A wonderfully written espionage/adventure novel. My taste usually runs to more serious fiction, but I read this as a thrilliing romp and couldn't put it down. Buchan does not try to be "literary" or cute, but he has wonderful landscape and characters, all presented with a light touch. He's a far better writer than at first appears, and not pretentious or precious in the least. I highly recommend for anyone who wants to have a fun escapist evening--and usually gets irritated by badly written popular fiction.