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Set against the backdrop of Vladimir Putin’s grab for power in Russia and a rash of global terrorist attacks in the late twentieth century, the novel delves into the complex world of covert counterterrorism. At the age of six, Maxym (Max) Mikhailovich Ivanov suffers an unbearable loss when his parents are killed and ten-year-old sister brutally raped and murdered by religious extremists. Escaping the cruel fate of his family, Max hides in a cupboard. He is rescued by the Russian army after being discovered by a Russian soldier, Leonid. The desire for revenge ignites in young Max after seeing the brutalized bodies of his family. Vowing to his rescuers to kill as many of these terrorists as possible, Max, at the young age of six, begins with those who murdered his family. Praised for his execution of the captured terrorists, Max is admired by the soldiers and given a home with Leonid.
Max remains headstrong in his desire to avenge the death of his family, and at age sixteen, he is given an opportunity to join an elite group of mercenaries. Max enjoys his work and the generous financial security it brings. He soon gains a reputation as a sniper for both his accuracy from afar and his brutality up close. Known as White Devil, he is a feared assassin whose mention is unsettling to the toughest of men. Max certainly lives up to the Russian expectation of ruthlessness and machismo but is rather an enigma because of his good looks and off-setting tendency to look much younger. Life is good, and Max and Leonid remain close even as Max grows into his adult career. However, Max has a secret that could cost him everything. He is a gay man in a Russia that is increasingly moving toward the criminalization of homosexuality. The price is steep should Max’s secret be discovered.
Notchtree creates a sympathetic character in the brutal assassin Max. Though readers may cringe at Max’s savage nature, they also have empathy for the six-year-old child whose circumstances made him into a fearless fighting machine. Maxym is a complex antihero whose persona from a very young age is blatantly honest and unapologetic about his desire to avenge his family’s fate: “I will kill them all.” Even as the rescued traumatized six-year-old, Max finds his voice as he shoots the captured murderers. “For Mama and Papa and Dasha!” he screams at his first and all subsequent kills. Some readers will find Max and his bloodthirsty pursuit for revenge unnerving. One seldom reads of very young children vowing to kill. But somehow, in the hands of Notchtree, it seems this is just Max being Max. The reader accepts the horrific things he does in the matter-of-fact way the character is written. Of course Max is an assassin. What else would he be? But Max is far from a one-dimensional character. His psyche is disturbing but also magnificently nuanced and childlike. Much as Winston Churchill described Russia, Max “is a riddle wrapped in a mystery inside an enigma.”
This intriguing work holds the reader’s attention throughout its over 700 pages of solid storytelling. The novel’s themes include love, family, loyalty, and justice, all of which are effectively examined through the unforgettable main character, Max. The book does have explicit sexual scenes and graphic descriptions of violence, which render it inappropriate for younger readers. It is, however, an entertaining and thought-provoking choice for the adult reader.
A 2024 Eric Hoffer Book Award E-Book Fiction Honorable Mention