Roget's says: "use fatal for something which has caused someone's death; use lethal for something which is capable of killing someone."

So maybe use lethal; makes more sense.

{
    use lethal qw[ ... ], sub {
        if( $^exception eq 'something' ) {
            ## deal with it
            ...
            return;
        }
        else {
            die $^exception; ## re-throw
        }
    };
    ...
    ## protected code here
}
[download]

Ie. The module would save the current $SIG{__DIE__} handler and install a the users callback and restore the original when leaving scope or when no lethal; is seen.

I'm not sure all of that is possible, never mind how to do it. But I like the idea of it.