The Mask of Dimitrios

“The situation in which a person, imagining fondly that he is in charge of his own destiny, is, in fact, the sport of circumstances beyond his own control, is always fascinating.”Thus, it is with a certain Charles Latimer, a novelist who specializes in crime fiction. In Eric Ambler’s novel, Latimer gets a real taste of what makes up the mind of a criminal.I think one of the most engaging angles of this novel is simply the notion of the everyman in Latimer seemingly “in over his head” as he progresses throughout the novel. Latimer is introduced to a glimpse of the life of a notoriously infamous criminal named Dimitrios by a stroke of circumstance when a body washes ashore in Istanbul. His fascination piqued, Latimer goes to great lengths to seeks out and formulate a timeline for the criminal’s career, including some of his most notorious deeds. To do this, Latimer not only does some research on the side through court documents and newspaper archives, but even digs deeper by encountering some of those who knew the criminal in some capacity. But, at what point is Latimer crossing the line and threshold into Dimitrios’ life and past at his own peril? An obsession of sorts consumes and takes hold of Latimer, and he feverishly pursues his quest for knowledge of this man.I thought this was an amazingly effective thriller and spy type novel. It has all the make up and elements that engage the reader throughout: assassination attempts, espionage and spy tricks, duplicity and deception, treachery, and murder. Ambler puts us right into Latimer’s shoes and we experience the events upfront as an innocent bystander. The pacing of the novel is quite epic as it builds with a momentum of tension layer by layer as we move along through each chapter. In this way, I think Ambler plots this novel so succinctly and effectively to reach the utmost intrigue as we become embroiled in the mystery along with its main character. And the final chapters are as intense as I have read and had me on the edge of my seat as I plowed through to see how things concluded.In short, there is a definite expert level of storytelling here from Ambler, with twists, shocking revelations, and mystery at every corner. A very fascinating read, and I look forward to more works from this author.

La devolución se hizo correctamente. Me equivoqué y no vi que era en inglés.

I've just finished "The Mask of Dimitrios", by Eric Ambler. A very enjoyable thriller set in 1930s Europe, where the movers and shakers of money and politics are drug dealers, assassins, and jet-set low-lives who operate above the law.Easy reading because of brilliant writing that leads the reader along a trail of "whodunnit" cum "what the hell really happened", mystery.Eric Ambler's thriller writing abilities are legendary, his writing is perfect for a cold and windy night.

Libro che riporta con bravura il gusto del tempo, e sopravvive alla sua contemporaneità regalandoci un'opera che supera la barriera temporale...

Bought for my husband. He is enjoying it. He read the Mask of Demetrius first and said he you don't need yo read this book before Demetrius, but that depends on you.