Dimitrios

Today's hero is a day early, His name is Eric Ambler, and he was born June 28th, 1909 in London, England. I figured that the English needed a hero for today, and their thrashing at the hands of the stinking Germans, and there was not hero born this day to step up to the plate. So, Mr. Ambler gets elected to be our one day early stand-in. His claim to fame, at least for me, is one of his books entitled "A Coffin for Dimitrios" it is an early example of a spy novel, and it is the book James Bond is reading on the plane in "From Russia With Love." I figure if it is good enough for James Bond to read, then it must be good, and it is a wonderfully written thriller. No fancy explosive devices, or people who possess the ability to fly, just a good, old-fashioned spy novel that's main character is just an average fellow caught up in major events. It was made into a fairly awful film, that the less said of the better, but I suppose that was not Ambler's fault, though he did write a few screen plays in his time. He wrote several other "thrillers" and some of them are quite good, and I would recommend his books to read, he is a big influence on another current writer that I admire as well (his name is Alan Furst). But, for his own writing skill, and for those wonderfully taunt thrillers Eric Ambler (June 28th, 1909- October 28th, 1998, at the age of 90), you are my (307th) hero of the day.