"For a thousand reasons. First of all, because they are ugly: have you ever seen anything uglier than a woman? What a senseless idea to have breasts, and hips—I'll spare you the rest. And then, I hate women the way I hate all victims. A filthy race, victims. If we were to exterminate them altogether, perhaps we'd have peace at last, and perhaps at last the victims would get what they want, which is martyrdom. Women are particularly pernicious victims because they are, above all else, the victims of other women. If you want to penetrate the dregs of human emotions, take a good look at the feelings that women cultivate toward other women: you will tremble with horror at the sight of so much hypocrisy, jealousy, nastiness, and iniquity..."
This is a snarling villain, the kind of monster who devours a reader's fascination. Assassin is a departure from the work that Nothomb is best known for in America. It's not as likable as The Character of Rain, not as charming as Fear and Trembling, but it is more clever than either of those books. Though Tach doesn't present a series of clues that can be solved by the reader before the book's conclusion, Assassin is structured like a whodunnit, a locked room mystery set inside the soul of a hideous man. And the climactic scene is a horrifying mixture of sex, violence, and love that feels just as satisfying as the resolution of a good Agatha Christie novel.
