Greene described this book as an "entertainment." In the early comedic parts I thought that Greene, at least in this instance, had indeed produced a lightweight entertaining novel and was not the heavyweight literature writer I had been lead to believe he was. I was thinking that I would not greatly inclined to read anything else by a writer many feel was robbed of the Nobel Prize.

When the book suddenly and dramatically veers towards the Tragic at about the half-way point my feelings also began to change. The characters steadily developed greater depth and a clear message emerged. The pace and rate of incident increased and a genuine sense of fear for the protagonist grew in me. I found the ending particularly satisfying, though explaining why would introduce plot spoilers....Having finished I am keen to read more by Greene.