Customer Reviews

The Ethical Assassin: A Novel

5 star:		(13)
4 star:		(15)
3 star:		(12)
2 star:		(5)
1 star:		(9)

 

 

Many people have commented on how this could be something that Carl Hiaasen could've penned, and I couldn't agree more. Set in Florida in the mid eighties the book begins with a seventeen year old encylopedia salesman named Lem Altick who, while pitching his product to a couple, witnesses their brutal slaying. Their assassin turns out to be a charming, intelligent guy whose agenda, or more appropriately 'mission', reveals itself later in the book in a didactic (to the point of bashing you over the head) way. However, before this, the book is ripe with a madcap plot and cast of off the wall characters that flavor Hiassen novels including, an oversexed redneck sheriff, and the surviving half of Siamese twins. The book is genuinely funny, and even though the shady dealings that are going on are not that unique, his characters are.

David Liss, so accomplished in his previous forte, the historical fiction, has penned a highly entertaining contemporary thriller that borders on the absurd in a style similar to Carl Hiassen.

The story evolves in the relating of the experiences of 17 year old South Floridian, Lem Altick. Lem, a bright and perceptive young man had been accepted to Columbia University. Circumstances arose which left him $30,000 short of the tuition required. He was attempting to make money by selling encyclopedias door to door, with a mostly motley crew presently canvassing the vicinity of Jacksonville.

Lem had apparently struck gold in a foul smelling trailer park known as Meadowbrook Grove. He was giving his best sales pitch to a sketchy looking couple named Karen and Bastard when suddenly someone bursts into the trailer and dispatches the couple with two gunshots to the head. This was Lem's startling introduction to the "ethical assassin", the bleached blonde, ghoulish looking Melford Kean.

Kean wishing to assure Lem's silence planted clues that would implicate him should Lem squeal. Kean, a rational psychotic was unwilling to harm Lem and recruited him to help him cover his tracks concerning his actions. We soon learn that Melford is a fervent animal rights activist and vegetarian. All through their interactions, Melford tries to sway Lem to his particular ideology.

Meadowbrook Grove, it turns out, is a separate principality governed by corrupt mayor and police chief Jim Doe, who had set up the trailer park as a speed trap. The mullet coiffed, dentally challenged Doe is also a front man for the local enterprises ensconsed in Meadowbrook Grove owned by Miami Vice attired, borderline pedophile B.B. Gunn. Gunn owns a foul smelling pig farm which also serves as a front for an illegal crystal meth lab. Gunn is also connected with the encyclopedia business, whose leader known as the Gambler (real name is Kenny Rogers) was a former leg breaker in Las Vegas.

The double homicide witnessed by Lem has potential to expose the whole slimy operation in Meadowbrook Grove. Liss navigates us through the odyssey of Lem Altick as he tries to stay out of harm's way while coming in contact with a bevy of bizarre characters.

I too am a huge fan of David Liss's writing, and I love his two Benjamin Weaver books. This book is as different from these as possible. For one thing the setting is 1985 Florida, not some much earlier historical time in Europe. For another, this book has a different storyline altogether. It chronicles one wild weekend in a 17-year-old Enclopedia salesman's life when he gets on the wrong side of the law, and on the right side of a strangely ethical assassin. Poor Lem doesn't know what he has gotten himself into when two potential customes are shot right in front of him. The book kept my interest, and it was actually quite funny, but somehow it fell short at the denouement stage. The book is certainly worth reading if only for the sheer fun of it, and its probably as bizarre as fiction can get. But I can't help hoping that Liss will get back to a much earlier time in history with his next book.

David Liss is full of surprises. His first three novels --- A CONSPIRACY OF PAPER, THE COFFEE TRADER and A SPECTACLE OF CORRUPTION --- are probably best classified as historical suspense thrillers, taking place in the 17th and 18th centuries in Europe. His new work, THE ETHICAL ASSASSIN, is much more modern in time and closer to home in space. Set in the 1980s in South Florida --- inland, not coastal --- Liss presents a tale of triple crosses and unforgettable, realistic characters in a narrative that, despite stumbling in a couple of spots, is riveting and addictive.

THE ETHICAL ASSASSIN, perhaps more than anything else, is a dark coming-of-age novel, THE CATCHER IN THE RYE for the post-Vietnam generation. Lem Altick is a recent high school graduate somewhere between a nebbish and a class president. His grades could get him into Columbia but are not quite good enough for financial aid; he made the track team, and while never finishing first in an event, he never dragged the team down. Altick's stepfather, a somewhat shadowy figure who we meet only in flashback, is half-in and half-out of his life. While he isn't quite comfortable playing the role of dad, he somehow gives Altick what little good advice he has to get him through life. Regardless, however, he isn't about to put Altick through school.

