazine he works for has sent him to France on a fruitless mission, expecting him to fail.

An exiled Iraqi general has been assassinated in Zurich, and when he was murdered, he reportedly was in the company of his beautiful mistress, Lucia Bernardi . Piet Maas is expected to track her down and uncover the story behind the assassination. Maas discovers that the general was involved in planning an uprising of Kurdish nationalists inside Iraq, and that his murderers are after the detailed notes he had made about it. Three separate parties are after these notes -- the Kurdish nationalists, the Iraqi government, and an Italian oil company which wants to help the rebellion succeed. All are after Lucia, and once Maas quits the magazine to join forces with her, his own life is at risk. They plan to sell a faux version of the notes, separately, to two of the parties involved (replacing them with innocuous documents). As the story progresses, Maas turns out to be increasingly tough and resourceful, as he develops and carries out the con, having to outwit and accommodate other parties seeking to cash in on the plan themselves. And of course he and Lucia fall into bed together. Having succeeded at the con, Maas gains the money and the girl, and rejoins the magazine.

Regarding the title: one character suggests to Piet that -- having overcome his anger at his past failures -- he was now driven by anger against Lucia's enemies. By the story's end, the character has changed his mind -- he suggests laughingly that what really was driving Piet was his sublimated desire to be as crooked as the people he investigated.

"A Kind of Anger" differs from standard thrillers in its afore-mentioned comedic overtones. I enjoyed the book, but found the plot a bit hard to follow; thus, I'm glad to have found a detailed account at Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Kind_of_Anger

Ambler fans will not want to miss this story, but others should start with his more well-known works from the 1930s and 1940s. ( )

Un coronel iraquí que vive el terror de su vida, una belleza en bikini bajo chantaje y un periodista neurótico y suicida de pronto se ven sumergidos en el oscuro mundo de Eric Ambler, en un laberinto de conspiración e intriga, reuniones clandestinas, identidades dobles y muertes súbitas.

One of the master's best, though it moves from the smoke-filled alleys of pre-war Europe to the uncertainties of the postwar. The two central characters aren't trying to right a wrong or uncover a secret, but to get hold of a valuable stash of papers which will allow them to undertake a blackmailing operation. Can they do so without getting killed, and while falling in love? Terrific story, engaging if flawed characters, and a great send-up of American magazine journalism in the 1950's. ( )

Cerebral page-turner about Iraqi paper swindler--just so-so for Ambler (no heavies) but still pretty good ( )