Marathon Man – William Goldman (1974)

Marathon Man by William Goldman was published in 1974 and is a gripping thriller that blends espionage, historical trauma, and psychological terror. Set primarily in New York City, it spins a suspenseful web around a graduate student who unwittingly becomes entangled in a deadly international conspiracy involving stolen diamonds, Nazi war criminals, and government assassins. The novel is widely acclaimed for its relentless pace and was adapted into a successful 1976 film starring Dustin Hoffman and Laurence Olivier.

Plot Summary

In New York City, under the muted light of streetlamps and the drumming hum of yellow cabs, Thomas Babington Levy – Babe to the world that knew him – ran like a man trying to outrace his own fears. A PhD candidate at Columbia and a dedicated marathoner, Babe carried the haunted legacy of his father’s suicide, a victim of the McCarthy purge. Running was his way of breathing, of forgetting, of surviving the ache of absence. But no matter how far he ran, trouble was pacing just behind.

Elsewhere in the shadows moved Henry David Levy, known to Babe as Doc, his brother and sole living family. To the world, Doc was a smooth-talking businessman, an oil consultant with a suitcase full of charm. But under that crafted exterior hid a weapon – a government assassin for a secretive arm called the Division. Cold precision, quick hands, no questions asked. Doc was good, maybe too good, and he had made peace with that long ago. At least until Szell returned.

Dr. Christian Szell, ghost of Auschwitz, once a Nazi dentist known for unspeakable cruelty, now drifted through South America and Europe like a dark rumor. With his brother dead, his safe deposit key in play, Szell had reason to emerge from hiding. Diamonds, millions’ worth, hidden in a Manhattan bank, waited for him. But too many people knew too much. People like a prickly old man named Rosenbaum, and others who carried memories of ovens and smoke.

The first to die did so with fear in their eyes and Szell’s name on their lips. Then Doc began to move, chasing whispers across continents. In Paris, he confronted a killer in a bar. In New York, he danced through lies, trying to shield Babe from what waited just out of view. But the Division was cracking. Orders had been compromised, and loyalties shifted with the breeze. Janeway, once Doc’s partner, now seemed to work both sides of the fence, and his smile carried the scent of blood.

Meanwhile, Babe fell in love.

Elsa Opel, radiant and gentle, a Swiss nurse with a soft accent and softer eyes, walked into his life with the ease of a breeze. She laughed at his awkwardness, adored his mind, and made him believe in warmth again. For once, he was not the stooped goose mocked by stoop kids but a man cherished and complete. He had no reason to suspect that Elsa’s touch came laced with secrets.

Then they came for him.

Babe’s world, structured around books and miles, unraveled with surgical cruelty. Strangers took him, strapped him down, and cut into his mouth with metal and menace. Szell wanted to know: was it safe? Over and over, the same question, paired with razors of pain. Babe, bewildered and bleeding, had no answers. Only confusion and the blistering fire of broken teeth.

Doc tried to reach him but was gunned down in the park by Janeway’s treachery. His last act was to murmur Babe’s name into the silence of trees.

And still Szell pursued his diamonds.

Babe escaped, barely. Limping, barefoot, mouth torn to shreds, he ran. Not from terror, but from despair, through alleyways and up the inclines of the West Side Highway, channeling the spirit of Bikila, of Nurmi – his ghosts, his imagined guardians. Behind him thundered Karl and Erhard, Szell’s lieutenants, and Janeway, fleet and furious. But Babe knew how to endure. The pain was his. He wore it like armor.

A brief reprieve led him back to Elsa. She cared for him, whispered comfort, wrapped his wounds. But the warmth turned cold when she confessed. She had worked for Szell, drawn to him by his survival, his wealth, the gravity of his evil. Babe, devastated, watched the illusion crumble. She begged him to run. Instead, he took her to Central Park and walked away from her forever.

Armed with only instinct, grief, and a gun left behind by Doc, Babe turned predator.

He hunted Szell to the bank, shadowing the old man through the polished corridors and silent vaults. Szell, calm and calculating, collected his diamonds, every stone gleaming like the teeth he once tore from the mouths of the dead. But Babe was waiting.

In the deserted underbelly of the city, beneath the grandeur of Midtown, the past and present collided. Szell recognized the boy who once trembled before him and laughed – a dry, rasping sound. He believed himself untouchable. Babe knew better. He walked Szell to a water treatment plant, confronted him with truths and silence, with everything his brother had died to protect.

