Michael Hastings’ last book will be published in 2014

Award-winning journalist Michael Hastings had a long career ahead of him -- a career that was cut short when he died in a car crash in June at age 33. But there’s one more installment on the way: He left a final book behind.

Publisher Blue Rider Press announced Friday that in 2014 it will publish “The Last Magazine.” It’s not the hard-hitting journalism Hastings was known for -- it’s a novel.

In a release, the publisher called the book “a roman á clef” that is “funny, biting and fast-paced.” Set at a national magazine -- Hastings wrote for Newsweek when starting out -- in the early 2000s, it follows its young protagonist, Michael M. Hastings, during the lead-up to the Iraq war.

Hastings’ 2010 Rolling Stone profile of Gen. Stanley McChrystal, who was leading the U.S. forces in Afghanistan, revealed the general with such clarity that it led to his dismissal by President Obama. The article won Hastings the prestigious George Polk Award.

Hastings followed up the story with a book on McCrystal and other military leaders, “The Operators: The Wild and Terrifying Inside Story of America’s War in Afghanistan.”

Hastings was also the author of an e-book about President Obama’s 2012 campaign, “Panic 2012,” and the nonfiction book “I Lost My Love in Baghdad: A Modern War Story” about his experiences covering the Iraq war, where his first fiance was killed.

Hastings was survived by his wife, Elise Jordan, who said in a release, ““I read ‘The Last Magazine’ shortly after Michael’s death and found solace in the rush of his trademark candor and insight.”

ALSO:

‘Narcoland’ delves into Mexico’s drug corruption

Government shutdown closes Library of Congress

‘Thank You For Your Service’ follows soldiers after battles are over

tk

Carolyn Kellogg: Join me on Twitter, Facebook and Google+