> Skip to content
Play sample
  • Published: 9 May 2023
  • ISBN: 9780241606193
  • Imprint: Penguin Classics
  • Format: Paperback
  • Pages: 256
  • RRP: $26.00

The Light of Day




Ambler's electrifying Istanbul-set thriller from 1962, and the basis for the classic film Topkapi

Arthur Abdel Simpson is a failed journalist and soon-to-be failed thief, embittered by memories of his unhappy childhood in England and eking out a living in Athens. When he spots a newly arrived tourist at the airport, he offers his services as a private driver and sees an easy chance to make some money by illicit means. But the out-matched Simpson soon finds himself embroiled in blackmail and driving a highly suspicious car to Istanbul. When he is stopped by the Turkish police, it seems his luck can't get any worse - but this is just the beginning . . .

Adapted as the classic film Topkapi and featuring one of literature's greatest heist scenes, Light of Day is a heart-stopping and highly enjoyable novel from the father of the spy thriller.

  • Published: 9 May 2023
  • ISBN: 9780241606193
  • Imprint: Penguin Classics
  • Format: Paperback
  • Pages: 256
  • RRP: $26.00

About the author

Eric Ambler

Eric Ambler (1909-98) was one of the most fascinating British writers of the late 1930s. His novels retain a remarkable sense of the dread and terror that filled Europe as world war broke out. Some were made into films (not least Orson Welles' superb version of Journey into Fear), all were bestsellers, inventing a new, more realistic form of spy novel, where the main protagonist is not so much a hero as a victim, pursued by malevolent Fascist forces of overwhelming power.

Also by Eric Ambler

See all

Praise for The Light of Day

The source on which we all draw

John le Carré

Mr. Ambler is phenomenal

Alfred Hitchcock

Ambler is, quite simply, the best

The New Yorker

Unquestionably our best thriller writer

Graham Greene