E Phillips Oppenheim

A frightened young woman bolts from a country farmhouse and steps onto a ribbon of road that seems to promise freedom. Two English travelers, rich enough to treat Europe like a playground, stop when they see her fear-and take her with them. Their holiday drive toward the Riviera turns into a chain of uneasy choices: money that attracts the wrong people, strangers who ask too many questions, and hidden ties that do not stay hidden for long. A friendship grows in the open air of the road, while danger travels close behind. From quiet villages to the bright tables of Monte Carlo and the guarded drawing rooms of London, the past keeps catching up. Then an old promise pulls one of the men east, into a country still raw from revolution. In a fortress where names are erased, a single prisoner matters to people who dream of power. The road that began as escape becomes a test of loyalty, love, and nerve.

A frightened young woman bolts from a country farmhouse and steps onto a ribbon of road that seems to promise freedom. Two English travelers, rich enough to treat Europe like a playground, stop when they see her fear-and take her with them. Their holiday drive toward the Riviera turns into a chain of uneasy choices: money that attracts the wrong people, strangers who ask too many questions, and hidden ties that do not stay hidden for long. A friendship grows in the open air of the road, while danger travels close behind. From quiet villages to the bright tables of Monte Carlo and the guarded drawing rooms of London, the past keeps catching up. Then an old promise pulls one of the men east, into a country still raw from revolution. In a fortress where names are erased, a single prisoner matters to people who dream of power. The road that began as escape becomes a test of loyalty, love, and nerve.