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Deathmate
Offered a chance to avenge the murder of his friend by the Vietcong, Ron Previn becomes an assassin for the CIA.
240 pages, Mass Market Paperback
Published January 1, 1982
11 people want to read
About the author
Martin Caidin
193 books81 followersMartin Caidin was a prolific and controversial writer. Most of his work centered around the adventures of pilots and astronauts. A number of his books were notable for their reasonable, realistic predictions of then-futuristic technology.
Caidin's body of work was prolific and varied, ranging from additional speculative/SF novels such as Marooned, which was made into an acclaimed film and considered a harbinger of the Apollo 13 accident, to a novel based upon the character Indiana Jones. He also wrote many non-fiction books about science, aviation and warfare.
Caidin began writing fiction in 1957. In his career he authored more than 50 fiction and nonfiction books as well as more than 1,000 magazine articles. His best-known novel is Cyborg, which was the basis for "The Six Million Dollar Man" franchise. He also wrote numerous works of military history, especially concerning aviation.
In addition to his writing Caidin was a pilot and active in the restoration and flying of older planes.
Caidin's body of work was prolific and varied, ranging from additional speculative/SF novels such as Marooned, which was made into an acclaimed film and considered a harbinger of the Apollo 13 accident, to a novel based upon the character Indiana Jones. He also wrote many non-fiction books about science, aviation and warfare.
Caidin began writing fiction in 1957. In his career he authored more than 50 fiction and nonfiction books as well as more than 1,000 magazine articles. His best-known novel is Cyborg, which was the basis for "The Six Million Dollar Man" franchise. He also wrote numerous works of military history, especially concerning aviation.
In addition to his writing Caidin was a pilot and active in the restoration and flying of older planes.
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June 16, 2024
Deathmate is a pretty grim and downbeat book. It takes place a bit before the start of the Vietnam war. The book opens with a bunch of Americans being slaughtered by Vietnamese people in pretty graphic ways. The Americans thought they were helping and were friends with the Vietnamese, but they end up being slaughtered. One guy gets to witness his entire family killed and raped (they do a Dario Argento Opera by putting spikes under his eyes so he has to watch) in a really brutal fashion. His oldest daughter is raped by a monkey while another monkey bites her face off! It’s a real WTF moment that grabs you by the throat.
One group of Americans we are introduced to is Ron and his friends Gary and George who are there on a job for an oil company to teach the locales how to weld. They are ambushed and George is killed from a bomb blast.
They are about to leave when they are approached by some two suit wearing men that offer them an opportunity to get revenge for George and to save a 11 year old diplomats daughter who is being held captive. The two men agree and go through some training.
It’s from this mission that Gary snaps when he discovers what happens to the 11 year old girl. He then goes on more missions (earning 5 grand for each hit) and finds out that he enjoys killing. When one mission goes horribly wrong and Ron gets affected badly from a choice he makes he quits to go back to civilization, but the company (aka CIA) isn’t done with him yet.
He begins to live a normal life with a family and steady job for 7 years and then the CIA decides to take it all away and bring him back. What unfolds is Ron finally snapping and going on a killing rampage that includes members of the company. It all ends with a pretty bleak and downbeat ending that I didn’t see coming.
There’s not many likable characters in the book. Ron is an asshole, but there’s some explanation behind that. The book also tackles PTSD and the effects it has on soldiers. The book was written in 1982 and it was surprising to see some of the government surveillance and tracking methods talked about that would become more prevalent after 9/11. I also found it interesting that the book takes place before the war officially started. It’s a different take that he don’t see to often with books dealing with Vietnam.
One group of Americans we are introduced to is Ron and his friends Gary and George who are there on a job for an oil company to teach the locales how to weld. They are ambushed and George is killed from a bomb blast.
They are about to leave when they are approached by some two suit wearing men that offer them an opportunity to get revenge for George and to save a 11 year old diplomats daughter who is being held captive. The two men agree and go through some training.
It’s from this mission that Gary snaps when he discovers what happens to the 11 year old girl. He then goes on more missions (earning 5 grand for each hit) and finds out that he enjoys killing. When one mission goes horribly wrong and Ron gets affected badly from a choice he makes he quits to go back to civilization, but the company (aka CIA) isn’t done with him yet.
He begins to live a normal life with a family and steady job for 7 years and then the CIA decides to take it all away and bring him back. What unfolds is Ron finally snapping and going on a killing rampage that includes members of the company. It all ends with a pretty bleak and downbeat ending that I didn’t see coming.
There’s not many likable characters in the book. Ron is an asshole, but there’s some explanation behind that. The book also tackles PTSD and the effects it has on soldiers. The book was written in 1982 and it was surprising to see some of the government surveillance and tracking methods talked about that would become more prevalent after 9/11. I also found it interesting that the book takes place before the war officially started. It’s a different take that he don’t see to often with books dealing with Vietnam.
Displaying 1 of 1 review