title: Exit Strategy (A Nick Mason Novel)
author:  Steve Hamilton 
description: <b><b>Praise for <i>Exit Strategy</i></b><br /> <b></b><br /></b>A compelling trek across very dark terrain putting Nick Mason through increasingly pulse-pounding paces with so much non-stop suspense, I read the book in two sittings.<i>Huffington Post</i><br /> <br /> [Hamilton has] perfected his craft as an author of high-powered, fast-paced crime thrillers. <i>Exit Strategy</i> . . . moves so quickly you instantly find yourself sucked into its slipstream and pulled along like a water-skier behind a low-flying rocket careening toward the finale.<i>NY Journal of Books<br /><br /></i><i>The Second Life of Nick Mason</i> rocketed Steve Hamilton to literary stardom, all the reasons for which are on clear display in that books sequel,<i>Exit Strategy</i>. . . . The books brisk prose wondrously sets the tone, starting with, You kill one person, it changes you. You kill five ... its not about changing anymore. Think Don Winslow at his coolest, as Hamilton turns up the heat in a bold, bracing and brilliant thriller.<i><i>The Providence Journal</i></i><br /> <br /> The intensity Hamilton generates here is almost too muchlike a wailing siren growing steadily louder at the same time its pitch climbs ever higherbut readers will be utterly powerless to close the book. Noir is all about characters attempting to find options for themselves where none exist. The brilliance of this thoroughly uncompromising novel lies in the way Hamilton, with the legerdemain of a master conjurer, turns despair to hope and back again, finally blending the two into their own unique nightmare world. Stunning.<i>Booklist</i> (starred review)<br /> <br /> When it comes to no-nonsense, pressure-cooker plotting, Hamilton has few rivals. The book starts turning up the heat from the start [and] maintains its breathless pacing until the end. . . Its hard-wired plot and adrenaline-fueled scenes make it another must-read for fans of lean, mean crime fiction.<i>Kirkus Reviews</i><br /> <br /> The action is nonstop in Hamiltons latest, and the violence quotient has risen, but Nick remains an empathetic character for whom readers will gladly root. Aficionados of Gregg Hurwitz and Thomas Perry will quickly become fans.<i>Library Journal</i><br /> <br /> Another knockout performance. . . Hamilton has carefully crafted an atmospheric, edgy thriller with strong characters and a swiftly escalating tension level. . . Easily one of the best crime novels of the year  even though it surely will be facing strong competition.<i>Lansing State Journal</i><br /> <br /> One of our favorite authors, Steve Hamilton continues the gritty, action-packed saga of Nick Mason in his newest book, <i>Exit Strategy</i>. . . If you have weekend plans, clear them. This is the kind of book that demands to be read in one sitting. . . The pacing is stunning, cinematic in its precision.<i>Harbor Light News</i><br /> <br /> How does Nick resolve this second life he is now forced to live? The manner in which he does so is revealed in this fascinating novel by Steve Hamilton, and the suspenseful way he accomplishes it is typical of what we have come to expect from this author, in this newest page-turner. . . Expect the unexpected from this wonderful author. . . Highly recommended.<i>Midwest Book Review</i><b><br /><br />Praise for </b><i><b>The Second Life of Nick Mason<br /><br /></b></i>[<i>The Second Life of Nick Mason</i>] is so good, it legitimately stands shoulder to padded paranoid shoulder with the classics of the crime noir genre...There are so many terrific elements in this novelNicks haunted character, a plot that never darts in the direction you expect it to, and a truly ingenious climaxthat I could be here till Labor Day singing its praises.Maureen Corrigan, NPR Fresh Air<br /><br />The sinner who gets a chance to start over is an archetypal figure in crime fiction. Steve Hamilton works a smart variation on it in <i>The Second Life of Nick Mason</i>.Marilyn Stasio, <i>The New York Times Book Review</i><br /> <br /> [An] intelligent thriller....The reader has a vulnerable underdog to root for: a loser who may yet be born to win.