Several thousand dollars behind the tuition eight-ball, Altick becomes an itinerant encyclopedia salesman in south Florida, trolling the trailer parks and not-quite downtrodden neighborhoods in search of parents interested in investing in their children's education. Consistent with his life in general, Altick is a little unsure of himself but is pretty good at his job. He is, in fact, right in the middle of closing a sale when he is rather traumatically introduced to Melford Kean, the "ethical assassin" of the piece. Kean is by turns one of the most interesting elements of THE ETHICAL ASSASSIN and its largest bore; his motives and actions are often shrouded in mystery, while his occasional vegan and Marxist lectures is a real narrative killer.

Altick has a penchant for being in the wrong place at the wrong time, and Kean has a way of getting him into and pulling him out of huge trouble, not the least of which is a triple murder and a whole lot of missing money. There are a number of dangerous characters in this book, including a crooked, dangerous cop who makes Harvey Keitel's character in Bad Lieutenant look like a model law enforcement officer; a quasi-businessman who is making a fateful plunge into pederasty; and a brooding psychopath who is a potential catalyst for destruction. All are tied into Florida's burgeoning crank industry, which is flying under the radar of legitimate law enforcement and making all involved wealthy beyond their wildest dreams. Altick unwillingly finds himself in the middle of a pack of wolves.

There's also a young lady to rescue, she being the understated yet irresistibly exotic Chitra Radhakrishkan, a fellow encyclopedia salesperson who is similarly disaffected while being a bit more sure of herself. And there is, of course, Kean. Altick is not certain if Kean is his salvation or his doom. Indeed, as we see near the end of THE ETHICAL ASSASSIN, he may well be both.

Liss, despite lapsing into occasional rhetoric, has created a novel that is by turns hilarious and horrifying. His setting and characters beg comparison with Carl Hiaasen; Liss, however, succeeds in making his characters bizarre and frightening without resorting to the sort of exaggeration that sometimes infects Hiaasen's work. Anyone who has spent quality time in South Florida will immediately recognize each and every individual who wanders onto and off the pages of THE ETHICAL ASSASSIN. His description of the processing of crystal methamphetamine is both dead-on accurate and enough to make anyone considering such an enterprise to look elsewhere for a vocation.

Liss, already an Edgar Award winner for A CONSPIRACY OF PAPER, may need to clear some space on his mantel for further accolades.

--- Reviewed by Joe Hartlaub

Encyclopedia salesman Lem Altick had no idea a summer spent in sticky-stinky Florida going door to door in Trailor-Town to earn college money could turn deadly. But when two of his marks are shot dead just as they're handing him a downpayment, Altick knows his life has changed forever. Melford, the killer, offers Lem a deal: forget what he saw and everything's copacetic; rat Melford out and Lem goes down for the murders.

What's a guy gonna do?

Strangley, Lem finds himself drawn to Melford, a sensitive young man with a conscience, who can turn deadly on a dime. Melford, it seems, is quite charming for a killer, and claims he uses violence only as a last resort. He appoints himself Lem's watchdog and proves his docile nature. So why did Melford kill? He won't say. But Lem needs a protector. He's got a dirty cop sniffing his heels, some missing money to account for, and an employer and some co-workers questioning his every move. Something sinister and smelly is going on here, and Lem's covered in the stench of it. Will he survive?

Once again, David Liss has scored a hit with THE ETHICAL ASSASSIN. A bit preachy, perhaps, but this book delivers a wallop. Liss has established himself as one of this country's best writers. I can't wait for his next one.

I love David Liss. Looking back at my past 3-5 years of reading, I can't think of an author I've enjoyed reading more than him. His writing is superb: his use of setting, language, and plot twist are addictive.

But this book shocked me (not in a good way) from the first pages. Nothing matched the style of the his other books: not the period, the setting, the scenario, and certainly not the language. I had to stop and check on Wikipedia to make sure that he actually wrote this book. (I've accidentally picked up books from authors with the same name who weren't actually the same author and had to make sure I hadn't repeated that mistake with this book.) But sonofagun, this really is a David Liss book.

