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Albert Samson #2
The Way We Die Now
Book
- GenresMystery
224 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1973
7 people are currently reading
22 people want to read
About the author
Michael Z. Lewin
72 books10 followersMichael Zinn Lewin is an American writer of mystery fiction perhaps best known for his series about Albert Samson, a distinctly low-keyed, non-hardboiled private detective who plies his trade in Indianapolis, Indiana. Lewin himself grew up in Indianapolis, but after graduating from Harvard and living for a few years in New York City, has lived in England for the last 40 years. Much of his fiction continues to be set in Indianapolis, including a secondary series about Leroy Powder, a policeman who frequently appears in the Samson novels, generally in a semi-confrontational manner.
Another series, however, is set in Bath, England, where Lewin now lives. This features the Lunghis who run their detective agency as a family business. So far there are three novels and nine short stories about them.
Lewin has also written a number of stand-alone novels. Some have been set in Indianapolis and others elsewhere. His latest novel, Confessions of a Discontented Deity, is even set partly in Heaven. A satire, it breaks from Lewin's history of genre fiction.
Lewin is the son of Leonard C. Lewin, author of the 1967 bestselling satire The Report from Iron Mountain: On the Possibility and Desirability of Peace.
Another series, however, is set in Bath, England, where Lewin now lives. This features the Lunghis who run their detective agency as a family business. So far there are three novels and nine short stories about them.
Lewin has also written a number of stand-alone novels. Some have been set in Indianapolis and others elsewhere. His latest novel, Confessions of a Discontented Deity, is even set partly in Heaven. A satire, it breaks from Lewin's history of genre fiction.
Lewin is the son of Leonard C. Lewin, author of the 1967 bestselling satire The Report from Iron Mountain: On the Possibility and Desirability of Peace.
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Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
May 8, 2016
PROTAGONIST: PI Albert Samson
SETTING: Indianapolis, IN
SERIES: #2 of 9
RATING:3.25
WHY: Ralph Tomanek served in Nam and has what would now be called PTSD. He is hired as an armed guard, a bad choice for him, and ends up killing a man serving papers. PI Albert Samson is hired by Tomanek's mother-in-law on behalf of his wife to figure out why and how which end up getting in the way of the narrative. The series is promising if Lewin would tone this down.
SETTING: Indianapolis, IN
SERIES: #2 of 9
RATING:3.25
WHY: Ralph Tomanek served in Nam and has what would now be called PTSD. He is hired as an armed guard, a bad choice for him, and ends up killing a man serving papers. PI Albert Samson is hired by Tomanek's mother-in-law on behalf of his wife to figure out why and how which end up getting in the way of the narrative. The series is promising if Lewin would tone this down.
November 15, 2017
While New York City and Los Angeles are teeming with fictional private investigators, much of the rest of the country gets short shrift in that regard, including Indianapolis, whose only claim to detective fame might be Michael Z. Lewin’s Albert Samson, hero of The Way We Die Now and a series of other novels. Fortunately for the capital of the Hoosier state, Samson is quite a worthy and unconventional representative of the PI genre and The Way We Die Now is a worthy addition to the PI genre.
The Way We Die Now was written in 1973 and is the second Samson novel (and the first I’ve read). Surprisingly, other than some of dated technology technology, the novel seems quite fresh. Samson is hired by the wife of a security guard who’s been arrested for an on-the-job killing. There’s no question that he shot a man who was trying to serve some legal documents on a tenant in the building where the guard worked. But the guard claims the tenant told him that the victim was actually trying to assault the tenant and begged for help from the guard, a claim the tenant flatly denies. As Samson investigates the case, he discovers that the security guard, a former Vietnam vet, is probably suffering from PTSD and has some definite mental issues. He also discovers that the case isn’t nearly as simple as it first appears.
As mysteries go, The Way We Die Now isn’t all that mysterious. Most readers will be able to figure out what’s going on before the halfway point in the book. But knowing and proving are two different things, as Samson finds out, and he has to try to gather enough evidence to get his client out of jail. The way that Sampson tries to do this involves wearing the 1970’s version of a wire and literally hanging around outside a window in one of the bad guys’ home in the hopes that the villains will say something to incriminate themselves. That sequence, and the violence that follows, are one of the book’s few weak stretches.
