کتاب Mr. Arkadin : AKA confidential report : the secret sordid life of an international tycoon : a novel

Set in the seedy underworld of post-war Europe, the novel focuses on the sinister figure of Gregory Arkadin, a fabulously wealthy and influential financier, who enlists the services of a small-time racketeer, Van Stratten, for an extraordinary assignment. Arkadin claims that he can remember nothing of his life prior to the moment in 1927 when he found himself alone in Zurich with two hundred throusand Swiss francs in his pocket — a sum with which he subsequently built his vast fortune — and Van Stratten’s task is to investigate Arkadin’s mysterious past and prepare him a confidential report on it. Following a twisting trail across Europe, Van Stratten eventually tracks down a former associate of Arkadin’s who reveals that they had once been involved in the white slave trade together. But when his informant is promptly murdered Van Stratten realises that Arkadin has been using him as a stalking horse in order to eliminate anyone still capable of exposing his secret. And now only Van Stratten stands between Arkadin and the successful obliteration of the sordid origins of his wealth

Originally published: New York : Crowell, ©1956