Hamilton, Steve. The Second Life of Nick Mason. New York: Putnam. 2016. Print.
First Sentences:
Description:
Nick Mason's freedom lasted less than a minute.He didn't see it then, but he'd look back on that day and mark those first free steps through the gate, after five years and twenty-eight days inside.
Description:
With an opening sentence like this, Steve Hamilton's new thriller The Second Life of Nick Mason is dripping with promise.
Mason was serving a twenty-five year to life sentence in Terra Haute prison for his part in a robbery/murder when miraculously he is freed. Not pardoned, but his conviction tossed out on a technicality, his criminal record erased of this event. He is a free man ... or is he?
A powerful prison inmate, Darius Cole, who still controls the crime world of Chicago from his cell, has made these arrangements with the proviso that Mason will be under Cole's control for the twenty years remaining on the sentence. Mason is given a phone with instructions to answer it immediately whenever it rings, then do whatever is asked of him. One quickly guesses that the task will probably not be to pick up someone's dry cleaning.
But there are perks to the deal for Mason besides just getting out of prison: a swanky condo on Lake Michigan, powerful cars at his disposal, and a monthly paycheck of $10,000 cash. He is even living close to his ex-wife and child with hope of somehow being a part of their lives again. Not bad ... until that first call comes in.
Mason is a criminal for sure, but one who has not done heinous crimes and was well on the road to the straight life with a family when he was caught up with friends in a robbery gone bad. It was Mason who was caught and took the fall for his friends for the death of a federal agent that occurred. Mason gets some sympathy for his loyalty and his current conflicted role as the tasks and pressure to perform them mounts. Is there a way out of his arrangement with Cole without endangering his family and/or him returning to a very hostile prison environment should Mason fail in his service?
Hamilton is one of my favorite thriller writers: taut prose, conflicted characters, and unusual plots. Steve Mason is another of his good guy/bad guy protagonists struggling with his criminal nature against an increasingly hostile world and the powerful men controlling it. A solid read in every aspect.
Mason was serving a twenty-five year to life sentence in Terra Haute prison for his part in a robbery/murder when miraculously he is freed. Not pardoned, but his conviction tossed out on a technicality, his criminal record erased of this event. He is a free man ... or is he?
A powerful prison inmate, Darius Cole, who still controls the crime world of Chicago from his cell, has made these arrangements with the proviso that Mason will be under Cole's control for the twenty years remaining on the sentence. Mason is given a phone with instructions to answer it immediately whenever it rings, then do whatever is asked of him. One quickly guesses that the task will probably not be to pick up someone's dry cleaning.
But there are perks to the deal for Mason besides just getting out of prison: a swanky condo on Lake Michigan, powerful cars at his disposal, and a monthly paycheck of $10,000 cash. He is even living close to his ex-wife and child with hope of somehow being a part of their lives again. Not bad ... until that first call comes in.
Mason is a criminal for sure, but one who has not done heinous crimes and was well on the road to the straight life with a family when he was caught up with friends in a robbery gone bad. It was Mason who was caught and took the fall for his friends for the death of a federal agent that occurred. Mason gets some sympathy for his loyalty and his current conflicted role as the tasks and pressure to perform them mounts. Is there a way out of his arrangement with Cole without endangering his family and/or him returning to a very hostile prison environment should Mason fail in his service?
Hamilton is one of my favorite thriller writers: taut prose, conflicted characters, and unusual plots. Steve Mason is another of his good guy/bad guy protagonists struggling with his criminal nature against an increasingly hostile world and the powerful men controlling it. A solid read in every aspect.
Happy reading.
Fred
Fred
www.firstsentencereader.blogspot.com
If this book interests you, be sure to check out:
Hamilton, Steve. The Lock Artist
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If this book interests you, be sure to check out:
Hamilton, Steve. The Lock Artist
Another fantastic Hamilton character, this time a young man who learns the skill of lock-picking and safe=cracking from an old expert, only to have these talents exploited by a nefarious employer. (previously reviewed here)
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