I finished a book the other day, “The Ethical Assassin” by David Liss. I picked it up a few months ago at a local bookstore for the same reason I always pick up books – I liked the brief plot description, it didn’t seem too weird, and the main characters were men.

When I finished the book, I really liked it. The book was part thriller, part mystery, part coming-of-age story. I thought the ending might be a bit contrived, but that’s inevitable in plots that pretty much require a tidy ending. “The Ethical Assassin” wasn’t the best book I had ever read, but it entertained me, which is all I ask. I was satisfied.

Until I visited David Liss’ website and read up about him. One of the characters in the book is a vegan activist. He has several speeches that just made me roll my eyes because I really can’t stand hardcore people like that. I’m not for cruelty to animals, but I see a difference between abusing animals for cosmetic testing and killing animals for food. While reading, I let it slide because it was just a character in a book, right?

Wrong. That character was basically David Liss, except I don’t think he has ever killed anyone because of his beliefs. Instead, he just shoves ideology down your throat in a very clever manner through his books. I have to give him credit – he pulled it off without me knowing that that one particular character carried the message he wanted to get through.

But there’s no way in hell I’ll ever read any of his other books regardless of the topic.