If a mystery is known as a “whodunit” and a thriller is described as a “how to get out of it,” then EXIT STRATEGY is a thriller on steroids. Author Steve Hamilton became known in mystery circles for his sturdy and extremely reliable Alex McKnight crime series, but the introduction of a different series with 2016’s THE SECOND LIFE OF NICK MASON revealed an entirely new level of Hamilton’s literary talent. EXIT STRATEGY, the second in the Nick Mason series, meets and surpasses the expectations of its predecessor. It has everything --- twists, turns, pathos, surprises, and action, action, action --- that even the most jaded of thriller aficionados might expect, reasonably or otherwise.

While EXIT STRATEGY builds upon the events of THE SECOND LIFE OF NICK MASON, Hamilton does a superlative job of giving the uninitiated (or the forgetful) enough information about what has gone before to let his current offering stand firmly on its own. Nick Mason was a convict looking at a long prison sentence, which he was surviving thanks to the good graces of crime boss Darius Cole. It was Cole, incarcerated in the same prison as Mason, who saw something in Mason that he felt could be of use in the outside world. Cole engineered Mason’s early release and set him up in a residence with all that he could reasonably want. The only cost is that Mason is on call to Cole 24 hours a day for anything, legal or otherwise. His young daughter and ex-wife are the incentive for Mason to go along with the terms of the agreement, even as he chafes at what Cole freely acknowledges is movement, not freedom.

"[T]he methods by which Hamilton enables his darkly troubled protagonist to carry out his assignments on his own very dangerous terms is something to behold."

As EXIT STRATEGY begins, Cole is pursuing a new legal strategy to gain his own freedom. Thus he has ordered Mason to begin eliminating the chief witnesses against him. These people are in the Witness Protection Program, but Cole has a source within the program who is providing intelligence as to where each witness is located. Mason is willing to kill them, but refuses to murder law enforcement personnel or innocents. What follows is a series of escapades in which Mason must somehow infiltrate the location of each witness while not only avoiding the murder of those charged with protecting them but also keeping himself from being grievously injured. It is a new twist on a veteran plot device.

Mason, who is kind of a mashup of Lee Child’s Jack Reacher and Richard Stark’s Parker, is nonetheless an original, and the methods by which Hamilton enables his darkly troubled protagonist to carry out his assignments on his own very dangerous terms is something to behold. Interestingly enough, the greatest danger awaiting Mason is at the end of the road if he is successfully able to navigate it. It turns out that Mason will betray Cole in the worst way possible, in the one way that Cole will never forgive. Mason must succeed, however, even if it ultimately means his death. It is a conundrum that runs through EXIT STRATEGY to its closing paragraphs.

It would be difficult to exaggerate Hamilton’s talent. Consider this: There were plot points created in the first two books of the series that Hamilton could have stretched (to the breaking point) over the course of several volumes. Instead he resolves the more pressing ones here and introduces a new element that has the potential to broaden the series even further. You will race through EXIT STRATEGY and be glad you did, even when you realize that it will be approximately 12 months before you learn what happens next. You also will be aware that it will be worth the wait.