Showing North from Rome by Helen MacInnes

“He had reached the phase of trusting nobody. Only one thing had been decided about an hour ago. He was staying in Rome.”

Bill Lammiter, an American would-be playwright, followed Eleanor Halley to Rome in an attempt to mend their broken engagement. After learning that she is now engaged to an aristocratic Italian count, he is ready to admit defeat and return home. But his plans are put on hold when he saves the mysterious Rosana Di Feo from a kidnap attempt. Di Feo pleads for Lammiter to stay and help her, revealing that Halley too may be at risk - her new fiancé is mixed up in a narcotics ring with sinister Communist connections.

Soon Lammiter is drawn into a hazardous game of international intrigue, where allies can be as difficult to identify as enemies, and danger and death are never far away.

“A sophisticated thriller. The story builds up to an exciting climax.” – The Times Literary Supplement

"The hallmarks of a MacInnes novel of suspense are as individual and as clearly stamped as a Hitchcock thriller." – The New York Times

"More class than most adventure writers accumulate in a lifetime." – Chicago Daily News