Product Description

English crime novelist Charles Latimer is travelling in Istanbul when he makes the acquaintance of Turkish police inspector Colonel Haki. It is from him that he first hears of the mysterious Dimitrios – an infamous master criminal, long wanted by the law, whose body has just been fished out of the Bosphorus. Fascinated by the story, Latimer decides to retrace Dimitrios’ steps across Europe to gather material for a new book. But, as he gradually discovers more about his subject’s shadowy history, fascination tips over into obsession. And, in entering Dimitrios’ criminal underworld, Latimer realizes that his own life may be on the line.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #8347 in Books
• Published on: 2009-05-28
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 240 pages

Review
'Not Le Carre, not Deighton, not Ludlum have surpassed the intelligence, authenticity or engrossing storytelling that established The Mask of Dimitrios as the best of its kind' The Times 'If you want to experience the feel of the Continent in the 1930s, you will find few better guides' - Robert Harris

About the Author
Eric Ambler (1909-98) was one of the most fascinating British writers of the late 1930s. His novels retain a remarkable sense of the dread and terror that filled Europe as world war broke out. Some were made into films (not least Orson Welles’ superb version of Journey into Fear), all were bestsellers, inventing a new, more realistic form of spy novel, where the main protagonist is not so much a hero as a victim, pursued by malevolent Fascist forces of overwhelming power. These are paranoid stories, but written at a time when paranoia was disturbingly close to common sense.

Customer Reviews

Ambler's finest hour
One of Eric Ambler's classic thrillers from the 1930's and 40's, this tells the tale of a British engineer travelling through Turkey on the trail of an extremely dangerous killer. Without giving the plot away, it's a tautly plotted cat and mouse chase with an exciting climax.

A GREAT INTERWAR SPY THRILLER
ERIC AMBLER'S THE MASK OF DIMITRIOS IS A WONDERFULLY TAUT THRILLER SET IN A MYSTERIOUS PERIOD BETWEEN THE TWO WORLD WARS.WITHOUT GIVING TOO MUCH AWAY ABOUT THE PLOT OR CHARARACTERS, AMBLER'S NOVEL TELLS THE TALE OF AN ACADEMIC VISITING THE CITY OF ISTANBUL TO LOOK INTO THE DEATH OF A MASTER SPY/ASSASSIN.THE FACT THAT AMBLER WROTE THE BOOK IN 1939, GIVES THE MODERN READER A SENSE OF FOREBODING DOOM AND GENERAL ANARCHY IN THE OVERALL VIEW OF 1930'S EUROPE.ADD TO THE MIX, THE GRIPPING TENSION OF THE SCENES INVOLVING DIMITRIOS HIMSELF, AND YOU HAVE AN UNBEARABLY GRIPPING, CHARACTER DRIVEN SUSPENSE NOVEL.COMPARED WITH SOME OF TODAYS'S PLOT DRIVEN THRILLER BOOKS, WITH THEIR CARDBOARD CUT-OUT PLAYERS, THE MASK OF DIMITRIOS IS A TREAT THAT YOU SHOULD NOT MISS.

Old Fashioned Page Turner
I read this book on holiday and found it to be a very enjoyable adventure yarn and a genuine page turner. It seems old fashioned today, without any explicit sex, violence or even bad language. Written in 1939 in a simple, straightforward style, its charms lie in a strong, honourable central character who wishes simply to unravel a mystery to satisfy his own curiosity - did the well known criminal and racketeer Dimitrios really die or is he still at large? His investigations take him across Europe from Istanbul to Switzerland, and the reader stays hooked throughout.

This is not a particularly deep or philosophical book but is ideal holiday reading and an expertly written example of its genre. Lots of fun.