Derek HaasReseñas

Columbus (called for his proficiency Silver Bear) is a professional hitman. Unlike Rain (another famous book character) he is not semi-official assassin (he is not extensively used by this or that government agency). He is a cold blooded professional working for whoever can pay him, made ruthless by his very occupation were trust means betrayal and where affection means Achilles heel. He is not a positive guy he is very negative, sometimes even madly violent man. But he has an avenger-like attitude and mostly aims the criminals.[return][return]Very disturbing voyage into very disturbing world of underground where life is measured only in how much money will it cost to take it away. Another novel with the same main character is expected to be published sometime in 2009/2010. Looking forward to see how Columbus ends up.[return][return]Very interesting story, recommended.

A girl and her two friends raid a bank, looking for the money needed for financing the cure of her dying father.
Rated PG for some language, thematic elements and rude humor

Enjoyed this book, a VERY fast read. The author is one of the creators of the "Chicago Fire", "Chicago PD", "Chicago Med(?)" TV series.

Wow! I went into reading this book with no expectations. It grabbed me from the first page and didn't let go until the last page.

Started off a little rocky. Writing definitely more polished by book three. Enjoyed the stories½

Short and readable, but the plot is ridiculous, and the writing and characters less than special.

An absurdly irresponsible ex-cop goes undercover as a driver.

It's an awful movie in every way. Even the action fails to be exciting. And yet, it still manages to be an entertaining movie. I don't know how or why, but it does.

Concept: F
Story: F
Characters: F
Dialog: F
Pacing: C
Cinematography: D
Special effects/design: D
Acting: D
Music: D

Enjoyment: C plus

GPA: 0.8/4

I was finally able to read this book while on vacation. I can't compare this to other books of the genre (like many of the reviews I've read) because I don't usually read these types of books--I read it because I'm a fan of Haas' writing for films such as 3:10 to Yuma and Wanted. All I know is this action/suspense thriller kept me turning the pages, with its present tense POV and straight-for-the-jugular action. It contains many of my favorite things from novels, movies, and TV shows: a dark story about a flawed anti-hero who somehow manages to keep us on his side (even when he's committing acts of atrocity), characters who are true-to-life gray rather than black-and-white, and conflict, conflict, and more conflict.

I can't wait to read the sequel.

Started June 29th, 2012.

Having just recently seen the 1957 original with Glenn Ford, I didn't believe this 2007 remake with Russell Crowe could possibly match it. But I really am not sure having seen both now which one I prefer. The 2007 film is darker, more violent, grittier--and more complex. I'm don't know which is closer to the original Elmore Leonard story.

Both films have the same basic plot, mostly the same characters, at times even the same lines. But, among other differences in the remake there's a father/son dynamic completely missing in the version with Ford. I still think Ford's performance is the more amazing--but not by much--Russell Crowe is a fine actor--a favorite in fact, but he brings a very different energy to the role. In any case, unlike a High Noon remake I saw recently, I wasn't constantly thinking, oh, what a waste. Instead I found it just as involving.

Good read. It took a while to finish½

The title alludes to the fact that the left hand can't know what the right hand is doing. For Austin Clay, CIA, this means coloring outside the lines. When a spy goes missing, Clay is called in to recover him but finds himself on a more complicated mission to save a young woman and expose a double agent within the organization. As you wends his way across Eastern Europe, the action grows increasingly intense and the trail of bodies mounts to a final show down conclusion that exposes multiple levels of intrigue. Good set up for a possible series.½

Austin Clay is a CIA operative sent to Russia to either rescue or eliminate another CIA agent who has been captured by the Russians.

A young Hungarian girl working as a nanny, learned certain secrets from a Russian official, via pillow talk. The official has been eliminated and now the Russians are after the girl.

Clay read up on the missing spy and felt he might have been on his way to see the girl when he was abducted.

The story is told at a breakneck pace. The question is will the Russians get to the girl before Clay does. He does what he does best but with the Russians always only a step behind him, he wonders if he has a mole in his own department.

The action scenes are realistic and Clay is a very believable character, one who the reader can imagine they would like to emulate.

This is an exceptional novel.