Fortunately, author Lewin makes up for the relatively lackluster action sequences with some good descriptive writing and dialogue. Samson, who narrates The Way We Die Now is one of the old school cynical, world weary, nearly broke (his office doubles as his apartment and he gets hired because he’s the cheapest PI his client could find), sharp witted PI’s, who manages to exchange quips with unlikable sorts with the best of them. Surprisingly, those unlikable sorts don’t include the police, with whom Samson is on fairly good terms as a result of the events in Samson’s first book. It’s refreshing for the cops and PI to both realize they are on the same side in a book like this. Samson also makes it a point not to carry a gun, something else that distinguishes him from the crowd.
Those who enjoy a well-written traditional PI novel will like The Way We Die Now. The first person narration reads like 200 pages of often witty banter directly with the readers and the other characters Samson encounters. In addition, Lewin takes a brief but insightful look at the issue of PTSD, a topic as valid today as it was 40 years ago. The Way We Die Now is a great example of the way mystery authors should write now.
The Way We Die Now was written in 1973 and is the second Samson novel (and the first I’ve read). Surprisingly, other than some of dated technology technology, the novel seems quite fresh. Samson is hired by the wife of a security guard who’s been arrested for an on-the-job killing. There’s no question that he shot a man who was trying to serve some legal documents on a tenant in the building where the guard worked. But the guard claims the tenant told him that the victim was actually trying to assault the tenant and begged for help from the guard, a claim the tenant flatly denies. As Samson investigates the case, he discovers that the security guard, a former Vietnam vet, is probably suffering from PTSD and has some definite mental issues. He also discovers that the case isn’t nearly as simple as it first appears.
As mysteries go, The Way We Die Now isn’t all that mysterious. Most readers will be able to figure out what’s going on before the halfway point in the book. But knowing and proving are two different things, as Samson finds out, and he has to try to gather enough evidence to get his client out of jail. The way that Sampson tries to do this involves wearing the 1970’s version of a wire and literally hanging around outside a window in one of the bad guys’ home in the hopes that the villains will say something to incriminate themselves. That sequence, and the violence that follows, are one of the book’s few weak stretches.
Fortunately, author Lewin makes up for the relatively lackluster action sequences with some good descriptive writing and dialogue. Samson, who narrates The Way We Die Now is one of the old school cynical, world weary, nearly broke (his office doubles as his apartment and he gets hired because he’s the cheapest PI his client could find), sharp witted PI’s, who manages to exchange quips with unlikable sorts with the best of them. Surprisingly, those unlikable sorts don’t include the police, with whom Samson is on fairly good terms as a result of the events in Samson’s first book. It’s refreshing for the cops and PI to both realize they are on the same side in a book like this. Samson also makes it a point not to carry a gun, something else that distinguishes him from the crowd.
Those who enjoy a well-written traditional PI novel will like The Way We Die Now. The first person narration reads like 200 pages of often witty banter directly with the readers and the other characters Samson encounters. In addition, Lewin takes a brief but insightful look at the issue of PTSD, a topic as valid today as it was 40 years ago. The Way We Die Now is a great example of the way mystery authors should write now.
August 22, 2022
Al Samson actually drives me a little crazy... I mean REALLY... just trying waaaay to hard not to try hard... but when I'm bored, I can go here quickly and scan through the yadda yadda and thus, to M. Lewin's quite good plots. A nice day's read... so there you are.
August 31, 2013
The second in the Albert Sampson series (the first was nominated for an Edgar for best first novel in 1972), set in Indianapolis. Sampson is a PI with a smart mouth, which he keeps pretty well buttoned up except for his asides to the reader. For example: "The man wanted some questions to answer for me. And questions roll off me like aqua off a quacker." p. 74. The plot for this mystery was pretty convoluted but I got more than one chuckle out of his writing, so that was a good thing.
May 21, 2015
OK, THIS was the first Albert Samson mystery I read . . . really love the character and eventually have read most of them. Albert, a private eye based in Indianapolis, is more soft-boiled than hard-boiled. Witty writing, Chandleresque, although Albert and the plots are more like Ross Macdonald's Lew Archer. Sorry, 20 years after the fact, I can't remember the plot and I don't own this one.
November 15, 2017
While New York City and Los Angeles are teeming with fictional private investigators, much of the rest of the country gets short shrift in that regard, including Indianapolis, whose only claim to detective fame might be Michael Z. Lewin’s Albert Samson, hero of The Way We Die Now and a series of other novels. Fortunately for the capital of the Hoosier state, Samson is quite a worthy and unconventional representative of the PI genre and The Way We Die Now is a worthy addition to the PI genre.
