The Good Assassin

A Novel

By: Paul Vidich

Narrated by: George Newbern

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".

©2017 Paul Vidich (P)2017 Simon & Schuster Audio

Critic reviews

"Paul Vidich’s likable and reluctant spy, George Mueller, will keep readers guessing in this eerily real Cuba of 1958. The Good Assassin is a keen historical adventure from the best noir tradition." (Elizabeth Kostova, number-one New York Times best-selling author)

" The Good Assassin opens up Hemingway’s Cuba. Possessing Alan Furst’s attention for period detail and the deft character touches of John Le Carré, Vidich has quickly carved out a place for himself among the very first rank of espionage writers. It’s a masterful effort and the author’s best work to date." (Michael Harvey, New York Times best-selling author of The Chicago Way)

" The Good Assassin is first-rate literary espionage.... Author Paul Vidich has evoked not only the intrigue and brutality of Batista’s Cuba, but the island itself...a masterful work of noir fiction." (Susan Isaacs, New York Times best-selling author of A Hint of Strangeness)

Another great entry from Vidich

I’ll admit I’m late to the game on the works of Vidich. He is quickly moving up the list of great writers of this genre. He has filled the gap that the great Alan Furst left behind. Great stuff.

Beautiful Prose, unoriginal story

If you like spy stories with a slow burn, you’ll enjoy this yarn. Vidich is an emotive author who can put you in a scene with surgical skill. However, the story was more or less a rip off of The Great Gatsby. I’ve never read a book that so brazenly steals nearly everything from a timeless classic. Still enjoyable but the author should have more creativity than that.

A great intro to Vidich's literary spy novel work

Paul Vidich has been hyped as an inheritor to the great John Le Carré. He deserves the accolades. “The Good Assassin” is a literary espionage novel in the Le Carré style, and these I prefer to the rat-a-tat-tat muscular spy thrillers where weaponry is the focus. The focus is on characters and their relationships to each other, the tension taut and emotion-driven. I appreciated the setting of Cuba on the cusp of Castro’s takeover. There’s just too many spy novels centering on the Russians, or set in Eastern Europe. This is a five-star novel and deserves a higher rating on Goodreads.