The Ethical Assassin / by David Liss

Needing money for college, 17-year-old Floridian Lem Altick hits the road the summer after high school as a door to door salesman of encyclopedias. It's a scammy business, a ruse run by con artists who prey on the rural poor by getting them to think they're making an "educational investment" for their underpriveleged children. And though Lem is actually good at his job, a surprise to everyone including him, he disapproves of the predatory nature of what he does. In the midst of making a pitch one afternoon, he witnesses the cold-blooded murder of his customers, a young couple in a trailer home, by a stranger not much older than Lem who appears out of nowhere. The assassin, later introduced as Melford Kean, agrees to spare Lem's life in return for his continuing silence. He assures Lem that the deaths were no great loss ("These people had it coming."). It's not like he has much choice; Kean forced Lem to put his prints are on the murder weapon and there was at least one witness who saw him enter the trailer at the time of the killing. Going back to his job still wide-eyed with shock, Lem tries to forget about it all only to run in to Kean later that same day, maybe a coincidence but probably not. Before he knows it, Lem's downtrodden gig of peddling overpriced, outdated encyclopedias merges with a strangely alluring world of professional killing and exploitation as his life, up to now a disappointment, is never the same again.

Liss, a scholar of mostly 17th and 18th British literature and author of several successful historical novels, pens a worthy standalone in this book about an assassin with a hyped-up Machiavellian view of life and a casually manipulative way of getting things done. The story meanders around from one plot element to another--Lem and Kean's meeting, corrupt sherriff/mayor involved in the investigation and the overarching criminal underground which infiltrates everything--but the pacing is solid and the author's characterization really shines at depicting his supporting cast, a myriad of sordid types in a world of shady salesmanship, drug rings and sleazy small town cops. Liss, a San Antonio resident, might not quite be up to the level of a Carl Hiaasen or Elmore Leonard but he's not far off. Even with his other work not really in the same vein, or even the same genre, The Ethical Assassin catches on as an entertaining read, unique really in its setup with a normal, down-on-his-luck guy confronted by some quirky, real-world circumstances and an enigmatic villain/hero he can't get away from. (MYS LISS)

Taxi Driver (1976) DVD / a film by Martin Scorcese; w/ screenplay by Paul Schrader; starring Robert Deniro

"The days go on and on... they don't end. All my life needed was a sense of someplace to go. I don't believe that one should devote his life to morbid self-attention, I believe that one should become a person like other people."

Travis Bickle is a man cut off, shut out so systematically, so repeatedly by others that he's become an individual on the edge--in more ways than one. An ex-GI in New York City, he drives a taxi as both a means to make money and to remedy his chronic insomnia,"I ride around most nights--subways, buses--but you know, if I'm gonna do that, I might as well get paid for it". Even as an outcast Travis is immersed in the world around him, existing on the periphery of that "other" world to which he can never belong yet which he finds alluring nonetheless. His job introduces him to broad cross section of the detestably vulgar society he inhabits: sleazy businessmen nightly copulating with prostitutes in the backseat, preoccupied politicians with their scheming agendas, haughty, unobtainably beautiful women and enraged husbands plotting revenge against their cheating wives. It's a culture he's both repulsed by and awkwardly drawn to, his own social alienation and sexual frustration routinely outlet through frequent visits to adult bookstores and porno theatres where hard-core films offer a voyeuristic glimpse of the deviant world operating around him. But as his thoughts and habits grow more obsessive and the veracity of his isolation is laid out before him ("Loneliness has followed me my whole life. Everywhere. In bars, in cars, sidewalks, stores, everywhere. There's no escape. I'm God's lonely man . . ."), Travis' mental stability falters as insanity creeps in replacing his rationality with a radical vision for an ultimate resolution.

In Scorcese's timeless film adapted from Paul Schrader's inimitable screenplay, Travis Bickle really is "God's lonely man", if merely because he's everyman's "lonely man". Everyone can empathize with the emotional status of Travis' situation and most know the feeling resulting from limited social interaction or an inability to connect. Most deal with it better than Travis does. Taxi Driver is a brilliant nightmare*, and, like most real nightmares, little to nothing is gathered as to the particulars of unfolding events. The audience never learns about Travis background, where he's from or why he lives in New York; only that he was once a marine and that likely he served in Vietnam, and even that's barely hinted at. The film relies heavily (considerably more so than most other American movies) on suggestive characterization, barely establishing the framework for a story, subtly insinuating mood and offering ambiguous at best inferences for the motives and subsequent action. Symbolism and allegory are heavily involved: the taxi cab acting as Travis' portal to the world, his vessel (and insulation) on the road of life; long, panning shots seen from the cab's point of view mirroring the exterior world's separate, unattached livelihood; intimate, close-ups during the film's most violent sequences as opposed to the more distant, retreating shots observed during Travis' conversations with others emphasizing personal rejection having greater weight than a destructive mindset, etc. Perhaps more than any other Scorcese film, Taxi Driver warrants the conscious involvement of the viewer, demanding attention at an interpretive level and requiring evaluation, analysis and judgement through individualized perceptions, a likely reason it continues as a classic in American cinema. (DVD TAXI)

*Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times

Bulworth (DVD) 1998 / w/ Warren Beatty & Halle Berry

"Isn't that obvious?"

