While I was doing informal research about Alan Furst on the Internet, after I'd read Hero of France, I came across an interview somewhere in which Furst reported, if I remember correctly, that he'd started his first novel after finishing A Coffin for Demetrios. I think I remember Frederick Pohl mentioning Ambler's novel in his book about espionage novels. I checked it out from my local library, finished it a few days ago, and must say that I really enjoyed it.
I thought that Ambler's prose was sometimes a little florid, and I found myself having an expectation that his exposition would be concise and his prose plain. Neither was true, and I found that I really enjoyed his prose.
Of course, I felt at sea reading this novel set in about 1925. The novel opens with a writer meeting a government official at a party in Istanbul. It turns out that the Turkish government official, Colonel Haki, is a great fan of police procedurals although, he points out, they bear very little relation to reality.
Latimer, the writer, is facing a deadline from his publisher. He's feeling uninspired, and an experience he has while visiting Colonel Haki intrigues him, and he's soon tempted away from his work by the project of acting as a detective himself, and uncovering the criminal career of a man who seemed to be notoriously amoral among the few who knew of him.
When Latimer first encounters a man whom he later learns is an associate of Demetrios, I found myself feeling, "This is the fifth or so really bizarre character that Latimer has met in the course of this novel." I felt Latimer was entirely too accepting of the company of these strange people. But, of course, these strange characters make the story.
I thought that Ambler's prose was sometimes a little florid, and I found myself having an expectation that his exposition would be concise and his prose plain. Neither was true, and I found that I really enjoyed his prose.
Of course, I felt at sea reading this novel set in about 1925. The novel opens with a writer meeting a government official at a party in Istanbul. It turns out that the Turkish government official, Colonel Haki, is a great fan of police procedurals although, he points out, they bear very little relation to reality.
Latimer, the writer, is facing a deadline from his publisher. He's feeling uninspired, and an experience he has while visiting Colonel Haki intrigues him, and he's soon tempted away from his work by the project of acting as a detective himself, and uncovering the criminal career of a man who seemed to be notoriously amoral among the few who knew of him.
When Latimer first encounters a man whom he later learns is an associate of Demetrios, I found myself feeling, "This is the fifth or so really bizarre character that Latimer has met in the course of this novel." I felt Latimer was entirely too accepting of the company of these strange people. But, of course, these strange characters make the story.
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