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 Incarnateis 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.