Devil Incarnate
A Depraved Mercenary's Lifelong Swathe of Destruction
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5.0 • 1 Rating
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- $14.99
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- $14.99
Publisher Description
Athol Visser, or 'Ivan the Terrible', is a ruthless torture technician who has maimed and murdered his way around the globe. He killed his first victim at 16, his last at 60, and, in between, has been a mercenary, drug smuggler, gun runner and spy.
In his own words, Visser takes us on a chilling journey through his memory bank of horrors and gives his account of one of the most high-profile assassinations of the 1980s, that of the Swedish prime minister Olof Palme. Visser's chaotic instincts led him from one deadly right-wing organisation to the next, before he rose to the highest ranks of the CCB, South Africa's foreign assassination unit. He was posted to London, where he drew up his plans to eliminate key opponents of apartheid.
Devil Incarnate is the disturbing story of a degenerate, evil man who killed for pleasure and then adopted it as a profession. In the end, now ravaged by Aids, he has taken it upon himself to find out the reasons behind his unforgivable actions.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
When the author of this grisly book first met Athol "Ivan the Terrible" Vissor, the white African mercenary, arms dealer and drug trafficker's body was racked with AIDS, and he was ready to reveal his inner demons and sins for this "as-told-to" autobiography. During his childhood in Rhodesia, his mother, stepfather and stepsister were brutally raped and abused, and young Vissor remained traumatized for the rest of his life with violent and cruel obsessions. Thallon perfectly captures his subject's emotionless voice describing his stint in the British army in Kenya before becoming a bloodthirsty mercenary in the Congo in the 1960s, turning all his racist tendencies into frenzied scenes of grind-house mayhem. Possibly Vissor's most disturbing actions were in the shadowy ranks of the Civil Cooperation Board, the white South African assassination unit, determined to salvage apartheid. He claims involvement in the killing of Swedish Prime Minister Olof Palme; however, in a disclaimer at the book's end, the publisher notes that Vissor's version is one of many in this still unsolved case. The entire book is based only on Vissor's recollections; still, it's an incredible chronicle of cruelty and violence. 8 pages of color photos.
