⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ 5 Stars

Time to Die by Glen Hellman

This was SO much more than I expected from a crime thriller.

Time to Die is funny, heartbreaking, unpredictable, and ultimately devastating in a way that sneaks up on you. It manages to balance crime, danger, found family, dark humor, and genuine emotional weight without losing sight of the story.

And Greg Newsome is such a refreshing thriller protagonist.

He’s not the guy kicking down doors and taking out ten armed men with one bullet. He’s an executive coach and business consultant who survives by doing what he’s actually good at: building the right team and knowing when to rely on them.

I loved that.

Greg’s strength isn’t necessarily physical—it’s his ability to understand people, build relationships, and surround himself with people who can do what he can’t. It makes him feel much more human than the typical invincible thriller hero.

And then there’s the found family. ❤️

Benny “The Knife” Santini, Isabelle Rossi, Louie the Bat, and the rest of Greg’s unconventional circle are what truly make this story work. They’re messy, flawed, hilarious, occasionally terrifying, and fiercely loyal to one another.

The humor was another huge highlight for me. There were moments where I genuinely laughed, only for the story to turn around and remind me that this isn’t actually a comedy.

And that’s where Hellman really got me.

The humor makes you care.

You laugh with these characters. You get comfortable with them. You start to feel like you’re part of their ridiculous little family.

And then something happens that makes you realize you should have been worried all along.

The emotional impact of the violence is especially effective because it isn’t treated like spectacle. The consequences matter. People make mistakes. Choices have costs. And sometimes there isn’t a clean or satisfying way out.

I also really enjoyed the narrator breaking the fourth wall. Normally, that could easily become distracting, but here it creates an almost conversational intimacy—as though someone is sitting across from you telling you the story and occasionally warning you that something terrible is coming.

And that made the devastating moments hit even harder.

The title itself is another brilliant piece of the puzzle. When you finally understand what “Time to Die” means, it changes how you look at everything that came before.

This book made me laugh.

It made me care.

And then it absolutely wrecked me. 😭

If you love:
🔪 Crime thrillers
🖤 Found family
😂 Dark humor
🎭 Morally complicated characters
💥 Unexpected twists
❤️ Fierce loyalty
😢 Emotional consequences
🧠 Character-driven suspense

read this one.

You don’t need to have read the previous six books to appreciate it, although I can absolutely see why longtime readers would be emotionally attached to these characters.

Time to Die is the kind of crime novel that reminds you the genre can be more than guns, criminals, and chase scenes.

Sometimes the real story is about who we’re willing to protect, what we’re willing to sacrifice, and what it costs when we can’t save everyone.

Glen Hellman, you got me.

And yes, this one hurts.