It's not a bad book though--just not what I expect from this author. His other books are so cerebral, but this one has such a pulpy feel to it. Not that I object to campy pulp fiction; I read quite a bit of pulp, like Victor Gischler and Charlie Huston. So once I got over the initial surprise, I settled in for a different read. No problem, I thought.

The story was compelling enough to keep me turning the pages and addicting enough to make me keep carving out more time to read. The characters are interesting and the plot has enough murders to keep things interesting.

BUT...

But then the story swerved way off into the weeds and changed to a "Meat is Murder" activist message.

I object.

I object to paying this much and then being tricked into an animal activist sermon. Whether I agree with the message or not, it was completely out of place in a novel like this. I would have been just as disappointed by a "vote for my guy" or "have you read Dianetics?" message. It's akin to an unsolicited phone call during dinner.

Can't you see I'm trying to read a good book here? You already took me down a certain path with the coarse guy talk--the harsh language and forced copulation. But then you shot all the tires out of the story and turned it into a sermon about why humans can't eat meat?

I call foul. Or fowl. Or whatever.

So yeah, the story was still gripping. It wasn't a typical Liss book by any means though. And the activist message bugged me--not the content of the message, but the fact that the message was a complete hijacking of my read. I still love Liss's books, but I'll definitely think twice before buying another one of his books sight unseen.

I am somewhat surprised by the even distribution of reviews of this book; I expected readers to either love or hate it, with little in between. For those who have read David Liss' previous four books, THE ETHICAL ASSASSIN is a radical departure from his historical-financial thrillers, though it is delivered with the same taut prose we've come to expect. This book ventures into borderline wacky terrain that is--simply put--a wild, raucous ride of a mystery novel masquerading as a coming-of-age novel (or vice versa). I, for one, thoroughly enjoyed the romp.

Lem Altick is a 17 year old peddling encyclopedias to the illiterati of south Florida trailer-parks, when two of his "marks" are gunned down before his eyes. The story unfolds in the encounters between Lem, the "ethical assassin" whose work he witnessed, and a veritable flock of extraordinary characters worthy of a John Irving novel, as Lem tries to extricate himself from ever-increasing danger.

Quite a number of reviewers have negatively commented on the vegetarian, animal-rights "mission" of the "assassin". For what it's worth, I thought the author got the tone just right. Anyone who's been targeted by a self-righteous zealot of any contemporary "ism" (whether conservative or liberal) will recognize the overweening, pedantic hard-sell in which these zealots tend to indulge. I thought it was hilarious.

All in all, I found this to be a great, fun read.

Sarai

As a devotee of the Ben Weaver novels, I had high expectations for ETHICAL ASSASSIN, and it delivers, sort of.

Lem Altick is trying to sell encyclopedias in rural North Florida in an attempt to raise enough money to attend Columbia University. A double murder complicates his plans.

As one might expect from David Liss, the characters are vibrant and the locations are richly detailed. As a ex-pat Floridian from a real cracker family who chomped at the bit to leave the Sunshine State from my early teens, I had deep empathy for Lem Altick. He's the center of the novel.

The title, therefore, strikes me as misleading. The eponymous assassin is not the main character. In fact, the action screeches to a halt every time he appears, spewing his serpentine diatribes. He prattles on like a preacher for pages and pages and pages after a point is made. In the end, his argument strikes me as utterly specious. He's basically a mealy-mouthed terrorist.

The plot, while quite engaging in the early going, meanders in the final act. The denouement is as obvious as a Mack Truck on I-4 at high noon in July. The reader will see it coming for 200 pages.

Still, I enjoyed this book to some degree. It's a like a lesser Hiassen plot in the hands of a more elegant writer. I recommend it to Liss fans, but it's not a must-read for anyone--much less someone sampling Liss for the first time.

This wasn't a bad book, but it was far from his best. It was entertaining and humerous as it should have been. It did, however, like some other reviewers said have an agenda about eating meat. No it wasn't in your face, preachy kind of agenda, but it was there and seemed to take a little away from the intent of the book. So overall it's not his best, but it is still entertaining if you don't really take the vegan agenda seriously. It's still worth reading, just don't expect it to be top notch.

Liss leaves his historical roots to probe Carl Hiassen's Florida, complete with meth dealers, bikini-clad ladies, and innocent teenagers. Can the Sunshine State be as evil as depicted? Or do all the rotten apples just collect in that one barrel? Not a bad mystery but I had it all figured out early (and I rarely do that). I prefer Liss in the Netherlands, myself. He makes his point without the preaching. And, yes, I do eat meat.