The Way I Die

by Derek Haas

Overview

It is the middle of February on Mackinac Island, a tiny community off the northern Michigan coast. But Columbus isn’t here to enjoy the picturesque surroundings. Reeling after the death of his wife and relinquishing his son, he lives in isolation—in self-imposed punishment and exile, forgotten and alone, nameless to his neighbors. But even if he runs and hides, Columbus is never alone for long.

Ten years after Columbus—one of the most original antiheroes in contemporary fiction—first exploded onto the scene in The Silver Bear, Derek Haas delivers another riveting thriller that promises heart-pounding action and shocking twists until the very last page.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781643131573
Publisher:	Pegasus Books
Publication date:	05/31/2019
Edition description:	Reprint
Pages:	226
Sales rank:	812,105
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x 0.48(d)

About the Author

Derek Haas is the author of the novels The Silver Bear, Columbus, and Dark Men, which make up The Assassin Trilogy, as well as the novel A Different Lie, also featuring Columbus.  Derek co-created "Chicago Fire" and executive produces "Chicago P.D." for NBC.  He also co-wrote the screenplays for 3:10 to Yuma, Wanted, and The Double.  Derek is the creator of PopcornFiction.com and lives in Los Angeles with his family.

Editorial Reviews

Introduces a plot that takes this self-exiled assassin to the Pacific Northwest to protect a software inventor from being eliminated by persons or governments unknown. But there’s no time to linger on the particulars when Columbus is stocking up on the latest weaponry and getting ready to face a killer as cool as he is.” —Marilyn Stasio, New York Times Book Review

“Columbus is now easily recognizable as one of the best

antiheroes in contemporary crime fiction. Haas is still in fine form

and producing the kind of explosive literature that has made him

a household name.”—Criminal Element

“You won’t be able to avert your eyes from a single scene in this stripped-down,

dead-eyed, professional-grade actioner.”—Kirkus Reviews

“Haas succeeds at making our slightly evolved Columbus as intriguing (and screen-worthy) in this fifth episode as he was in our first dangerous glimpse of him.”—Booklist (starred)

“Gripping. Haas packs solid suspense, vivid action, and well-developed characters into a tight plot that never lags.”

—Publishers Weekly

“A tense, tightly coiled plot that erupts with action on almost every page.”—Mystery Scene Magazine

From the Publisher

Introduces a plot that takes this self-exiled assassin to the Pacific Northwest to protect a software inventor from being eliminated by persons or governments unknown. But there’s no time to linger on the particulars when Columbus is stocking up on the latest weaponry and getting ready to face a killer as cool as he is.

Marilyn Stasio

A tense, tightly coiled plot that erupts with action on almost every page. Although Copeland’s last outing was three years ago, Haas seamlessly picks up the mantle of his character, quickly re-establishing the world of his assassin. Amid the solid action, Haas also explores Copeland’s identity crisis. Is he the cold-blooded killer Columbus, or the reinvented Copeland? Is he “the sword” or “the armor”? he wonders.

Mystery Scene Magazine

Haas doesn’t know how to write a boring page.

David Benioff

A devastatingly cool series.

The New York Times Book Review

A page turner. A spare thriller fueled by a sinewy plot. Propulsive plotting and compellingly written.

Boston Globe

Haas succeeds at making our slightly evolved Columbus as intriguing (and screen-worthy) in this fifth episode as he was in our first dangerous glimpse of him.

Booklist (Starred)

The beauty of Haas’s prose comes from his understanding of the economy of language. The writing in this book is sharp and to the point. Columbus is now easily recognizable as one of the best antiheroes in contemporary crime fiction.  A very entertaining read. In the era of bloated thrillers, a book like The Way I Die is refreshing. It is quick, brutal, and packed with moments of self-reflection and tenderness. Furthermore, it proves that Haas is still in fine form and producing the kind of explosive literature that has made him a household name.

Criminal Element

02/19/2018
Haas’s gripping fifth thriller featuring contract killer Columbus (after 2015’s A Different Lie) finds the assassin, who has changed his name to Coleman, uneasily settled in a remote area of Michigan’s Mackinac Island, where he grieves over the loss of his family and contemplates the various ways he could die. He’s tracked down by his former fence, Archie Grant, who offers him a different kind of job. Instead of a kill, Archie wants him to protect megarich Portland, Ore., software designer Matthew Boone, who has been targeted by another assassin. It’s the kind of redemption that Coleman doesn’t want, yet desperately needs, and he agrees to test Boone’s large security team. The ease with which Coleman breaks into Boone’s office shows the security team’s inadequacies. On Coleman’s advice, Boone fires every team member except for the intelligent desk guard he met on first entering Boone’s building, Peyton Martin. Soon Coleman and Martin are matching wits with a clever foe. Haas packs solid suspense, vivid action, and well-developed characters into a tight plot that never lags. Agent: Mel Berger, William Morris Endeavor. (Apr.)

Publishers Weekly

2018-01-23
If you set a thief to catch a thief, should you hire a contract killer to thwart a contract killing?Holed up on Mackinac Island as he mourns the wife who was murdered in his last outing (A Different Lie, 2015) and the son he sent away to be brought up by someone with a less objectionable lifestyle, hit man Columbus, now calling himself Copeland, isn't looking for any new jobs: his freelance work and his assignments for Uncle Sam have already sucked the life out of him. But his old fence, Archie Grant, comes to him with a proposition he can't turn down. Someone's arranged a hit on facial-recognition software designer Matthew Boone, and his two motherless boys may well be included in the package. A mutual friend has asked Archie for advice, and Archie doesn't think much of Max Finnerich, the security expert Boone's hired to protect his family. Could Columbus fly out West to Portland to protect Boone more proactively than Finnerich and his minions are doing? Despite thinking, "I'm the sword, not the armor," the veteran assassin agrees to try his luck, and boy, is he lucky. In short order, he breaches Finnerich's cursory defenses, introduces himself to a surprised Boone, and talks himself into his confidence, kills two armed men who turn up at the target's house, and lets Peyton Martin, the ex-cop who's the least clueless of Boone's security detail, tell him the story of her life. But all these measures, he realizes, are nothing but temporizing unless he can identify and neutralize the assassin who's coming after Boone—and the client who hired him in the first place."You're not going to like me when this is over," Haas' hit man warns his readers. Maybe not, but you won't be able to avert your eyes from a single scene in this stripped-down, dead-eyed, professional-grade actioner.

Kirkus Reviews