The Obedient Assassin by John P. Davidson

Published by Delphinium Books on January 7, 2014

The Obedient Assassin is a fictional account of Leonid Trotsky's assassination in Mexico in 1940. Stalin (at least according to the novel) was concerned that Trotsky had divided revolutionary sympathies in Spain and that he might do the same in the coming war with Germany. John Davidson's novel follows the assassin, a lieutenant in the Republican Army during the Spanish Civil War named Ramón Mercader, from his receipt of Stalin's orders to infiltrate Trotsky's organization in Paris to the aftermath of Trotsky's death. Stalin's orders are relayed through Mercader's mother, Caridad, who proved her loyalty to the Party when she did not resist the execution of Mercader's brother. Mercader hates his mother for letting his brother die but he nonetheless follows Stalin's directive.

To get close to Trotsky, Mercader must get close to Sylvia Ageloff, an American who has access to Trotsky and supports his Fourth Directive. Posing as a Belgian, Mercader arranges to meet Sylvia in Paris and eventually marries her. He later joins Sylvia in New York and Mexico, playing the dual role of husband and spy.

The Obedient Assassin is of historical more than literary interest. I'm not an historian so I can't comment upon the novel's historical accuracy, other than to note that certain events depicted in the book actually occurred and that several persons who plotted Trotsky's assassination turn up as characters (facts I gleaned from Wikipedia). Mercader often seems to be going through the motions -- "I'm doing this because the history texts say I did this" -- while the novel rarely penetrates beneath the obvious in its attempt to reveal his feelings and motivations. Its portrayal of Mercader's feelings for Sylvia -- along the lines of "I'm supposed to be using her but I've fallen in love with her" -- is trite.

I appreciated the attempt to paint Mercader as a man riddled with doubt and divided loyalties, but Davidson didn't make me feel his passion for the Spanish Civil War or the tension that should precede a political assassination. Mercader's fear and frustration near the end of the novel seem real but the description of the assassination is mechanical and the final chapters are melodramatic. While The Obedient Assassin gets off to a promising start, it loses energy that it never recaptures. It often comes across as the outline rather than the execution of a good novel.

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