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The Good Assassin

by Paul Vidich

Series: George Mueller (2)

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462554,421 (3.17)1
"Paul Vidich follows up his acclaimed debut spy thriller with a suspenseful tale of Cold War espionage set in 1950s Cuba, as foreign powers compete to influence the outcome of a revolution. Former CIA Agent George Mueller arrives in Havana in August 1958--the last months before the fall of Cuban dictator Fulgencio Batista--to look into the activities of Toby Graham, a CIA officer suspected of harboring sympathies for the rebel forces fighting the unpopular Batista regime. Mueller knew Graham as an undergraduate and later they were colleagues in Berlin fighting the Soviet NKVD. Under the guise of their long acquaintance Mueller is recruited to vet rumors that Graham is putting weapons, covertly provided by the CIA to Batista, into the hands of Castro's forces. Public exposure of the CIA weapons mission, and the activity of one rogue agent, threaten to embarrass the agency. Mueller uncovers a world of deceit as the FBI, CIA, and State Department compete to influence the outcome of the revolution in the face of the brutal dictatorship's imminent collapse. Graham, meanwhile, is troubled by the hypocrisy of a bankrupt US foreign policy, and has fallen in love with a married American woman, Liz Malone. Paul Vidich has written a powerful story of ideals, passions, betrayals, and corrupting political rivalries in the months before Castro's triumphant march into Havana on New Year's Day 1959. This sequel showcases the widely praised talents of Paul Vidich, who Booklist says, "writes with an economy of style that acclaimed novelists might do well to emulate.""-- "Paul Vidich follows up his acclaimed debut spy thriller with a suspenseful tale of Cold War espionage set in 1950s Cuba, as foreign powers compete to influence the outcome of a revolution"--… (more)
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THE GOOD ASSASSIN is yet another cracking good spy yarn from Paul Vidich, this time set in 1958 Cuba when the Batista regime was rife with corruption and Castro's revolutionary army was massing in the western mountains. CIA agent George Mueller is coaxed back from his teaching job at Yale to take on the delicate assignment of evaluating the status of another agent who may have gone rogue, and, as was the case in Vidich's first Mueller novel, the tense rivalry between the CIA and the FBI is again front and center. As usual, Vidich manages to make his historical plot timely and relevant. Note this comment from one of the central characters -

"America is a wonderful place, but one mistake I don't make, nor should you, if you're thoughtful ... is to mistake patriotism for love of country. Chest-thumping patriotism is all the fashion on Capitol Hill. It's a sloppy mix of fear and ignorance worn self-righteously."

Enough said.

Paul Vidich is relatively new to the espionage-thriller genre, but DAMN is he good! He has obviously studied the best - writers like le Carre and Greene, or maybe the work of the late Ward Just, who also knew Washington and the corridors of power. If you love spy stories, then note this name: PAUL VIDICH. In the past four years he has written four books, the most recent, THE MERCENARY, is coming in February. I have read probably a dozen or more books by le Carre, Greene and Just. Vidich belongs in those ranks. My highest recommendation.

- Tim Bazzett, author of the memoir, BOOKLOVER ( )
  TimBazzett | Oct 3, 2020 |
Not satisfying. ( )
  cygnet81 | Jun 29, 2017 |
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"Paul Vidich follows up his acclaimed debut spy thriller with a suspenseful tale of Cold War espionage set in 1950s Cuba, as foreign powers compete to influence the outcome of a revolution. Former CIA Agent George Mueller arrives in Havana in August 1958--the last months before the fall of Cuban dictator Fulgencio Batista--to look into the activities of Toby Graham, a CIA officer suspected of harboring sympathies for the rebel forces fighting the unpopular Batista regime. Mueller knew Graham as an undergraduate and later they were colleagues in Berlin fighting the Soviet NKVD. Under the guise of their long acquaintance Mueller is recruited to vet rumors that Graham is putting weapons, covertly provided by the CIA to Batista, into the hands of Castro's forces. Public exposure of the CIA weapons mission, and the activity of one rogue agent, threaten to embarrass the agency. Mueller uncovers a world of deceit as the FBI, CIA, and State Department compete to influence the outcome of the revolution in the face of the brutal dictatorship's imminent collapse. Graham, meanwhile, is troubled by the hypocrisy of a bankrupt US foreign policy, and has fallen in love with a married American woman, Liz Malone. Paul Vidich has written a powerful story of ideals, passions, betrayals, and corrupting political rivalries in the months before Castro's triumphant march into Havana on New Year's Day 1959. This sequel showcases the widely praised talents of Paul Vidich, who Booklist says, "writes with an economy of style that acclaimed novelists might do well to emulate.""-- "Paul Vidich follows up his acclaimed debut spy thriller with a suspenseful tale of Cold War espionage set in 1950s Cuba, as foreign powers compete to influence the outcome of a revolution"--

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