Arnold Zeck
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Arnold Zeck is a fictional character found in three Nero Wolfe novels by Rex Stout. Zeck is a mysterious, powerful and intelligent crime boss who becomes Wolfe's nemesis after the detective crosses his path in the course of past cases. Arnold Zeck and his relationship with Wolfe has been compared to that of Professor Moriarty and Sherlock Holmes.
Zeck's malevolent presence is felt in two novels, And Be a Villain (1948) and The Second Confession (1949); and Zeck himself appears in In the Best Families (1950). In the third book of what is popularly called The Zeck Trilogy, Nero Wolfe resolves to defeat Zeck once and for all.
In 1974, the Viking Press collected the three Zeck novels in an omnibus volume, Triple Zeck.
