The Ethical Assassin by David Liss (2006)
I have generally liked David Liss's writings. I first read The Coffee Trader, when it was first published in 2003, and was absolutely hooked on Liss's historical fiction. The Coffee Trader described the rise of the modern commodities market in 17th Century Amsterdam. With The Ethical Assassin, however, Liss has moved to another genre. If I had read this book first, I would never have touched another book by Liss.
The Ethical Assassin tried to be both a crime novel and a treatise on animal rights. The story takes place in southern Florida in the mid-1980s. Young Lemuel Altick has taken a job as a door-to-door encyclopedia saiesman to earn tuition money for college. His assigned sales territory is a poor trailer park that is adjacent to a malodorous pig farm. Lemuel is about to close on a sale, in fact the check has been written, when his customer and her apparent husband are shot to death.
The hitman or "ethical assassin" informs Lemuel that his name is Melford Kean. He tells Lemuel that he will help him elude the police, but then begins to leave evidence that could frame Lemuel. More bodies begin to pile up and Lemuel finds himself linked to Kean's actions.
Kean is also concerned about the animal research that is being conducted at the research lab just beyond the pig farm. Kean begins talking about his vegan beliefs to Lemuel, which includes ethical treatment of animals. He believes strongly about animal rights, but has no apparent moral compunctions about murdering a human or two.
The author is a vegan, thus the subject matter on animal lives is close to his heart. I am not sure, however, that the direction of this novel is the proper forum for espousing his views. I hope David Liss goes back to writing historical fiction in which he informs the reader of the development of the economic institutions we are familiar with today.
Read: December 28, 2010
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