Rating: 
Summary: A true classic...
Review: Classic suspense/espionage novel by one of the masters of the genre.A mystery writer becomes enthralled with the career of the mysterious Dimitrios, whose body is discovered in a morgue in Instanbul. A Turkish colonel who just happens to like detective novels draws the writer into the tangled web of Dimitrios' world, and things get more convoluted and dangerous, to the point that the book becomes one of those that you can't put down, and will keep you up late wanting to finish it.
Rating:
Summary: Classic thriller by the genre's best
Review: Eric Ambler and Graham Greene are my favorite airplane reading, and I do a lot of traveling. Luckily, both were prolific (especially Greene). While Greene remains popular, I have discovered that Ambler is hard to find in stock at most book stores. This is the best of his I've read yet, one of his great classics. Written and set in pre-WWII in the Balkans and Paris, with a tight, gripping plot of an accidental tourist tracking the past of a notorious vilan. I couldn't put it down. Highly recommended.
Rating: 
Summary: Not the Best Ambler I've Read
Review: First, the review above is not for "Background to Danger". "Background" is about a freelance reporter named Kenton who down on his luck agrees against his better judgement (but not financial need) to carry some suspicious papers across an international frontier. The story revolves around the difficulties of eventually delivering the papers. As with all Ambler's books set in pre-WWII Europe its interesting to read the author's explaination of the current world politics when he has no knowledge of the coming war. The plot of this story is actually pretty thin. We've all seen it before. However, the original copywrite is 1934. This must have been pretty heady stuff back then. This is not the best Amber I've read. "A Coffin for Dimetrios" is probably a better place to start with this author.
Rating:
Summary: ...
Review: I actually reviewed this book below, but wanted to add that the book was made into a good movie in the 1940's starring Peter Lorre titled THE MASK OF DIMITRIOS, now available on video.
Rating: 
Summary: An Old Time Thriller
Review: I must admit that until two weeks ago, I had never heard of Eric Ambler. I am quite well read and was curious about how I could miss an author that was regularly compared to Graham Greene, one of my all-time favorite authors. While not in the league of Graham Greene, A Coffin for Dimitrios manages to entertain and also show what is wrong with the thrillers that are being written today.
Written before the outbreak of the 2nd World War, A Coffin for Dimitrios is an interesting tale about an author who by chance manages to see the body of a dead criminal named Dimitrios. Intrigued by this, the narrator decides to put off writing his next book and instead pursue the murky history of this dead criminal. The Good: the work manages to bring to life much of Eastern Europe, a fascinating land that is often overlooked in thrillers. The inquest into Dimitrios past is quite interesting and hints at the turmoil the region was facing during the interwar years. The writing is crisp and Ambler manages to move the action along with few dull moments. The Bad: While the excitement of finding out who Dimitrios is great, the climax is severely lacking and not very surprising. Also, the narrator is quite lucky on more than one occasion about meeting the right contacts and hearing the right stories. Some of the work seems like a cliche, but then since it was written so long ago, it would not surprise me to find out many have borrowed from Ambler since then. Overall: While the book wont be ever mentioned in the same breath as some of the great thrillers and ruminations on the life of man, it is an enjoyable enough thriller and better than much of what is written today. I look forward to reading more of Ambler's work when time permits it.
Rating: 
Summary: Disappointing
Review: I read in a piece on Ian Fleming, Eric Ambler's claim that "Ian Fleming should be read as literature." The writer of the piece then added that this was high praise since, "Eric Ambler may be the greatest thriller novelist of them all, with A COFFIN....his finest." So I had to check COFFIN out. And it was not even close to the finest thriller I've ever read. The plot is thin, and strung together. Granted, the writing itself is good, but it didn't accumulate into a satisfying whole. Not nearly. I'll stick to Frederick Forsythe and Craig Furnas thrillers.
Rating:
Summary: Okay
Review: I'm a big fan of the novels by Alan Furst, and he is often compared to Eric Ambler. I purchased A Coffin for Dimitrios because Furst himself recommends it. Sorry. The novels of Furst are far better. By comparison, Ambler's prose lacks color and lyricism. As mystery novels go, this one is okay, but just okay. Lots of plot twists, which are not quite believable. A weak ending.
Rating:
Summary: Okay
Review: I'm a big fan of the novels by Alan Furst, and he is often compared to Eric Ambler. I purchased A Coffin for Dimitrios because Furst himself recommends it. Sorry. The novels of Furst are far better. By comparison, Ambler's prose lacks color and lyricism. As mystery novels go, this one is okay, but just okay. Lots of plot twists, which are not quite believable. A weak ending.
Rating:
Summary: An excellent read
Review: If you are a reader of mysteries and haven't read any Eric Ambler, start with this one. It combines a compelling story with a tight plot and very interesting characters. The writing is top notch as well.
Rating:
Summary: A Little Too Improbable To Completely Satisfy
Review: In this engaging classic mystery set in pre-WWII Europe an English writer of mysteries happens upon an interesting story of a Greek career criminal recently found dead. To amuse himself and procrastinate from beginning his next book, he decides to attempt to reconstruct this criminal's path across southern Europe over the previous 15 years. He soon discovers that his idle exercise has elicited the attention of a mysterious man, who is apparently also interested in the career of this criminal. The path goes back in time to such lurid things as political assassination, white slavery, heroin rings, and blackmail. There is a big surprise late in the book (which shouldn't be much of a surprise at all) and a satisfying ending. While the plot is high on the improbable scale it is considered one of the fathers of the modern spy novel and is worth reading for that reason alone.
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