Be Specific About Books In Pursuance Of The Ethical Assassin
| Original Title: | The Ethical Assassin |
| ISBN: | 0812974549 (ISBN13: 9780812974546) |
| Edition Language: | English |
| Setting: | Florida(United States) |
David Liss
Paperback | Pages: 336 pages Rating: 3.53 | 1437 Users | 189 Reviews
Details Based On Books The Ethical Assassin
| Title | : | The Ethical Assassin |
| Author | : | David Liss |
| Book Format | : | Paperback |
| Book Edition | : | First Edition |
| Pages | : | Pages: 336 pages |
| Published | : | January 30th 2007 by Ballantine Books (first published 2006) |
| Categories | : | Fiction. Mystery. Thriller. Crime. Mystery Thriller. Historical. Historical Fiction |
Chronicle As Books The Ethical Assassin
Edgar award-winning author of the popular historical novels A Conspiracy of Paper and A Spectacle of Corruption, David Liss showcases his amazing versatility with this brilliant new tale of contemporary suspense: a literary thriller set in Florida, where killing is a matter of conscience.No one is more surprised than Lem Altick when it turns out he’s actually good at peddling encyclopedias door to door. He hates the predatory world of sales, but he needs the money to pay for college. Then things go horribly wrong. In a sweltering trailer in rural Florida, a couple whom Lem has spent hours pitching is shot dead before his eyes, and the unassuming young man is suddenly pulled into the dark world of conspiracy and murder. Not just murder: assassination– or so claims the killer, the mysterious and strangely charismatic Melford Kean, who has struck without remorse and with remarkable good cheer. But the self-styled ethical assassin hadn’t planned on a witness, and so he makes Lem a deal: Stay quiet and there will be no problems. Go to the police and take the fall.
Before Lem can decide, he is drawn against his will into the realm of the assassin, a post-Marxist intellectual with whom he forms an unlikely (and perhaps unwise) friendship. The ethical assassin could be a charming sociopath, eco-activist, or vigilante for social justice. To unravel the mystery and save himself, Lem must descend deep into a bizarre world he never knew existed, where a group of desperate–and genuinely deranged–schemers have hatched a plan that will very likely keep Lem from leaving town alive.
David Liss skillfully interweaves a gallery of eccentric characters with a multilayered plot characterized by its unpredictable twists and turns. The Ethical Assassin is a brilliant, darkly comic novel that will leave readers in suspense until the very last page.
From the Hardcover edition.
Rating Based On Books The Ethical Assassin
Ratings: 3.53 From 1437 Users | 189 ReviewsEvaluate Based On Books The Ethical Assassin
This book is a pretty quick read. It started off very slow for me, but there was something about it that kept me just interested enough that I didn't abandon it. There were some quirky things going on that held out real promise. I was halfway through before it really hooked me, though. Once there, it was quite interesting.I'd give the last part of the book 4 stars, but it was somewhat rushed - too little, too late to really make the book a good one. The main character finally develops into ait's like elmore leonard giving a sermon on animal rights in the midst of a screening of the maysles brothers' salesman. witty, vivid, fast-moving, vaguely depressing, and fun... with a big ditch full of pigshit & piss...
Seventeen-year-old Lem Altick is trying to save money for college by working as a door-to-door encyclopedia salesman in South Florida. Things get complicated for Lem when two of his potential customers are murdered during mid-sale and Lem is befriended by their killer--a very ethical, mostly peaceful vegetarian named Melford, who is trying to expose a drug ring and needs Lem's help to do it. This smart and very suspenseful read has Hiaasen-esque, quirky secondary characters and is very unlike
This book is a complete departure from the books that I have read by D. Liss. I felt like I was in the world of Carl Hiaasen with his plastic palm trees, Florida humidity, and sprinkling of wantonly depraved characters, all couched to make one want to hop on a plane and visit every major city in Florida. That being said, I am impressed that Liss has the ability to go from historical fiction and such protaginists as Benjamin Weaver and take us to mid 80's Florida with Lem Atlick as our schmuck
The title of this book caught my eye, and the corresponding premise was just as intriguing. However, I was disappointed. In reality, the story was a thinly-disguised animal-rights treatise. There were so many great places Liss could have taken the idea of an ethical assassin - someone who kills people who do, in fact, deserve to die because they are evil. Instead, the reader receives a language-riddled philosophical discussion about animal cruelty.I would be interested to read something else by
To make money for college, Lem Altick gets involved with a drug ring under the umbrella of a encyclopedia sales scheme. This book would translate well into a movie....pulp crime all the way. Great writing; you can almost see the main character growing up in a two day period. To stay alive he has to stay one step ahead of:-2 crooked cops-1 half of a Siamese twin-A encyclopedia pyramid sales team-Residents at a trailer park-A Don Johnson styled crime boss-a love interest-and a violent animal
Set in the 1980's, Lem Altick has just graduated high school and desires nothing more than to escape the cultural vaccum that is Florida by going to college at Columbia. That Lem is actually a nice guy is pretty surprising given the hand that life has dealt him so far: a deadbeat dad who stopped calling ages ago, a mother so zoned out on pills that she naps all day and only awakens to prepare meals and clean house, and a verbally abusive step-father who has reneged on his promise to help Lem pay
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