Ice Run: An Alex McKnight Novel (Alex McKnight Novels) (Hardcover)

~ (Author) "In a land of hard winters, the hardest of all is the winter that fills you with false hope..." (more)
Key Phrases: motor shop, Simon Grant, Blind River, Marty Grant (more...)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

This gripping, roller-coaster read, the sixth in Hamilton's Alex McKnight series, commences in the forlorn burg of Paradise, Mich., where ex-cop Alex ekes out a living renting cabins to snowmobilers from "down below." Alex's conspicuous consumption of salads and newly dyed hairdo alert his pub owner/protector that he's smitten with someone. But love isn't enough to shield Alex and Constable Natalie Reynaud, on leave from the Ontario Provincial Police, from the violent fallout of a Reynaud family secret. A merciless snowstorm threatens Alex's plans for a rendezvous with the traumatized Natalie, who witnessed the killing of her partner in Blood Is the Sky (2003), but they meet halfway at a charming hotel on the Canadian border. A cryptic note in an old Homburg hat left outside their room arouses Alex's curiosity. McKnight, with the aid of his former PI partner Leon Prudell, plumbs local Prohibition history to find the seed of enmity between two destructively intertwined clans. His efforts earn him a brutal beating, an incomprehensible breach with Natalie and the discovery of more than one untimely death. Hamilton expertly delivers sharply etched characters, a vivid setting and a thoroughly enjoyable hero, leaving us breathless, perched at the edge of our seats for this chilly ride. FYI: Hamilton has won Edgar, Anthony and Shamus awards.
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From Booklist

Murders from 30 years ago lead to present danger in Edgar and Anthony Award-winning Hamilton's latest snowbound mystery. Ex-almost-made-it baseball player and ex-big-city cop Alex McKnight returned to Paradise, Michigan, five mysteries ago, shattered by the death of his partner in a drug raid. McKnight has become something he never aspired to become, a caretaker of vacation cottages, a sometime private eye, and a full-time tender of his psychic wounds. Now he finds himself faced with an unfamiliar feeling, hope, thanks to his blooming romance with Ontario cop Natalie Reynaud. They schedule a romantic getaway in Sault Ste. Marie, but a threatening message left in their hotel room, consisting of photos of Natalie's deceased father and grandfather, forces the pair to confront the skeletons in the Reynaud family closet. The motivation for the action is a bit of a stretch here, but Hamilton still delivers powerful suspense and a socko climax. Connie Fletcher
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 320 pages
• Publisher: St. Martin's Minotaur; 1st edition (June 1, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0312301219
• ISBN-13: 978-0312301217
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 6.2 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.3 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (22 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #648,787 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Emotionally charged, tautly paced mystery , July 23, 2004

By	David Montgomery "Book Critic" (davidjmontgomery.com) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Following on the heels of last year's Gumshoe Award-winning Blood is the Sky, Steve Hamilton's Ice Run is another emotionally charged, tautly paced mystery featuring reluctant investigator Alex McKnight.

Still recovering from the deadly journey he took in the previous novel, McKnight is trying to fashion some reasonable facsimile of an ordinary life for the first time in years. He's even become involved with a woman and things look promising.

All of that begins to unravel when a romantic dinner is interrupted by a puzzling old man who informs the startled couple that he knows a secret from their past. His bizarre revelation would have been easy enough to ignore -- had he not been found dead later that night.

Hamilton is one of the best in the business at using a keen sense of place as the foundation for his stories. The feeling of isolation, loneliness and bitter cold in the North Woods that fills his books makes them stand out from otherwise similar novels in the crime fiction genre.

Focusing on the domestic side of McKnight's life is a departure for the series, and there are times when it works less well that we've come to expect from Hamilton. The mystery of Ice Run never rises to the level of intrigue that one might hope, and the sense of jeopardy is not as keenly felt.

Those are minor quibbles, however, when a writer has the talent that this one does. With such fine use of setting and memorable characters, Ice Run is a journey you will want to take.

Reviewed by David Montgomery, Chicago Sun-Times

9 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Baby, it's cold outside., July 5, 2004

By	E. Bukowsky "booklover10" (NY United States) - See all my reviews (TOP 100 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

"Ice Run" is the latest Alex McKnight novel by Steve Hamilton, and it takes place during the coldest time of the year in Michigan. Snow is measured by feet, not inches, and if you don't bundle up, you can freeze to death. Alex McKnight, the loner ex-cop who had pretty much given up on love, has fallen for Natalie Reynaud, a cop from the Ontario Provincial Police. One night, when Alex and Natalie visit the fancy Ojibway Hotel in Sault Ste. Marie, an elderly man tips his hat to them. Little do they know that this man holds the key to Natalie's painful past, and both Natalie and Alex are about to be dragged back in time.

At its best, "Ice Run" is an atmospheric and brooding story, with terse dialogue and some delightfully quirky characters. I especially like Jackie, who cares for Alex so much that he reams him for getting sucked into Natalie's problems, and Leon, Alex's old friend, who at a moment's notice, drops everything to do some important digging for his old pal.

The villains, alas, are stock characters, and the mystery itself is not particularly involving. However, Hamilton has a way of capturing the loneliness and desolation of a Michigan winter and tying it in with the characters' bitter and icy emotions. Alex is a charismatic and compassionate hero, and it is hard not to cheer for a man who is willing to risk his life for the woman he loves.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Icy thriller, June 2, 2004

By	S. Roddom "sally from oz" (Australia) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

It is January, the first snow storms of the year are falling, and Alex McKnight, former police officer, is in love; and the object of his affection is the mysterious Natalie Reynaud, a Canadian Police officer. Alex and Natalie met after he was present at the death of her partner, and it is soon obvious that Natalie has a lot of emotional baggage and a past that includes sexual abuse from her late stepfather, and a mother who let it happen. When they finally agree to spend their first weekend together an elderly man leaves a hat full of snow outside their bedroom door with a note inside saying "I know who you are." The man is found dead the next day - frozen in the snow. The connection between the old man and Natalie's past is slowly revealed as the story builds up to it's nail-biting climax. Blizzards, white-outs, and freezing cold set the atmospheric thriller as the story hurtles to its conclusion leaving bloody bodies in its wake.

Steve Hamilton has written another great story - even though it is the fifth Alex McKnight mystery - this book can be easily read as a stand alone. Joined once again by his friend Vinnie Le Blanc, the two men join forces when Natalie goes missing. Natalie's character is very slowly revealed as her past is opened up to us and by the time she goes missing amidst all the violent occurrences and revelations she has become so real that you are on the edge of your seat trying to figure out if she will be safe and who the threat is. Steve Hamilton has not let his fans down.