The Honorary Consul

Graham Greene's gripping tragicomedy of a bungled kidnapping in a provincial Argentinean town is considered one of his finest.

It tells of Charley Fortnum, the "Honorary Consul", a whiskey-sodden figure of dubious authority taken by a group of revolutionaries.

As Eduardo Plarr, a local doctor, negotiates with revolutionaries and authorities for Fortnum's release, the corruption of both becomes evident.

In this spare, tense novel, Graham Greene explores the morality of a political system that turns priests into killers.