The Honorary Consul

Graham Greene's gripping tragicomedy of a bungled kidnapping in a provincial Argentinian town is considered one of his finest. It tells of Charley Fortnum, the Honorary Consul, a whisky-sodden figure of dubious authority taken by a group of revolutionaries. As Eduardo Plarr, a local doctor, negotiates with the kidnappers 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 systems that turns priest into killers.