Columbus (called for his proficiency Silver Bear) is a professional hitman. Unlike Rain (another famous book character) he is not semi-official assassin (he is not extensively used by this or that government agency). He is a cold blooded professional working for whoever can pay him, made ruthless by his very occupation were trust means betrayal and where affection means Achilles heel. He is not a positive guy he is very negative, sometimes even madly violent man. But he has an avenger-like attitude and mostly aims the criminals.[return][return]Very disturbing voyage into very disturbing world of underground where life is measured only in how much money will it cost to take it away. Another novel with the same main character is expected to be published sometime in 2009/2010. Looking forward to see how Columbus ends up.[return][return]Very interesting story, recommended.

Columbus (called for his proficiency Silver Bear) is a professional hitman. Unlike Rain (another famous book character) he is not semi-official assassin (he is not extensively used by this or that government agency). He is a cold blooded professional working for whoever can pay him, made ruthless by his very occupation were trust means betrayal and where affection means Achilles heel. He is not a positive guy he is very negative, sometimes even madly violent man. But he has an avenger-like attitude and mostly aims the criminals.[return][return]Very disturbing voyage into very disturbing world of underground where life is measured only in how much money will it cost to take it away. Another novel with the same main character is expected to be published sometime in 2009/2010. Looking forward to see how Columbus ends up.[return][return]Very interesting story, recommended.

Sometimes things went terribly wrong. For Austin Clay that's just another obstacle to completing his mission. This fast paced spy thriller will grab you from the start and never let go.

A quick holiday read Christmas 2010. Not sure if it reflects true life but the least you could say that it reflects the vulnerability of children in (bad) care and that they can easily end up leading dysfunctional lives.

Decent, but I found myself unengaged and not wanting to pick it up, so I gave up about halfway through. I can't really say there's anything wrong with it in particular, but I tend to like the books I've read in this vein and this one just didn't grab me.

Columbus (called for his proficiency Silver Bear) is a professional hitman. Unlike Rain (another famous book character) he is not semi-official assassin (he is not extensively used by this or that government agency). He is a cold blooded professional working for whoever can pay him, made ruthless by his very occupation were trust means betrayal and where affection means Achilles’ heel. He is not a positive guy – he is very negative, sometimes even madly violent man. But he has an avenger-like attitude and mostly aims the criminals.

Very disturbing voyage into very disturbing world of underground – where life is measured only in how much money will it cost to take it away. Another novel with the same main character is expected to be published sometime in 2009/2010. Looking forward to see how Columbus ends up.

Very interesting story, recommended.

This is a fast-paced thriller with a professional hit-man as the main character. It reminds one of the Parker novels by Richard Stark. There were many unexpected twists and turns, suprises in who survives, who dies, who is on who's side, and the like. It takes place around the world, so varied geography and a set of interesting characters are here to delve into. The main character is believable, although the back-story on how he and his 'handler' got to where they are is overbaked and repetitive. Just over 200 taut pages, it should be a fast read but there's enough complexity to slow it down. A confident, detailed story with all the guns, violence, twists and turns--although a few flaws regresses it to just above the mean for works of this type. The title is poorly done, potentially a 'creation', perhaps a real term but really has no meaning to the story itself.½

Derek Haas co-wrote the screenplay for ‘3:10 to Yuma’, and co-wrote ‘Wanted’, a recent film. The Silver Bear is his first novel.

‘Columbus’ is an assassin, and we soon discover that he’s a hitman who’s both feared and respected. It’s quite obvious that he’s one of the very best. For his latest contract, he’s given a name well known to him.. a congressman whom he also has ties with. As he travels, and prepares himself for this latest kill, Colmbus shares with us his past - sharing the events that lead him to become a hit man, and also those leading to this point in his life.

The story is written in the first peson, and it’s blunt and to the point. There is no holding back on descriptions of the deaths, although these are not overdone - he describes his actions in a very matter-of-fact way, in the same way you would describe something far mor mundane.

There are no long descriptions, and no extra bits.. the story is simply presented before you. It’s not the kind of book that I would normally pick up, and yet it had me hooked from the beginning. I found myself completely caught up with this character, and those around him, and I couldn’t let go of the book until I knew the final outcome. That, I have to say, took me completely by surprise!

If you read similar books, this one is definitely worth a look. If you don’t, but you’d like to try something a little different, you may also surprise yourself!

In Arizona in the late 1800s, infamous outlaw Ben Wade and his vicious gang of thieves and murderers have plagued the Southern Railroad. When Wade is captured, Civil War veteran Dan Evans, struggling to survive on his drought-plagued ranch, volunteers to deliver him alive to the "3:10 to Yuma", a train that will take the killer to trial. (source: TMDb)

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