Szell made a move. Babe fired.

The diamonds spilled like shattered stars, rolling into darkness. Szell fell after them, lifeless, swallowed by the machinery of the city he had tried to outwit. The war criminal was gone. The blood debt paid.

Babe, battered but breathing, walked out into the daylight.

The city went on. Taxis honked. People hurried. Somewhere, in a park or a stoop, kids shouted, laughed. Babe did not run. Not today. He had outrun the ghosts. Now he would rest.

Main Characters

• Thomas Babington “Babe” Levy: A young Columbia graduate student and aspiring marathon runner, Babe is an intellectual and emotional anchor of the novel. Haunted by the suicide of his father, a McCarthy-era target, he strives for academic excellence while channeling his emotional pain into physical endurance. Babe’s transformation from an idealistic scholar into a survivor capable of confronting torture and violence reflects the novel’s central theme of resilience.

• Henry David “Doc” Levy: Babe’s older brother, who poses as an oil executive but is in fact a government assassin for a covert group called “The Division.” Charming and competent, Doc’s secret life ultimately draws Babe into the deadly intrigue. Despite his moral compromises, Doc genuinely cares for Babe and seeks to protect him from the brutal world he inhabits.

• Dr. Christian Szell: A chilling antagonist modeled after real-life Nazi fugitives, Szell is a former concentration camp dentist and war criminal. Known for his sadistic interrogations and surgical cruelty, Szell seeks access to stolen diamonds hidden in New York. His cold logic and terrifying presence make him one of the most memorable villains in thriller literature.

• Janeway: A sinister operative in the Division, Janeway epitomizes institutional corruption and ruthlessness. Though initially an ally to Doc, he quickly becomes a key antagonist after betraying him. Janeway’s pursuit of Babe adds an extra layer of menace and portrays the dangers of unchecked government power.

• Karl and Erhard: Szell’s brutal henchmen, both former Nazis, serve as enforcers and torturers. Karl is physically imposing and violent, while Erhard is crippled and deceptive, contributing to the psychological torment inflicted on Babe.

• Elsa Opel: A seemingly innocent Swiss nurse and Babe’s romantic interest, Elsa harbors secrets of her own. Her true loyalties are obscured, and her interactions with Babe raise complex questions of trust and betrayal.

Theme

• Trust and Betrayal: The narrative pivots on broken trust—between brothers, lovers, and institutions. Doc’s deception about his real job, Elsa’s secret affiliations, and Janeway’s betrayal paint a world where duplicity is the rule. This erosion of trust isolates Babe and forces his painful maturation.

• The Legacy of the Holocaust: Szell’s character brings the horrors of the Holocaust into sharp focus. The novel confronts postwar justice, the complicity of institutions in shielding war criminals, and the lingering trauma inflicted on both victims and perpetrators.

• Pain and Endurance: Through Babe’s identity as a marathon runner, the story explores physical and psychological endurance. His ability to survive torture and elude pursuit mirrors his running philosophy—”pain is temporary, quitting is forever.”

• Government Corruption and Moral Ambiguity: The Division, intended as a protective agency, is portrayed as morally bankrupt and self-serving. Through Doc and Janeway, the novel critiques the hidden machinations of power and the ethical decay of clandestine operations.

• Identity and Transformation: Nearly every character in the book leads a double life—Doc as a killer, Szell as “Kurt Hesse,” Elsa as a lover and spy. Babe’s arc is the most transformative: from naïve student to someone capable of confronting evil and asserting his will.

Writing Style and Tone

William Goldman’s writing in Marathon Man is taut, cinematic, and psychologically charged. He uses rapid scene cuts, clipped dialogue, and fragmented internal monologues to create a sense of urgency and paranoia. The narrative often shifts perspectives with fluidity, plunging the reader into different minds—Babe’s anxious introspections, Doc’s calculated calm, Szell’s cold rationality—building a textured emotional landscape.

Goldman’s tone is at once suspenseful and cynical, laced with dark wit and brutal realism. His characters, especially Babe, are sharply drawn, filled with contradictions that make them achingly human. The novel’s intensity comes not just from its action sequences but from the psychological torment its characters endure. Scenes of violence are rendered in vivid detail, but it’s the emotional and moral wounds that linger longest. His prose balances the literary with the visceral, ensuring the book is both a page-turner and a reflection on the cost of survival.