The Evil That Men Do

I completely agree with the previous reviews. I read this book 25 years ago and was captivated by it. It is taut, well-plotted, and full of telling moments that shed light on human nature. When it was first published, it ought to have been made into a movie starring a young Christopher Walken. Instead, sadly, it was turned into a clunker, around 1984, with Charles Bronson, an actor who was talented in some ways but was never meant to play the hero of this book. If the movie were made today, it might star Christian Bale. Holland is an ex-soldier of 28 who has faked his own death in Vietnam and disappeared to a Caribbean island. He can be reached only by trusted friends and is available for "righteous" contract killings--e.g., corrupt officials, terrorists, and the like. He is hired to kill a British citizen who is a master of torture for corrupt regimes but protected by the CIA. Using a wealthy young widow and her child as cover, Holland enters Guatemala and seeks to flush the torturer out of hiding. First, he must eliminate the man's two sadistic lieutenants. The book has some marvelous scenes, including a late-night confrontation in a bar in a slum, between wealthy tourists and a field laborer whose rage is fueled by drugs; another confrontation in a small rural tavern between men who are armed and who know that if anyone pulls a trigger, they could all die in that small space; and a brief but horrifying scene in which a woman who doesn't even understand why she is being questioned, realizes she may meet a hideous death. Read this if you can find it; leave the movie alone.

The professional assasin of many, lesser, novels is a shallow man (or freakishly beautiful woman) without much affect, magically appearing at the right time to deftly shoot the victim. Hill's main character is not shallow, not lucky, and not boring. He's also not a good guy, but like other 'bad good' guys (read Richard Stark's "Parker" series, Robert Littell's "The Amateur" or closer- Joe Haldeman's " All My Sins Remembered") Holland is a rarity in modern novels -- a complete character. Holland, the hard man, meets up with a broken woman ... I won't ruin the plot points here. This is an amazingly good book. One warning: In Hollywood Murphy's Law often meets The Peter Principle turning great books into bad movies. Well, this book was made into a truly horrible movie in the 1980s. Don't confuse the two.

I read this book nearly twenty years ago the first time and can't say how much I enjoyed it. Since then I have read it possibly another ten times. Lost track of it about ten years ago through lending it out and recommending it to others. Been trying to get hold of a hardback copy for 10 years now and having no luck. Can't even find a paperback copy now, but this book has stayed in my mind throughout all of the great novels I have read, and, is still one of my all time favorites.

Very well written account of a professional assassin at work. I found it to be very entertaining and well thought out. The main character, Holland, is what I imagine the best of the professional assassins would be like. Not a book filled with unrealistic stunts or plot lines. I have recommended it many times and would have really appreciated a sequel. Made into a movie starring Charles Bronson - what a mistake! Charles Bronson is NOT a Holland. Don't be put off by the movie. All in all, a great summertime read. It's sad that's it out of print.