One day, a mysterious stranger known as 'The Captain' arrives at the school, says he won Baxter from his father in a game of backgammon, and takes him on an outing from which he never returns. The Captain delivers Victor to a dismal basement flat in London where Liza lives. She is the Captain's mistress and ex-lover of Victor's father. Liza has lost her baby, and the Captain wants her to have someone with her since he is often absent. They change the boy's name to 'Jim', and he decides to stay there as their stepson.

Over many years the Captain, a petty criminal and soldier of fortune, frequently disappears on mysterious missions and finally, seems to have abandoned Liza and the boy. Eventually Jim becomes a journalist and travels to Panama to confront the Captain. He soon learns the truth about this man and his secret escapades.

Green has always been skillful at creating unhappy children and writing from the naive point of view of a child. (The Stranger's Hand is a wonderful example of this.) Victor 'Jim' Baxter is a sad reflection of his environment. He is disconnected emotionally, showing little depth, love or caring. As his mother lay dying, he gave her a "formal kiss on the forehead" and seemed to feel no loss. He has little connection with Liza, a she tries to be a mother to him, for her concern is mainly for the absent Captain. Jim's character seems rather flat and unsympathetic. As a young adult, Jim says, "In my experience, love was like an attack of flu and one recovered quickly." Complaining that "he had never felt real love for anyone," it is beyond his understanding that the Captain and Liza could truly love each other.

The Captain and the Enemy is Graham Greene's (1904-91) last published novel. Autobiographical links run throughout his writing. Guilt at deserting his own children, moral dilemmas, isolation, his own lonely childhood, the horrors of English public school and the complex nature of love are all in this very minor novel.

Greene's wonderful skill at capturing a sense of place is evident in the dark and dreary basement apartment. Panama's unstable political climate pulses amid its rich banks deplorable and slums. Hostilities abound as mistrust, disputes, spies and lies reflect the upheaval in the Central American countries.