The Silver Bear

If the idea of being a hitman has ever appealed to you (get help!) this book might be the one for you. Columbus meticulously plans his assassinations down to the last detail but some things can not be planned and they are often the things that can trip you up! This is the first book I have read from Derek Haas but I bought the sequel Kindle edition of "The Silver Bear" namely "Columbus" so that should tell you something! An enjoyable book if you can allow the author a bit of slack for dramatic licence.

Derek Haas has written some good action films, and even a good Western. With The Silver Bear, he enters the popular fiction market in novel form. Until I read the book, I didn't know what a Silver Bear was. It sounded cool, and the whole premise of a hitman at large is always one of those plots that I'll pick up. Another thing that made the book attractive to me was the short length. At two hundred barely-plus pages, the novel looks like a stripped down muscle car loaded with NOX. Unfortunately, the novel reads like a novella pumped up to novel length with the addition of frequent trips down memory lane. I know some of these flashbacks are supposed to delineate the character and provide backstory, but they really get in the way of the plot. I know that some of the characters in the flashbacks are important to the current problem getting played out, but I didn't need to know that much about them. I was reminded, while reading this novel, of an old Dan J. Marlowe novel, The Name of the Game is Death. Both novels share the device of the flashbacks, but Marlowe's was better because it covered the scope of the character's life. Haas spends time developing the backstory to the extent that I decided I'd have rather had the story in a more linear fashion. He seemed torn between telling the old story and the new story. Also, the eventual target Columbus (the hitman protagonist) is supposed to take down just doesn't do emotional justice to the setup. At first the story was going to be a vengeful thing, which made you wonder why Columbus hadn't done something about it before now himself. Then Haas really yanks the teeth from everything in the final scenes of the book with the twists that he does. The lack of emotional response to some of the losses Columbus suffers doesn't quite ring true either. The girlfriend episode was more frustrating and upsetting than anything because Haas was really trying to prove how tough the character was. And the mishap involving Columbus's lifelong partner was just too shallow. On one hand he was supposed to be scarred by his emotions, and on the other they just didn't exist. After everything that happened to him in the foster homes, and with the drugged-out mother pumping his body full of chemicals before he was born, I expected him to be a lot more dysfunctional. Haas has written another book about the character. I may read it at some point, but I'm not going to seek it out. I know Haas can't redo this "origin" story, so the new book should go in a decidedly different direction, but I'm just not curious enough to look for it. This story has been done over and over, but readers new to the genre will enjoy Haas's clear, sharp prose and sense of melodrama.

If you're looking for a compelling and exciting read with unexpected twists, you've got to add The Silver Bear to your must-read list! Haas' assassin's tale does not fall into expected cliches, and the main character is more than a stereotype. Columbus is complex and drives the story blurring the distinction between what we want to hate and love in a human being. It's a look into a world that both repels and attracts, regardless of our convictions. Plus, the ending sets the stage for more from first-time novelist Haas.. can't wait for it!

Extremely well written and easy to keep flipping the pages... Hard to put down. Great twists and turns, but keeps on track throughout. Character development and story line keeps you interested to the end and wanting more. Hope the sequel comes soon. Perfect for by the pool this summer and brings you into an intriguing political frame of mind.

Specific. Clear. Concise. You can't put this novel down. A quick read with all the emotional highs and lows you would expect from a character driven, as well as, riveting story. The best novel I have read in years. A notch above all the commercial thrillers of the past. If you like Grisham, Patterson, Woods or Sandford introduce yourself to Haas. You'll be giving yourself a special summer treat .