Note: Revised 1990 "The Dark Frontier (1936; rev 1990) is of sf interest in that the story is predicated on the construction of an atomic device (see Nuclear Energy). Compared to his later work, the action here is almost slapstick." --SFE3, biographical entry by John Clute

Synopsis: This relatively unknown first novel by the seminal espionage/thriller writer Eric Ambler is speculative fiction in that it concerns the efforts of its heroes to prevent the development of an atomic bomb in a secret program by an imaginary, mid-30s Balkan country. One source says it was actually written as a spoof of the all-capable, semi-superman-type heroes current in pulp fiction at the time. If so, the basis for the satiric humor is no longer discernible to a reader 70 years later.