North of Nowhere (Alex McKnight Series #4)

by Steve Hamilton

Overview

"Steve Hamilton writes the kind of stories that [one] can't resist."
--The New York Times Book Review

Steve Hamilton's debut novel A Cold Day In Paradise was the first novel to capture mystery's three most prestigious awards-the Edgar, the Shamus, and the Anthony awards for best first novel. Now North of Nowhere returns to the beautiful and dangerous landscapes of Michigan's Upper Peninsula, where former Detroit cop Alex McKnight's attempts to leave civilization behind only lead to disaster...

Lying facedown on the floor with a gun to the back of his head is where Alex McKnight finds himself after a game of cards turns into a professional heist at the home of local developer Win Vargas. When the dust settles, McKnight is one of police chief Roy Maven's lead suspects. Worse, Vargas' own sense of vigilante justice has targeted the former private eye as well, and the brash millionaire may be responsible for the sudden disappearance of Alex's best friend, Jackie. Now, with officials pointed in the wrong direction and his closest allies either missing or in jail, Alex knows he is the only one who can uncover the truth. But McKnight can't possibly know how dark this conspiracy truly is-or how close to guilt he actually stands...

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780312983819
Publisher:	St. Martin's Press
Publication date:	05/18/2003
Series:	Alex McKnight Series , #4
Edition description:	First Edition
Pages:	352
Product dimensions:	4.24(w) x 6.74(h) x 0.95(d)

About the Author

Steve Hamilton's first Alex McKnight novel, A Cold Day in Paradise, won both an Edgar and a Shamus Award for Best First Novel. His stand-alone novel, The Lock Artist, was named a New York Times Notable Crime Book, received an Alex Award from the American Library Association, and then went on to win the Edgar Award for Best Novel, making him only the second author (after Ross Thomas) to win Edgars for both Best First Novel and Best Novel. He attended the University of Michigan, where he won the prestigious Hopwood Award for writing, and now lives in Cottekill, New York, with his wife and their two children.

Table of Contents

Editorial Reviews

Superb! Hamilton keeps the action fast and furious and manages to keep the reader off balance.” —Publishers Weekly

“A bracing, sometimes sidesplitting...novel.” —Booklist

“Hamilton packs plenty of hardscrabble characters and pithy dialogue into a nifty mystery...there's nothing like a bit of Paradise-Michigan, that is.” —Columbia State

“North of Nowhere has a twisty plot with genuine surprises, but it's the understanding of the people who live in the Upper Peninsula and the love for both the harshness and beauty of the Lake Superior shoreline that make this another good entry in a terrific series.” —Flint Journal

“A fast-paced book with wonderful characters...Hamilton writes great prose.” —ReviewTheEvidence.com

“A robust entry...Alex is at his best and the support cast augments the isolated feeling of going north of nowhere that shows why Steve Hamilton is an award-winning author.” —Internet Bookwatch

From the Publisher

No longer a cop, inactive as a private eye, classic loner Alex McKnight has retreated to his lakeside cabin in this superb yarn, Edgar-winner Hamilton's fourth after 2001's The Hunting Wind. In fact, Alex has become so much a recluse in the little town of Paradise in Michigan's Upper Peninsula that his few friends are worried about him. That leads Jackie Connery, the Scottish-raised proprietor of the bar where Alex sometimes hangs out, to badger him into joining a friendly power game at the home of Win Vargas. Before Alex can even work up a good dislike of the blustery, wealth-flaunting Vargas, three armed men interrupt the poker game. While Alex, Jackie and the other players are held at gunpoint, their host is led off to open a safe and his treasured collection of artifacts in trashed or stolen. From that quick beginning, events move swiftly and strangely. Alex finds Vargas's suspicions centering on him; the police, let my old enemy Chief Roy Maven, think Jack and the other players were in on the robbery. And Alex's ex-partner, PI Leon Prudell, turns out to have yet another take on who's behind the robbery. Hamilton keeps the action fast and furious and manages to keep the read off balance almost as much as his hero. As usual, Alex takes more than his share of lumps as he rediscovers the importance of friendship, loyalty and courage. While Alex McKnight would probably hate the idea, mysteries this good may make him extremely popular. Agent, Jane Chelius. (May 13) Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information.

Publishers Weekly

Alex McKnight owns a small group of rustic cottages on the north edge of Michigan near Lake Superior. His retreat from society is interrupted by well-meaning friend Jackie, who forces him out of his hideaway for an evening of poker. When the game is interrupted by a well-planned burglary and Jackie is arrested for it, Alex is determined to clear him. The tangle proves more complex and dangerous than Alex had expected, but he stubbornly looks for answers. Nick Sullivan has narrated all four of Hamilton's mysteries featuring Alex, and he is clearly in sync with the material. He reads with an intensity that portrays Alex's single-minded concentration on whatever task confronts him, yet he can slow his pace to allow the listener to enjoy the wry humor laced throughout much of the story. Sullivan's deep voice is suited to the hard-boiled detective genre; his interpretation of the disillusioned ex-cop and his colorful acquaintances includes gruff voices; Midwestern, Canadian and Scottish accents; and attentive pacing. Recommended for mystery collections.-Juleigh Muirhead Clark, John D. Rockefeller Jr. Lib., Colonial Williamsburg Fdn., VA Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information.

Library Journal

Though all Michigan's Upper Peninsula is basking in rare balmy sunlight, it's the summer of Alex McKnight's discontent. Now that he's about to turn 50 without much to show for his half-century, the ex–minor-league catcher, ex-cop, ex–private cop, ex-husband, and current owner of six unprepossessing hunting and fishing cabins has turned hermit. And that worries his best friend Jackie Connery, proprietor of the Glasgow Inn, where Alex has not been dropping in for his customary tipple. Invading Alex's lair, Jackie all but kidnaps him for a friendly poker game at fat cat Win Vargas's swanky home. It turns out, however, that there's a lot more in the cards for all concerned than straights, flushes, and male bonding. Three gun-toting hard guys crash the party and break open the bedroom safe, departing with $700,000 of Vargas's money. A bad night is followed by a nightmarish day when Jackie and two other players, all Alex's close friends, are arrested by lunkheaded Chief of Police Roy Maven. The robbery was a conspiracy, the chief asserts; Alex's pals were in on it; and stuff stolen from Vargas has turned up in possession of all three. Certain his friends have been framed, Alex goes into overdrive trying to keep them out of jail. But then slowly, unsettlingly, he realizes that there's a definite hangdog look about them he doesn't associate with innocent men. Hamilton (The Hunting Wind, 2001, etc.) spins a brisk, well-plotted tale brightened by his usual deft way with local color.

Kirkus Reviews