On a dismal day in the nation's capitol, a distressed US politician calmly goes about plotting his own assassination. No there's no mistake as the person in question, California Senator Jay Bulworth, is decidedly suicidal. Overcome with despair amid perceived failures, he feels he's just being practical, wanting things to wrap up nicely for his family's sake and all (a lofty insurance policy having been taken out previously). Everything finally in place, an unburdened Senator Bulworth returns home for a routine campaign weekend where, now rid of obligations to party agendas and protocol, The Man can start telling it straight.

Obviously, not everyone's feeling the same vibe as the "new" congressman; evident after a speech bloated with some shamelessly 'frank' remarks stirs the ire of several party loyalists. Lobbyists, campaign managers and groupies all do their best to spin-doctor what they percieve as flagrant political blunders, albeit lacking cooperation from their re-invented figurehead who's now apparently adopted a hip-hop mode of reaching voters. But the seemingly witless Jay Bulworth is as coherent as ever, now intimate with several of his remotest constituents (Halle Berry and her urban cohorts) and having the time of his life, all while remaining oblivious to any criticism--constructive or otherwise. But with his new found fulfillment in "keeping it real" comes the paranoia of his impending mortality, a quandary now seemingly no one can undo.

Say what you will about Warren Beatty's projects (Dick Tracy???), Bulworth may be his life's crowning achievement. Probably too brazen as a 'funny ha-ha' type of film, the movie is none the less a laugh-out-loud-er brimming with attitude and crass improprieties, not to mention satire to rival Swift or Twain. Yet Beatty along with a not-so-ho-hum cast including Berry, Oliver Platt and Don Cheadle manage to balance the humor with a socio-political authenticity not often glanced through the big screen medium. More importantly--and very relevant now a decade later--the film provides a much needed forum for the too often missed trickle-down effect of bi-partisan politics in America today. (DVD BULWORTH)

International Intrigue

A journalist for the BBC during WWII, Frederick Forsyth once tried to 'hop a ride' on a D-Day invasion craft. His adventurism coupled with experience as a global correspondent have helped firmly establish him at the pinnacle of the political thriller genre. Among his many popular works, Day of the Jackal (1971) and The Afghan (2007) are two of his most enthralling epics.

Day of the Jackal (1971)
Rebuff in France over the Algerian question reached its apex in 1962 when, in a move unpopular with many, President De Gaulle withdrew all French troops and granted sovereignty to the North African state. Among the outraged, members of the French OAS (Secret Army Organisations) were former soldiers and colonists who, feeling betrayed after sacrifices made on their country's behalf, decided retaliation was only too necessary. Between the summer of 1962 and spring 1963, a string of unsuccessful assassination attempts were made on De Gaulle’s life. With their ranks dwindling and their cause dying, one last option assuaged the OAS: hire an outside professional killer who, acting alone, would eliminate their target. Following an intense search, a meeting of the strictest confidence was held in Vienna where 3 OAS men and one stranger discussed details of the operation. The stranger--codename "The Jackal"--ultimately agreed to kill the French President for half a million dollars. Up until and beyond the pinned date, no OAS or allied partisan would see or hear from the Jackal accept through the designated middle-man. The OAS now had their last and best ‘shot’ to avenge their betrayal.

Even knowing De Gaulle died--peacefully in his sleep--in 1970 and that there was likely no such lone gunman plot (the other attempts were real enough), you can’t help but be caught up in the drama of this taut thriller. The Jackal's methodical preparations are as intriguing as the climax while the intelligence bureau's counter-operations only add to the appeal. Forsyth's steady, detached style may deter some with its lack of cliffhanger suspense. But his ability to create fascination out of one man's inconspicuous maneuvers has a way of overriding the desire for more action. The film version of this book came out in 1973 and stars Edward Fox as the Jackal. (FIC FORSYTH)
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The Afghan (2007)
Army Col. Mike Martin is well-acquainted with the Middle East. Since his time spent in Iraq as a boy up until his present life as a paratrooper, he’s become familiar with all aspects of the volatile region, even learning the language well enough to translate several remote dialects. But when the intelligence community desperately needs information on a major Al-Qaeda operation, even they know the hard truth: there’s no way to get what they need aside from personally infiltrating the enemy, an impossibility because no one (not even Martin) is capable of doing so.

Even the only conceivable option, an Afghani political prisoner in quarantine, is a non-option. Izmat Khan is a former Taliban commander who even now, after 5 years of interrogation at Guantanamo, remains a staunch fundamentalist ally of Al-Qaeda. Yet a twist of fate many years earlier helped make Khan and Martin loyal friends. Is it even possible? Could Martin’s shared knowledge and intimacy with Khan allow Martin—disguised as Khan—to ‘become an enemy’ among the enemy?

Forsyth writes with such incomparable authority and structure that little room is left for fault-finding. The Afghan could almost pass as a geography textbook, so remarkable is the detail, and yet the story's intriguing enough captivate any politically naïve reader. The action, as with other Forsyth classics, is less personal--war casualties described like a newscast. But it’s the broader picture that’s indirectly intended, fate and conflict viewed at a global scale. With its distinctly middle-eastern attributes, The Afghan shares more than a few parallels with Lawrence of Arabia and readers gung-ho on Indiana Jones won't be disappointed. (FIC FORSYTH)