Customer Reviews

The Silver Bear

5 star:		(17)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

What a great read !! Slimmer version of most other books with similar theme, and much better written. I was right there with all the characters...I couldn't put it down. Allow plenty of time to read straight through so you stay in the moment.
Bits of Ludlam/Westlake/Block but much more powerful
Hope the author writes more..I am looking forward to that

Tautly written, cleverly structured and continuously suspenseful, "Silver Bear" is a memorable, auspicious debut that confirms Mr. Haas as a multi-talent, and that at long last, he can finally shed that Brandt albatross from around his neck.

Kidding. Just read it.

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!

Haas is mostly known as a screenwriter, having co-written 3:10 to Yuma and Wanted. His novel, which charts the rise of an assassin, is stripped-down and lean. Chapters following his pursuit of one target alternate with earlier episodes: his first kill, his first love, his first betrayal. It's unapologetically genre fiction, romanticizing even as it attempts to deconstruct.

Considering they're both assassin origin stories, Wanted and The Silver Bear couldn't be more different. Where Wanted is all flourishes and suspension of disbelief, The Silver Bear is played straight. It reminded me most of Donald E. Westlake's The Ax, in that murder simply becomes a job function.

I know Derek, and since I'm signing my real name, it feels weird to give the book less than five stars. But I suspect verifiable praise carries more weight than anonymous gushing. It's a good, smart and quick read.

The Silver Bear is a fantastic first book by promising new author Derek Haas. The story takes place in the shadowy underworld of assassins, but where so many other similar books stumble over themselves to create fantasy mythologies of hit men, Haas smartly grounds the story in the familiar and all-too-human: the fractured childhood, the messy entanglements of one's private life, the inevitable loss of friendship and eventually, the resurrection and destruction of the source of the protagonist's very existence.

Consider this a deconstruction of the romanticized assassin. Haas' antihero is a killer with warts and all, and that's precisely why he's so interesting.

Highly recommend. I expect this book is the first in a series; if so, I'm excited to see where the author takes his hero...and us.

I finished this book in one night, staying up way past my bedtime because I could not rest until I knew the whole story. Haas' experience as a screenwriter has translated into a lean novel without a single bit of fat. Haas' Columbus is not your typically romantic Hollywood assassin--he is real and you will appreciate him better because of that. Although the final twist may not be surprising to some, I can't wait to see what Columbus does next.

Somewhere, someone did some very bad things to Mr. Haas because he seems to know the twisted inner workings of a killer all too well. It's a tall order to create a character that we feel so genuinely for yet at the same time are just a little creeped by. The Silver Bear is a great summer read, sure to be on everyone's list as one of the best debuts of the year. More please!

Derek Haas, a screenwriter who has penned such notable films as 2 Fast 2 Furious, 3:10 To Yuma, Wanted and the A Team, branches out into novels with The Silver Bear.

Columbus, known as The Silver Bear, has a particular talent for killing, and is thus one of the deadliest assassins in the world. The reader follows Columbus on what purports to be a revenge killing. If you've ever wondered what it is like to spend some time inside the mind of a killer, this book, written in the first person, is for you. Despite the fact that Columbus is a meticulous, stone cold killer, Haas balances this out by giving Columbus his own struggles and vulnerabilities, though they are underplayed at times, as Haas tries a bit too hard to emphasize his character's toughness.

The Silver Bear is short at just over two-hundred pages, much like an old pulp novel. There is plenty of action packed into it, though too many flashbacks interrupt the flow of the story. Overall the book was not bad for a first novel. Haas has potential, and it will be interesting to see how he develops as a thriller writer. Give The Silver Bear a try, and if you enjoy it, be sure to check out the sequel Columbus.

I think this book is great, and not because we share the same last name, but because we share the same mother.

Derek Haas has brought us the literary work of the millenium with The Silver Bear. No personal library is complete until you own at least two copies of this masterpiece; one for reading - nay - devouring, the other for preserving, unblemished to show the world. In this work of art, Haas takes you on an electrifying journey through the mind of an assassin as he targets his next assignment. Columbus, as he is known, must fully accept his past before he can embrace, and control, his present. Dexter Morgan step aside, there's a new serial killer ruling literature! Add this gem to your collection before the Silver Bear himself finds you!