Seven Ways to Die
Authors: William Diehl
| Seven Ways to Die | |
| William Diehl | |
| AEI/Story Merchant Books (2012) | |
| Rating: | ***** |
From the New York Times bestselling author of PRIMAL FEAR and SHARKY'S MACHINE -- From the Nez Perce Indian reservation in Idaho to New York’s Central Park is a straight line right through Bill Diehl’s last and most intriguing lead character, Micah Cody. There are seven basic ways to die. In 1969 Dr. John C. Cavanaugh catalogued them all in his Primer of Forensic Pathology-Cast Studies for the Novice M.E. Micah Cody is a 30-something NYPD captain of homicide, who’s founded a special unit known as TAZ with city-wide license to take over any investigation at all, with special focus on serial killers. Now its ultimate challenge is on the loose in Manhattan, with three victims already whose causes of death seem like intentional defiance of TAZ’s existence—and four to go in four deadly days leading up to Halloween. Chronicling it all with great amusement is the Capote-like award-winning crime writer Ward Hamilton who, egged on by his sexually voracious socialite bedmate, is determined to bring TAZ to its knees journalistically. Captain Micah Cody's Nez Perce name is “Youngest Wolf” from his ability to communicate with the animals and read nature's signs. As all hell is breaking loose in Manhattan, the wolves in Central Park howl, the peregrine falcons shriek their warnings—and Micah is listening. Seven Ways to Die is a non-stop, sexy read with Diehl doing to the end what he did best throughout his bestselling career.
### About the Author
The late William Diehl is the author of numerous fast-paced New York Times bestsellers, including two, Primal Fear and Sharky’s Machine that were made into major motion pictures. Prior to his death in 2006, Diehl had written over 400 pages of manuscript for Seven Ways to Die, and left behind a working outline, notes and chapter drafts. Ken Atchity worked personally with Bill’s widow, Virginia Gunn Diehl, along with his screenwriting partner Michael A. Simpson, to bring this novel to completion. William Diehl was an extraordinarily gifted storyteller who enjoyed an unbroken string of bestselling novels including 27 aka The Hunt, Thai Horse, Hooligans, Chameleon, Show of Evil, Primal Fear (Richard Gere and Edward Norton) and Sharkey's Machine. Seven Ways to Die is more than a worthy final addition to the Diehl canon. For twenty years he lived on Georgia's St. Simons Island with his wife Virginia Gunn, a former Atlanta TV reporter. Diehl, who began writing novels at the age of 50, was strongly influenced by his experiences as a ball turret gunner on a B-24 in World War II--for which he earned a Distinguished Flying Cross, Purple Heart, and Air Medal.He met Martin Luther King and took part in the Civil Right movement. He became a staff reporter at The Atlanta Constitution, then the first managing editor of Atlanta magazine. Kenneth Atchity, author of fifteen previous books, is a prolific producer of motion pictures for television and theater, as well as former professor of comparative literature and Fulbright professor of American studies. Atchity, author of fifteen books, has been an editor and manager of bestselling authors for twenty-five years, and responsible for twenty bestselling novels.
SEVEN WAYS TO DIE
Praise for Bill Diehl’s work:
“An auspicious debut…The best thing to come out of Atlanta since Scarlett O’Hara.”—The Washington Star (
Sharky’s Machine
)
“Spine-tingling…Mr. Diehl can sustain suspense.”—The New York Times
Ringing dazzling changes on the suspense format he worked so successfully in
Sharky’s Machine
and four other thrillers, Diehl…builds delicious tension, keeping the reader off balance right up to the gavel-pounding finale.—
Publisher’s Weekly
(
Primal Fear
)
“Diehl weaves a plot of bloodletting and courtroom drama that leaves the reader in a cold sweat.”—
Booklist
(
Primal Fear
)
“A big, efficient thriller-machine—slick and melodramatic—with every cog whirring at top speed…”—
Kirkus Reviews
(
Primal Fear
)
“Be the first person on your block to read William Diehl’s terrific new novel
27
…The author of
Sharky’s Machine
will grab hold of you and never let go.”—Larry King, USA Today
“Diehl has gone from literary contender to champion of his division.”—New York Daily News (
Chameleon
)
“Once in a very long time there comes a book that is a true milestone in the espionage genre…is titillating as any I have ever read!”—
Mystery News
(
Chameleon
)
“Dazzling…The best book of its kind since
Day of the Jackal
”—Lorenzo Carcaterra,
People
(
27
)
“Incredible! Diehl has used his obvious experience in the orient to present the Third World as something more than a place for aging remittance men to smoke out their lives with little black balls of opium.”—The Washington Post (
Thai Horse
)
“Diehl’s writing packs a wallop and his compassion runs deep.”—Seattle Post Intelligencer (
Hooligans
)
“This tough, lurid first novel is to police procedure what
Crime and Punishment
is to the average romance about ax murderers.”—The New York Times Book Review (
Sharky’s Machine
)
“An explosive blend of sex, violence and the old triple-cross…a fast-paced and outlandish thriller.”—
