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Patriotism, Samuel Johnson memorably advised us, is the last refuge of the scoundrel.
But one finds more than scoundrels wrapped in its embrace. Surely a man needn't be a scoundrel in order to be moved to acton by an appeal to his patriotism. One man so moved may aver that his only regret is that he has but one life to give for his country. Another may hurl himself upon a hand grenade. Or defend a bridge; "How can man die better," one might say with Horatius, "than facing fearful odds, for the ashes of his fathers and the temples of his gods."
Or, if he's Keller, he might take a trip and kill a total stranger and not even get paid for his work...
"Keller's Last Refuge" first appeared in Playboy in March, 1998. It was subsequently collected in the first episodic Keller novel, Hit Man.
Genre: Mystery
But one finds more than scoundrels wrapped in its embrace. Surely a man needn't be a scoundrel in order to be moved to acton by an appeal to his patriotism. One man so moved may aver that his only regret is that he has but one life to give for his country. Another may hurl himself upon a hand grenade. Or defend a bridge; "How can man die better," one might say with Horatius, "than facing fearful odds, for the ashes of his fathers and the temples of his gods."
Or, if he's Keller, he might take a trip and kill a total stranger and not even get paid for his work...
"Keller's Last Refuge" first appeared in Playboy in March, 1998. It was subsequently collected in the first episodic Keller novel, Hit Man.
Genre: Mystery
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Used availability for Lawrence Block's Keller's Last Refuge