The Way We Die Now was written in 1973 and is the second Samson novel (and the first I’ve read). Surprisingly, other than some of dated technology technology, the novel seems quite fresh. Samson is hired by the wife of a security guard who’s been arrested for an on-the-job killing. There’s no question that he shot a man who was trying to serve some legal documents on a tenant in the building where the guard worked. But the guard claims the tenant told him that the victim was actually trying to assault the tenant and begged for help from the guard, a claim the tenant flatly denies. As Samson investigates the case, he discovers that the security guard, a former Vietnam vet, is probably suffering from PTSD and has some definite mental issues. He also discovers that the case isn’t nearly as simple as it first appears.
As mysteries go, The Way We Die Now isn’t all that mysterious. Most readers will be able to figure out what’s going on before the halfway point in the book. But knowing and proving are two different things, as Samson finds out, and he has to try to gather enough evidence to get his client out of jail. The way that Sampson tries to do this involves wearing the 1970’s version of a wire and literally hanging around outside a window in one of the bad guys’ home in the hopes that the villains will say something to incriminate themselves. That sequence, and the violence that follows, are one of the book’s few weak stretches.
Fortunately, author Lewin makes up for the relatively lackluster action sequences with some good descriptive writing and dialogue. Samson, who narrates The Way We Die Now is one of the old school cynical, world weary, nearly broke (his office doubles as his apartment and he gets hired because he’s the cheapest PI his client could find), sharp witted PI’s, who manages to exchange quips with unlikable sorts with the best of them. Surprisingly, those unlikable sorts don’t include the police, with whom Samson is on fairly good terms as a result of the events in Samson’s first book. It’s refreshing for the cops and PI to both realize they are on the same side in a book like this. Samson also makes it a point not to carry a gun, something else that distinguishes him from the crowd.
Those who enjoy a well-written traditional PI novel will like The Way We Die Now. The first person narration reads like 200 pages of often witty banter directly with the readers and the other characters Samson encounters. In addition, Lewin takes a brief but insightful look at the issue of PTSD, a topic as valid today as it was 40 years ago. The Way We Die Now is a great example of the way mystery authors should write now.
The Way We Die Now was written in 1973 and is the second Samson novel (and the first I’ve read). Surprisingly, other than some of dated technology technology, the novel seems quite fresh. Samson is hired by the wife of a security guard who’s been arrested for an on-the-job killing. There’s no question that he shot a man who was trying to serve some legal documents on a tenant in the building where the guard worked. But the guard claims the tenant told him that the victim was actually trying to assault the tenant and begged for help from the guard, a claim the tenant flatly denies. As Samson investigates the case, he discovers that the security guard, a former Vietnam vet, is probably suffering from PTSD and has some definite mental issues. He also discovers that the case isn’t nearly as simple as it first appears.
As mysteries go, The Way We Die Now isn’t all that mysterious. Most readers will be able to figure out what’s going on before the halfway point in the book. But knowing and proving are two different things, as Samson finds out, and he has to try to gather enough evidence to get his client out of jail. The way that Sampson tries to do this involves wearing the 1970’s version of a wire and literally hanging around outside a window in one of the bad guys’ home in the hopes that the villains will say something to incriminate themselves. That sequence, and the violence that follows, are one of the book’s few weak stretches.
Fortunately, author Lewin makes up for the relatively lackluster action sequences with some good descriptive writing and dialogue. Samson, who narrates The Way We Die Now is one of the old school cynical, world weary, nearly broke (his office doubles as his apartment and he gets hired because he’s the cheapest PI his client could find), sharp witted PI’s, who manages to exchange quips with unlikable sorts with the best of them. Surprisingly, those unlikable sorts don’t include the police, with whom Samson is on fairly good terms as a result of the events in Samson’s first book. It’s refreshing for the cops and PI to both realize they are on the same side in a book like this. Samson also makes it a point not to carry a gun, something else that distinguishes him from the crowd.
Those who enjoy a well-written traditional PI novel will like The Way We Die Now. The first person narration reads like 200 pages of often witty banter directly with the readers and the other characters Samson encounters. In addition, Lewin takes a brief but insightful look at the issue of PTSD, a topic as valid today as it was 40 years ago. The Way We Die Now is a great example of the way mystery authors should write now.
January 24, 2018
Excellent read. The grumpy but moral P.I reminds me of Robert Crais's Elvis Cole especially sneaking his baths from the neighbours for three years....not bad for A charity shop 50p chance it book!
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews