Buchan is one of the most considerable of British writers, with
a literary style that often echoes the complexities and psychological
insights of Graham Greene. This latest book is particularly reminiscent
of his illustrious predecessor with its innocent Englishman abroad
finding himself up against sinister forces of oppression. In the
Spring of 1974, eighteen-year-old John Pitt travels to Iran and
becomes English teacher to the beautiful Shirin Farameh, a schoolgirl
of seventeen. But when Pitt falls in love with her and rescues
her from the family home, the fact that her father is a general
in the Imperial Air Force and her mother a princess of the old
regime means that the couple is pursued by the internal security
forces for Shirin's "violation and murder". Apart from
the utterly compelling thriller narrative, Buchan's skills at
astringent characterisation are well to the fore (particularly
with the beautiful Shirin, who becomes considerably more than
an object of erotic desire). Probably Buchan's finest novel to
date, this is an unmissable treat for lovers of the literary thriller.
