The Silver Bear

May 15, 2008
Haas (cowriter of the screenplay "3:10 to Yuma") introduces readers to a new killer-for-hire in his character Columbus, an orphan who never knew his parents. When Columbus is hired to bump off the front runner for the Democratic presidential nomination, the underworld that was his adoptive home turns against him, and he must use all his skills as a consummate assassin to survive the assignment. Well written, fast-paced, and engaging, this debut thriller seamlessly interweaves scenes from the past with the present to give a thrilling account of a professional killer at his peak, what the Russians call a "Silver Bear." The cross-country hunt is a fast read; fans of James Patterson and Jeffrey Deaver will enjoy. Recommended for public libraries.Colleen S. Harris, Univ. of Tennessee at Chattanooga Lib.

Copyright 2008 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

May 12, 2008
Screenwriter Haas's debut features a darkly compelling narrator. When a young hit man who refers to himself as “Columbus” learns his next job is to assassinate presidential candidate Abe Mann, Columbus is not taken aback so much by Mann's national prominence as he is by the key role Mann once played in Columbus's past. Soon Columbus realizes that those behind the plot appear to be setting somebody else up as well—himself. The suspense builds as Columbus goes about his business, all the while detailing his accomplishments, his acuity, his nerve, his intelligence. Then he does something so unlikely that the reader immediately realizes that whatever the author intended, this is a narrator too unreliable to listen to, much less trust. Still, those looking for a downbeat political fable during the current election season may be satisfied.