Dark Deeds

Dark Deeds is an obscure 1982 thriller that I picked up on a whim because it ticked three of my favorite shadow-fiction boxes. It: 1) was published in the early 1980s; 2) features an assassin main character; 3) has mind control as a key plot element. The author, Ken Welsh, doesn't appear to have published much else so the book must not have been too successful--which is unfortunate, because it's a rather interesting and entertaining read.

The story's initial protagonist is a mysterious young man with flowing blonde hair known only as Hailey. He's an assassin who travels around the globe doing wet-work for an even more mysterious and sinister individual known as Zeller. We're introduced to Hailey as he arrives in Malaga to arrange an arms deal for his boss. After arranging the delivery, he calmly disposes of the go-between--in the process making it clear that he is: 1) an emotionless, psychopathic killer; 2) a schizophrenic who struggles to suppress a second personality; and 3) slavishly dedicated to obeying Zeller's orders.

Hailey's next task is to find a fast boat which he and a fellow Zeller operative can hijack in international waters and use to complete the arms transaction. They find a nice yacht in possession of a rich kid name Quinn, who is sailing the Mediterranean with his girlfriend and a tough captain named Teal. The subsequent hijacking results in the death of Quinn's girlfriend, but he and Teal miraculously survive. Having lost their beloved woman and ship, and realizing that no government is particularly interested in solving a crime committed in international waters, both men vow to track down the pirates themselves and administer rough justice.

As the story unfolds, we learn more about Zeller: he's a very rich arms dealer who lives aboard a black yacht called Shadow so he is perpetually in international waters and out of reach of normal law enforcement. We also learn more about Hailey, how he receives periodic hypnotic brainwashing aboard Zeller's ship to keep his other personality at bay and his assassin personality focused and effective.

The drama gets much more epic when Quinn is put in contact with a man named Sanderson--mercenary extraordinaire and veteran of a dozen wars in the world's worst conflict zones. It seems that Sanderson has an old score to settle with Zeller and a detailed plan to do so, but it will require a paramilitary force and lots of money, which Quinn is able rustle up. Sanderson also has a beautiful young daughter named Lena who soon becomes Quinn's new love interest. What follows is an exciting build-up to the climactic confrontation at sea between Sanderson's army and Zeller's well-guarded little armada of yachts. Things are complicated by Hailey's unravelling psyche, Quinn and Lena's relationship, the increasing senility of Zeller, and the mad ambition of Zeller's right-hand man, Tristan.

The action was very good, but the most interesting aspect of this story for me was the mind control angle. Tristan, a genius psychiatrist who survived a concentration camp with Zeller, has developed a technique that combines sensory deprivation tanks with hypnosis to create reliable programmed assassins and terrorists. And he has a big vision, worthy of any supervillain, to use these programmed "psychotrons" to spread chaos in order to grow the Zeller arms business and expand its power. He plans to start in Italy:

Initially I shall build a group of twenty. After psychotronization they will be the deadliest force of urban guerrillas in the world. I shall set them loose in Italian cities to recruit and control terrorist cells. The most susceptible recruit in each cell will, in turn, be reconstructed and he will be sent forth to create his own cell. Within a year I estimate I can have one hundred cells operating throughout six or eight major Italian cities ... When each group is fully armed and correctly motivated by its psychotronized leader--half of the groups motivated toward the far left, the other half toward the far right--I shall launch them against each other. ... Now, also, I shall be seeking to enlist military men, civil servants, extremist politicians, et cetera. They will be programmed to cause further trouble within the rank and file of their fellows ... No matter whether left or right gains control I should have representatives among them, albeit on the first rungs of the ladder of power. This could come to pass within five years. I should have my first psychotrons at cabinet level in government and at board level in defence within ten years. I shall, in effect, be a controlling member of the Italian government. The business possibilities in the arms trade at this point are staggering.

Dark Deeds was a surprisingly enjoyable read, given its total obscurity. It combines the action and fast pace of a Jack Higgins novel with the intriguing ideas of a Len Deighton novel (e.g. The Ipcress File). Highly recommended.

Get a copy of Dark Deeds here. It can be read for free here.