Customer Reviews

Winter of the Wolf Moon (Alex McKnight Series)

5 star:		(23)
4 star:		(19)
3 star:		(11)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Steve Hamilton returns with another of Alex McKnight's "adventures" in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. McKnight is abrasive and arrogant at times but has the most endearing quality about him -- he's a real good friend. The thing that sets Hamilton's books apart from all the other mystery/thrillers out there is the setting. His descriptions of the cold weather are unparelleled. In this book, Alex takes a ride on a snowmobile and "he isn't exactly the driver." He ends up in the hospital a few times but readers of this series know that you can't keep Alex McKnight down. In the first book, A Cold Day in Paradise, we learn of Alex' expertise in the field of baseball. In this book, he's a hockey goalie. Maybe he'll be a downhill skier in the next book. This is a quick read and a rewarding one. Hamilton is a terrific writer and doesn't lose you for one minute. He doesn't disappoint his fans with this second book.

The only problem with this series is that Mr. Hamilton cannot possibly write the books fast enough to keep me happy! Once again he evokes my home territory with love and with fear- his descriptions of the weather and its effects on his human characters are dead on perfect. This is a man to watch because his books are just going to get better and better. I am just waiting to see how he handles an Upper Peninsula summer because he wrote so well of the awful winters we have that I actually turned the heat up in the house as I read the book.

Alex McKnight's second outing is a little more light-hearted than his first. He is still an accident waiting to happen, but he's getting a grip. The action again takes place during winter in Michigan's Upper Peninsula right on Lake Superior. The author can and does give us a whole new definition of cold.

The story line is a stretch at times, and some things are never satisfactorily explained. It is more than surreal to meet a cultivated Russian gentleman in an ice shack in the wilds of upper Michigan. We are never told how and why he is there. Mr. Hamilton is a very good writer and paces the story well. There are no "dead" spots where nothing happens and the story stagnates. The reader's interest is engaged at all times with the interesting characters, Alex's actions and reactions, and the descriptive passages. What I needed is a more coherent plot that doesn't fall flat at the end.

I'm looking forward to Steve Hamilton's future efforts. He is too good a writer to disappoint us.

Steve Hamilton's "Cold Day in Paradise" was an excellent first novel, introducing us to the unusual hero, Alex McKnight.

However, this follow-up seems thrown together haphazardly. Although I hate to be picky, there is one disturbing error in this book. In the first novel, one of the main characters was EDWIN Fulton. In this book, the character's name mysteriously changes to EDMUND. Is this an author's faux pas or an editors? In any case, it is a shoddy booboo!

Also, in this book, Alex doesn't really do much of the private investigating at all, leaving it up to Leon Prudell, who emerges as more of an interesting character than McKnight. McKnight seems to be a whiny, pessimistic, self-pitying failure in this book, and his "devotion" to finding the missing Dorothy is rather tiresome and unmotivated.

The inclusion of the Russian Molinov and the scene in the ice cabin is way over board. The resolution, likewise, is too pat and contrived. Seems like McKnight should consider his choice of friends in the future, since in both books, they certainly aren't what they seem.

I do agree that Hamilton's descriptions of the frigid Michigan weather is stunning and evocative; unfortunately, the story and pacing in this one is tepid.

I also have a problem with Hamilton continuing to toy with us on McKnight's plans for revenge on his foes from the first book. Get with it, Hamilton. Stop manipulating and use your extraordinary writing abilities to deliver good reading.

If you had the good fortune to read Steve Hamilton's Edgar Award Winning first book, "A Cold Day in Paradise", then you will certainly want to get this one. The very likeable character of Alex McKnight returns, and once again Steve Hamilton will hook you from the first few pages and keep you there until the very end. If you are looking for a new author with a fresh approach to the mystery genre, then Steve Hamilton will not dissapoint you. The characters, story line, and description of the settings are outstanding.

That's where Steve Hamilton's "Winter of the Wolf Moon" takes place--just across The Bridge from my home. And I'm sitting here by my fire, reading this book, thinking that Alex McKnight could be my next door neighbor, the one with the small cabins and far too many snowmobiles screaming on the cold night air. I know those Indians, those casinos, and even the bars with the fireplaces and greasy hamburgers.

I didn't relate too well to the plot, I guess: I couldn't figure out why Dorothy Parrish had all those men chasing her around, including Alex. I didn't understand the presence of Molinov, or why a Russian was sitting in the middle of a Northern Michigan lake in an ice shanty, jigging with corpses and plugging his own men.

But somehow, I didn't care. The action was exciting, and Steve Hamilton's sense of place and detail and his excellent prose style kept me sitting right there by my fire, finishing this novel in one sitting while outside the snowmobiles roared through the night.

A number of years ago, Steve Hamilton, introduced his character Alex McKnight to the reading public in the award winning book, A Cold Day in Paradise. This book was met with much praise and readers waited anxiously for his next book.

Now in the Winter of the Wolf Moon, Mr. McKnight provides his old and new readers alike with a most worthwhile successor to this title.

Choosing to return home to Paradise after being injured Alex, is surrounded by the physical world of the Upper Peninsula of Michigan as well as some charactes. Winters are fierce and Alex spends time taking care of his father's cabins, policing the area from recreational snowmobilers and playing ice hockey with hsi old friends. Inevitably there is a mystery which he must help solve as he also deals with the emotional fallout of watching his partner get killed during a botched robbery. While the mystery angle of the book keeps the reader truning the pages I found the conversations between Alex and some of his cohorts as well as the customs and mores of inhabitants of this area more intriguing. I did particularly enjoy Hamilton's attention to detail which is so vivid that I imagine other readers felt the cold as I did, hear the ice crunching unerneath the snowmobiles and shiver as short days turn into long nights.

Now once again, I am faithfully waiting for Mr. Hamilton's next title.

Talk about a book you can not put down, I read this one straight thru, no sleeping here! From page 1 to the very end, Mr. Hamilton, had woven together a tale to test your deductive skills with the mystique of the Native American culture. This was my first read of Mr. Hamilton, I just Amazon'ed Cold Day in Paradise and look forward to continued installments.

Having just finished A Cold Day In Paradise, I was anxious to see if Hamilton could equal the quality of his first effort. Happily, his second book is even better! His ability to evoke the stark atmosphere uf the UP and the power of his narration have both improved and intensified to a marked degree. If he keeps this up, he will become one of our premiere writers of mystery fiction.

This is my first Steve Hamilton book and as an author I enjoyed his often unhero like hero Alex McKnight. Hamilton's word artistry had me cringing at the pain one man can inflict on another and at his apt discription of a cold snow-encrusted winter. I plan to share "Winter of the Wolf Moon" with all of my reading buddies and I look forward to purchasing another Hamilton novel.
Beverly J Scott author of RIGHTEOUS REVENGE and RUTH FEVER