Enough exposition to supply a novel at least three times the length of this one. ( )

Over many pages at the novel's opening, Eric Ambler pours out a multitude of names and places. And then he begins to explore his story through a series of parallel perspectives that stitch them all together. There are the perspectives, for example, of Michael Howell, a successful Syrian businessman, his mistress, Teresa Malandra, and a journalist, Lewis Prescott. But all three points of view ultimately revolve around their encounter with a Palestinian terrorist, Salah Ghelad. Comrade Salah, as they know him, is a nasty creature. He is humorless, easily offended and angered, and sadistically cruel and murderous. Yet everyone makes their compromises with him, whether to get a story, save a business empire, or protect a lover. And all of it comes through a slow process of reveals, something that Eric Ambler is a master of performing in his works.

There is an absence of an overt political message in this novel. Surprisingly so, because it deals with a highly political narrative. But more of what is at work here is the intricate exploration of plot, character, and motivation. This is particularly true towards the subject of Michael Howell. More than any Ambler novel I have so far read, this one gets into the mind of its main protagonist and finds, there, a "committee" of personalities. And each one is adaptive to the circumstances of the moment and the necessity to survive and come out on top. In this, Michael Howell, is all too human. It's just that he has been put in an extraordinary situation, being forced to front a terrorist operation. Fearfully and reluctantly, he is drawn into making a moral choice. Yet at the end, he is unchanged. He is still Michael, the businessman, looking for the best opportunity the situation will deal him.

Essentially, this novel explores a Cold War of the soul. I use the term "Cold War" because that conflict between East and West was often placid on the surface, with acknowledged boundaries, but full of conflict, turbulence, and violence beneath it all. So it is with characters in this novel, particularly Michael. ( )

amo questo scrittore per un lungo elenco di motivi che proverò a riassumere.
1) suspence, suspence, ma niente sangue e molta ironia
2) stessa storia, ma sempre nuova (come i più grandi: come Simenon come Hitch)
3) mai più di trecento pagine (ah! l'estate con un libro di Ambler).
4) scrittura semplice per lettura veloce (ma curata e non elementare).
5) dialoghi scacchistici (mosse e contromosse da manuale).
6) l'eroe che non è mai un super-eroe, ma ha sempre qualche piccola defaillance etica (come tutti noi, qua, fuori dai libri)
7) l'ambientazione balcanico/medio-orientale (con alcune puntate verso l'Italia) che Ambler maneggia con facilità.

Non tutti i suoi romanzi, naturalmente, (ne ha scritti un bel numero) sono allo stesso livello: questo, ad esempio, fa un po' fatica a partire ma poi...le astuzie del levantino Michael non ve le dimenticherete
( )

As I read and in some cases re-read Ambler's novels I am amazed how the stories stick in my thoughts months afterward. I had seen a criticism of this book concerning his use of "fore-shadowing," so that the reader was tipped off to the next move or outcome, but for me it only increased the anticipation and enjoyment of the reading experience. ( )

As a dedicated fan of spy literature, I was familiar with Ambler’s A Coffin for Dmitrios as the book that arguably started the modern spy novel genre. I was not, however, familiar with The Levanter until I read an NYT story by Alan Furst that listed it as one of his top five favorite spy works. (The others: [[ASIN:0142438006 Our Man in Havana (Penguin Classics)]] by Graham Greene, [[ASIN:B002ECEEFO Miernik Dossier]] by Charles McCarry, [[ASIN:0743457919 The Honourable Schoolboy]] by John le Carré, and [[ASIN:1590171373 Moura: The Dangerous Life of the Baroness Budberg]] by Nina Berberova (as Furst notes Moura is not actually a spy novel, but is rather nonfiction written by a novelist).

Levanter, one of Ambler’s last novels, is set in 1970 in the Middle East. Michael Howell is a “Middle Eastern businessman of complex ethnic descent” as Furst aptly puts it. Howell’s family business empire straddles the Mediterranean, but is focused on the Arab side, and Howell is its sharp-minded unquestioned leader. After Syrian goes socialist, he begins to plan a strategic withdrawal that will preserve as much of the company or its assets as possible. He soon learns, however, that one of his factories has been taken over by a radical Palestinian group, also led by an unquestioned leader.

Howell finds himself an unwilling accomplice in a vast terrorist plot. To assure themselves of Howell’s cooperation, the group’s leader force Howell to swear loyalty and to sign a (phony – or is it really so phony?) confession that he is a “Zionist agent”. Much of the book is then made up of Howell’s attempts to learn the plot’s details and to figure out a way to undermine it. Howell is no hero, however, as his efforts are always tempered by a strong sense of self-preservation of himself and his business empire.

Ambler tells the story by having several characters relate their version of events in a specific time period (the book’s events take place between May and July). Howell is the main narrator, but Ambler also gives voice to decidedly different views from several journalists. Throughout the book the reader knows something happened that left Howell in a vague bad way of some sort (albeit not fatal given Howell’s narration). Partly because of these disparate voices, Ambler’s Levanter does not go in for clear cut tidy answers, but then you really shouldn't reads a spy novel for clarity. Ambler does provide some interesting history as he spins out the story. And he reminds us that the Middle East Conflict has been with us for a long, long time. (Can you remember the days of your youth when you actually thought the phrase 'peace process' had some meaning?). And in a surprise, we are also reminded that piracy has never really gone away, either.

A fascinating tale, well-told by one the masters. Highly recommended. ( )