Hello beautiful people! Welcome to a new review! For this review, I get into a first for the site which is an advanced reader copy of a new book. Although I received an early copy from the author, this review is my honest feelings about the book. The Ethical Assassin by William Ferraiolo is a thrilling and thought-provoking book that follows an unnamed protagonist who grapples with his humanity while also being a killer. As of yet there is not a release date for the book but as soon as the author gives me a date I will update the post.
My Review
As I said before I did receive an offer from William to receive an early copy of The Ethical Assassin in exchange for an honest review, and after seeing the title of his book and reading a quick blurb on it I knew I had to say yes. I mean even just the title itself is such a mind boggle in which we ask ourselves is there ever really an ethical assassin? I definitely didn’t have a lot of expectations going into the book but I was quickly shocked by the intriguing topics and themes that came up in the book that I originally was not expecting at all.
I gave The Ethical Assassin an 8/10 rating. I really enjoyed the way the book was written and the story displayed. It left this sense of mystery to the book in which since we the reader only get a perspective from the unnamed character, we are left to question how jaded his perspective may be due to the moral topics and ideals he tackles in the book. The book has these thrilling parts to it in which we are seeing the unnamed character commit his crimes, and then these more meaty almost philosophical parts that just make you think.
The book starts off with a note. The note tells the reader that what we go on to read was found in an abandoned journal left at a booth at a dinner. The man that was dining at the table was fairly non descript and non-memorable to the other patrons at the dinner, which made it difficult when the journal was opened and they were exposed to what was inside. The journal is filled with a memoir of a man who after losing what he saw as his purpose, which was being a father and a husband, turns down a different path in life. Well though, we as the reader can only assume it’s a different path in life, it’s hard to tell since we only get the story from him. Through his own personal view, he starts to kill people who he personally feels deserve to die. We as the reader follow him as he finds and chooses his different victims and how he comes to the conclusion that this is a person that fits his personal message of someone who deserves to die. In between these parts, the unnamed man tells us bits about his life, experience, and view of the world in general that helps the reader try to piece together what type of person he really is.
As I said before the title of the book itself it’s a big indicator of what the book is to be. Can there really be an ethical assassin? How do we as people in society conclude who deserves to walk amongst us and who is a danger? Even the unnamed man grapples with this idea. I mean who is he to determine who is worthy to live or die, how do we know that his view of the world isn’t a tainted one? Given what happened to his family that led to this change in his lifestyle, I was often asking myself if mental health was a topic at play here. I mean if we as people are determining who gets to live and die should we not look at it through a neutral lens? One not tainted by personal pain and trauma? Something that I wasn’t expecting in the book, but found to be really interesting was the topic of religion and spirituality that came up in the book. The unnamed character often looks at religion and spirituality through a perspective that fits his message. He finds specific passages and stories that fit into what he views as righteous. We as the reader are forced to question whether that’s the context in which these different religious and spiritual followings meant for these ideas to be presented in, or if the man is just finding ways to absolve himself from his wrongdoings. It is honestly a really relevant topic in North America right now in which we look at how people use religion and spirituality to fit a certain perspective in hopes of absolving themselves of wrongdoings or inhumane ideas.
It was interesting because I found myself relating and connecting to the main character on some things, but being on the opposite end of others. There was this part of him that was relatable and real, but then we are brought back into the focus that he’s a man who kills people when he wants to, without any remorse. We as the reader look into the darkest areas of the human mind and look at how trauma and pain can change a person’s view on the world and themselves.
Overall I found this to be a really interesting read that really makes the reader question what ethics, or ethicality means to them. I mean it’s objective realistically because we all experience things differently and have different knowledge based on what the world means to us. We are left to wonder that just because one sees the world and their own actions differently, does that give them a right to take on a vigilante role of sorts and kill those who they feel deserve it? While arguably I do think that the world is probably a better place with a few of the people he killed no longer in it, we question, who is he to judge? I really enjoyed the parts of the book where we got a back story on the man and his life before he started killing, it gave these parts where he is killing a bit more mystery because we wonder whether this killing was always a part of him or if it was built from the pain.
I hope you enjoyed this review! Feel free to follow me on my socials @baddiebookreviews to be kept up to date for when I release a new review!
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