The Alamut Ambush by Anthony Price

First published in 1971; published digitally by The Murder Room on September 6, 2012 

The Alamut Ambush is the second in a series of spy novels that began with The Labyrinth Makers. David Audley is the thread that connects each novel, but he is not always the central character. Audley plays an important part in The Alamut Ambush but most of the legwork is done by Hugh Roskill, RAF Squadron Leader turned intelligence operative. Jack Butler, who stars in some of the later novels, plays a less significant role in this one.

While characterization is Anthony Price's strength, The Alamut Ambush benefits from an intriguing plot. A car bomb explodes, killing the technician who was trying to disarm it. The bomb was apparently intended for David Llewelyn, the man who got Audley kicked out of the Middle Eastern group, and against whom Audley still bears a deep resentment. Audley was the brains of the group, an expert on the Middle East with a strong network of contacts, particularly in Israel. When Roskill and Butler seek Audley's help in finding the bomber, he rejects their overtures, apparently miffed that the bomber did not succeed in killing Llewelyn. Before long, however, Roskill works out the truth -- the real target of the bomb wasn't Llewelyn at all -- and Audley can't resist the cat-and-mouse work of catching the killer.

Roskill is on more-than-friendly terms with Isobel Ryle, wife of Sir John Ryle, a relationship that makes him less than comfortable when he investigates the Ryle Foundation, an organization that develops educational resources in the Middle East but seems to be providing assistance to terrorists. Roskill is also drawn into interviews with two people who could have orchestrated the assassination: an Israeli and an Egyptian. Shockingly, each of the two men go to great pains to absolve the other, further deepening the mystery, while pointing to a rogue assassin whose clandestine organization has always been assumed to be mythical. Roskill fumbles his way along, always feeling that he's the wrong man for the job, but motivated by the sense that he is partially responsible for the death of the technician, who Roskill recommended for the job.

The Alamut Ambush blends the intrigue of Middle Eastern politics with a detective story as Roskill tries to piece the puzzle together. What he finally learns shocks him while nearly leading to his death. Audley, as always, is two steps ahead of everyone else, pursuing his own agenda while nominally working for his nation's benefit. Although Roskill receives more attention, Audley is the novel's star character. He's supremely hard-headed, devoted to ignoring ignorable rules to prove that he's "a gentleman rather than a player," yet he's also petulant, particularly when he's on the losing side of a turf war. A flawed genius, Audley is a more fully rounded character than those commonly found in spy fiction.

While there are moments of violence in The Alamut Ambush, particularly in the final, tense scenes, this is a novel of intellect rather than action. Price's interest in history, particularly medieval Arab history, informs the story. The conflicting interests in Middle Eastern politics are fairly represented, and although the novel was written in 1971, too little has changed to make it feel dated. The Alamut Ambush is a largely forgotten novel that should be a rewarding discovery for fans of spy fiction.

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