<i>The Wall Street Journal</i><br /><br />The plotting is crisp, and the story moves smoothly, slipping easily between timelines....Nick is a very mobile character juggling different sides of his identity. One day, hes slitting the throat of a man in a public restroom, and another hes shopping for a puppy. That Hamilton is able to imbue both of these scenes with sharp tension is a testament to his skills as a writer. And as expected from a writer with Hamiltons award-winning, best-selling track record, all the novels threads tie up in a powerful, violent resolution.<i>The Los Angeles Review of Books</i><br /> <br />A complicated plot, a lot of action, some vivid language and a variety of nicely detailed scenes.<i>Pittsburgh Post-Gazette</i><br /> <br /> In this edgy noir from a crime fiction maestro, an ex-con struggles with unexpected freedom, falteringly rebuilding his life while a depraved puppet master still behind bars pulls his strings.<i>O Magazine</i><br /> <br /> Its a killer summer read.<i>Milwaukee Journal Sentinel</i><br /> <br /> An impressive new series...<i>The Second Life of Nick Mason</i> is a new chapter in Hamilton's career, and it's intensely exciting. The concept is fresh, the action is heart-pounding and Nick Mason is a solid protagonist. His halo is tarnished but his intentions are gold. Readers will connect with him and clamor for his return.<i>Shelf Awareness</i><br /> <br />A high-octane, tension-filled novel that's received well-deserved praise from great authors.<i>Huffington Post</i><br /> <br /> [A] heart-pounding thriller with cinematic appeal...Hamilton cleverly imbues the narrative with myriad of twists and turns, allowing the intricate plot to unfold with stunning and extraordinary skill and suspense. From the honor amongst thieves, to the honor amongst those sworn to protect us, to the loyalty among childhood friends and beloved family, multiple worlds collide as Hamilton catapults us into Nick Mason's complex psyche.Esquire.com<br /> <br />As fertile as Chicago is for crime fiction, it isn't often that an outsider captures the underside of the local scene as memorably as Steve Hamilton does with <i>The Second Life of Nick Mason</i>, the terrific first installment in a projected series...The novel more than lives up to its hype.<i>Chicago Tribune</i><br /> <br />[A] reinvention of the noir thriller...There are a number of ways Hamilton could have gone that would have turned his knockout premise into pandering. Instead of patronizing readers with a morality tale (criminal struggling against the dark pull of enterprise), Hamilton gives us a bad guy who is willingand ableto do worse. The result is edgy and intelligent entertainment that hits with the force of a narrative bullet...Hamilton gets just about everything right in Nick Mason.<i>Arizona Republic</i><br /> <br /> Steve Hamiltons new novel, <i>The Second Life of Nick Mason</i>, is every bit as good as Don Winslow and Harlan Coben and Michael Connelly say it is.<i>New York Daily News</i>
zlib_text:   
  
  Escape Route
  
  Peter F. Hamilton
  
    
  
  A Short Story from – Gardner Dozois (ed) - The Year's Best Science Fiction
  15th Annual (1998)
  
    
  
   _Prolific new British writer Peter F. Hamilton has sold to Interzone, In
  Dreams, New Worlds, Fears, and elsewhere. He sold his first novel, Mind star
  Rising, in 1993, and quickly followed it up with two sequels, A Quantum Murder
  and The Nano Flower. Hamilton's first three books managed to slip into print
  without attracting a great deal of attention, on this side of the Atlantic, at
  least, but that changed dramatically with the publi cation of his next novel,
  The Reality Dysfunction, a huge modern Space Opera (it needed to be divided
  into two volumes for publication in the United States) that is itself only the
  start of a projected trilogy of staggering size and scope. The Reality
  Dysfunction has been attracting the reviews and the acclaim that his prior
  novels did not and has suddenly put Hamilton on the map as a writer to watch,
  perhaps a potenti