Cosmopolitan
(
Chameleon
)
“Diehl cleverly integrates the depression, Hitler’s rise to power and Dillinger bank robberies into this solidly researched suspenseful ingenious and deeply moving thriller.”—
Publishers Weekly
(
27
)
“A superior spy/adventure/mystery novel…this is Diehl’s best novel yet.”—
Mystery Scene
(
Thai Horse
)
“A tough gut-busting whodunit delight…not for the squeamish.”—
Playboy
(
Hooligans
)
“27
is a masterful novel…powerful descriptive passages about the dust bowl rival anything John Steinbeck wrote on the subject…a juggernaut of a book.”—Robert Coram, Atlanta Constitution
“…The complete thriller.”—
Newsweek
(
Sharky’s Machine
)
“Step aside Joseph Wambaugh, Bill Diehl’s first novel,
Sharky’s Machine
makes most crime novels read like Little Bo Peep.”—The Boston Globe
“Explosive, extraordinary…the reader is left limp.”—The San Diego Union (
Chameleon
)
“Combines two parts Robert Ludlum with a pinch of Ninja…Diehl spares nothing when he gets in gear!”—
Publishers Weekly
(
Chameleon
)
“Vividly cinematic, rich in atmosphere and peopled with believable characters, this novel serves notice that Diehl is one of the best thriller writers working today.”—
Publishers Weekly
(
Eureka
)
Novels by William Diehl (1924-2006)
Sharky’s Machine
(1978)
Chameleon
(1981)
Hooligans
(1984)
Thai Horse
(1987)
The Hunt
aka
27
(1990)
Primal Fear
(1992)
Show of Evil
(1995)
Reign in Hell
(1997)
Eureka
(2002)
Seven Ways to Die
(2006/2011)
SEVEN WAYS TO DIE
By William Diehl
New York Times bestselling author of
Sharky’s Machine
and
Primal Fear
With Kenneth John Atchity
Seven Ways to Die
By William Diehl
With Kenneth John Atchity
Published by:
AEI Books
9601 Wilshire Boulevard #1202
Beverly Hills CA 90210
Copyright 2011 © Estate of William Diehl, Jr.
William Diehl was an extraordinarily gifted storyteller who enjoyed an unbroken string of bestselling novels. He had finished 412 pages of
Seven Ways to Die
before he died.
Atchity, who had worked with Diehl, with input from his screenwriting partner for five years, Michael A. Simpson to whom Bill confided his intentions for ending of the novel, edited and completed it based on Diehl’s working outline, notes, and chapters retrieved from the novelist’s computer as well as his conversations with Michael.
This is a work of fiction. All incidents and dialogue, and all names and characters, are products of the author’s imagination and are not to be construed as real. Any resemblance to persons living or dead is entirely coincidental.
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in whole or in part, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise without the prior written permission from the author, except for the inclusion of brief quotations in a review.
ISBN
:
978-0-9836058-0-5
First Edition. Released in the United States of America.
http://seven-ways-to-die.blogspot.com/
For Virginia
She endured.
1
IDAHO—NEZ PERCE RESERVATION
The Boy was lost. But that was as it should be. It was part of the challenge. He stared out over the mountains and thought about what his father and the
qiwn
, the Old Man with Wisdom, had taught him.
His entire journey would rely on the lessons of
qiwn;
things he had been listening to, and learning from, since he was old enough to understand
Nimiputimptki,
the language of the Nez Perce. And the Old Man had been talking to him since he was in his mother’s arms, before the other elders had also passed on their knowledge, before his father returned from the service.
It was Old Man who had called him
Hemene Ka-Wan,
at a Name Giving Ceremony before he was old enough to walk. In American it meant Youngest Wolf and was the name of the first star in the handle of the Big Dipper which gave The Boy a mystical connection to the sky. And later, when one of the
miyooxat,
the religious leaders of the tribe, had seen four eagles circling over The Boy’s head, he had pronounced that
Ka-Wan
was blessed with
Weyekin.
When he was six or seven, he asked Old Man what
Weyekin
meant.
Old Man just looked him in the eye. “Listen,” Old Man had said, pointing two fingers at his own eyes. “Always look at the creature who speaks to you.”
Once he was going to his grandma’s house with a rabbit he had killed for stew. It was dusk and he heard an owl in the trees and he stopped and listened and then saw the owl and looked at it in the eyes.
“Oo, oo, whoee,” it said and he mimicked it. He stood for several minutes repeating the sound of the owl and when he went inside he told his grandmother about the owl and the sound it made.
She cocked her head to one side and listened to him and then said, “It will rain soon. Tomorrow night.”
“All creatures talk to each other,” Old Man said. “The wolf howls one way and it means one thing, he howls another way and it means something else. So does the eagle and the coyote and all creatures.”
“Oh.”
“Just like people.”
Now he was in his thirteenth year. Now he would take the walk to manhood, a decision he alone had made. It was not a tradition practiced by young Nez Perce anymore so he had depended on Old Man to tell him how it worked; to describe the passage so he would do it properly.
