Look for a large group of people, and get as close to the center of the horde as you can. You don't want to be isolated -- that's exactly what your pursuer wants. "Find a crowd; Crowds make it really difficult for the bad guy to do his job," Blecker says. "A good hitman will try to accomplish his mission without anyone knowing it was him." And he can't do that if you're surrounded by a gaggle of German tourists.

If you realize you're being followed, don't be quiet. Be loud. Very loud. "Draw as much attention to yourself as possible -- you need to lose your inhibitions fast," Blecker says. "If you see some guy coming toward you, hiding a gun under his coat, act like a maniac. Shout. Yell. Jump around. Everyone is going to be focused on you. He's not going to walk up in the middle of that." Sure, it's embarrassing. Then again, Blecker says, "If you point at him and start screaming, 'This guy's trying to kill me!' you probably just saved your own life."

If you think your days of high-school cross-country might save you and you take off running, don't just sprint willy-nilly. Have an idea of where you might go. "You've got to have a plan," Blecker says. "You have to be thinking on your feet. Let's say you're in Chicago, near the Sears Tower. There's a cop shop about eight blocks from there. That would be a good place to go, don't you think?"

The scene is a staple of action movies, including Hitman: Someone's getting chased, so he jumps into a river and makes a clean getaway. There's a reason it's so popular, Blecker says. It works. Start out underwater, and there's no telling where you'll pop up. Don't worry about disrobing before jumping: "You can lose your coat and your shoes," he says, "and you can use your pants to help you float. Desperate times call for desperate escapes."

In many movies, the hero escapes by going to the bathroom and then climbing out the window. Don't try it: You're making yourself a sitting duck by trapping yourself in a small, narrow space. And what are the chances there's a window you can open and easily fit through? "Jumping into back alleys, going into bathrooms -- that just makes it easier for the bad guy," Blecker says.

If you think people might be after you, leave your house at different times, and vary your routine. If you always get a medium coffee and a poppy seed bagel before you catch the 8:14, you're basically doing the hitman's job for him. "Don't take the same route; don't fall into a routine," Blecker says. "That's probably the most important thing. If you live a lifestyle of repetitiveness, you're making it that much easier for them to find you."

If your nemesis decides to use a sniper rifle -- "always a good way to reach out and touch someone," Blecker says ominously -- well, you might be out of luck. Another method that's gained popularity, especially in Russia, is the use of poison. Blecker cites the examples of KGB agent Alexander Litvinenko, who was poisoned in late 2006, and Russian dissident Georgi Markov, who met his maker after being stabbed with a poison-tipped umbrella in 1978. "This method would absolutely be used today," Blecker says. So keep an eye on your drink, and watch for anyone carrying an umbrella, especially if it's not raining.