The Assassination Bureau Ltd.

by Jack London

Book Overview

The Assassination Bureau kills people for money, but it also has a social conscience. The leader of the group justifies each killing--until the day he accepts a contract to kill himself. This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Mass Market Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0425017192
• ISBN13: 9780425017197
• Release Date: January 1969
• Publisher: Berkley Books
• Length: 144 Pages
• Weight: 0.20 lbs.

Customer Reviews

Outstanding!!

This book is one of the most interesting and mind grabbing that I have ever read! It brought me back from a reading hitus that I had suffered for over a year; it reminded me of how much I love books! The story is about Dragomiloff creating his bureau and justifying the assasinations they carry out. One man challenges him and proves Dragomiloff that his bureau's work is wrong. This causes Dragomiloff to send his bureau after himself, for his assassination. This book is truly one of his best ever and should be read by everyone, espically the people who think that London writes only about the artic. This is an intreaguing read full of twists and turns. I would reccomend it to anyone.

Assassination Bureau

London supposedly "wrote himself into a corner" in the plot of this story, or else he hadn't the time to finish it, but the resolution by Fish is not only an entertaining conclusion (despite a certain abrupt removal of a key character), but is so similar to London's writing style and his familiarities so that the author transfer is indeterminable. The best part of the book as a whole, as all Londonites will agree, is the simple philisophical dialogue exchanged between characters. For those who are seeking a die-hard, man vs. nature conflict, you still won't be disappointed with the primitiveness of the characters (philisophical, mad, and fanatic) and their interaction with a civilized world that doesn't quite match the truths that they hold to be dear. An excellent read.

About life,death,honor, right, wrong, justice, prinicples

I would compare it to Chesterton's The Man Who Was Thursday. Sometimes it seems like a silly game, at other times it's the answer to deep philosophical questions. You must suspend your belief a little and accept the premises. The Assination Bureau is based on certain rules. It tries to perform social rights by doing what could well be considered wrongs: executions of anti-social baddies. But there's a big difference between murder-for-hire (no matter how "justified") and capital punishment by a real government. Playing by the rules of the game, London sets up a clever situation where the organization must destroy itself to be true to its own principles. But as men of principle and reason they whole heartedly embrace their own destruction. Should rationality be held to be of a higher importance than life? Is playing by the rules more important than survival? When does rationality become irrational or irrationality look rational? Though not always convincing, this book asks and answers many interesting questions.

Men of principle--even if it kills them

This book reads a little bit like a precursor to the novels of Ayn Rand. A group of men espouse almost impossible ideals, and then try to live up to them at any cost--or in this case, kill or die for them. The title refers to a group of well educated idealists at the turn of the century who are contract murderers, but only if they agree that the murder is morally justified. A potential client visits them and offers a contract--to kill the head of their agency. Strangely, the executive, Ivan Dragomiloff, finds this to be justified, sends out the order for his own death, and then spends the rest of the book in a deadly cat-and-mouse game with the men he has trained so well. This book was made into an entertaining, but not very deep, movie, around 1970, starring Oliver Reed, Telly Savalas, and Diana Rigg.

a CLASSIC noir-type book

I just stubled upon this little paperback sometime in middle school. And although I'm nont a real Jack London fan or anything, this is a great book. I've just finished reading it for , like, the 5th time now (I finally bought it not too long ago) How this book didn't become a movie is completely BEYOND me! Anyhow, find it and read it...it's really, really good.:)