- Hardcover: 288 pages
- Publisher: Minotaur Books; First Edition edition (May 8 2002)
- Language: English
- ISBN-10: 0312268971
- ISBN-13: 978-0312268978
- Product Dimensions: 24.4 x 16.6 x 2.5 cm
- Shipping Weight: 513 g
- Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars See all reviews (19 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: #1,043,704 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
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Product Details |
Product Description
From Amazon
That Steve Hamilton has won a following by writing private-eye novels about a guy who has no interest in being a PI is testament both to his storytelling talents and readers' hunger for fresh approaches to this genre. North of Nowhere finds ex-Detroit cop Alex McKnight celebrating his 49th birthday by retreating to his cabin in Michigan's Upper Peninsula, where he laments his personal and career failures. Eventually, though, McKnight is coaxed out with the prospect of a poker game, hosted by wealthy contractor Winston Vargas, only to have the game interrupted by armed men in masks, who empty Vargas's safe and leave clues suggesting that Alex and his fellow players engineered the heist.
Now, McKnight really has reason to feel sorry for himself. But instead, he goes after the gunmen, along the way swapping sucker punches with Vargas, shaking down his former detective partner (who videotaped the thieves' escape), and discovering that even his friends harbor secrets that could get them all killed.
This fourth McKnight outing (after 2001's The Hunting Wind) is a fine showcase for Hamilton's lithesome prose. The pace is brisk, the episodes often humorous, and the tale brims with an infectious reverence for its natural setting ("God help me, on a summer night when the sun is going down, it is the most beautiful place on earth"). If Hammett moved the detective story from the drawing room into the mean streets, Hamilton has proved that the north woods have their own potential for homicidal intrigue. --J. Kingston Pierce
From Publishers Weekly
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 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Copyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Inside This Book
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First Sentence
That summer it was all about secrets. Read the first page
Front Cover | Copyright | Excerpt
That summer it was all about secrets. Read the first page
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Concordance
Browse Sample PagesConcordance
Front Cover | Copyright | Excerpt
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Most helpful customer reviews
2.0 out of 5 stars
Enough already,
By A Customer
This review is from: North of Nowhere: An Alex McKnight Novel (Mass Market Paperback)
Get the man some Paxil and a good job. It gets to be too much. There is a great deal of difference between skillfully crafted noir-ish pain and sheer wallowing self pity which some seem to think means "They are senstive". Same complaints. Stereotypical characters, dull unwilling PI who really needs to find a good meat packing plant to work at. Keeps on just missing with a plot that could have been great as a vehicle for a good noir or Hardboiled PI. Poor Alex. Undercooked.
5.0 out of 5 stars
a very fast and fully enjoyable read,
By
This review is from: North of Nowhere: An Alex McKnight Novel (Mass Market Paperback)
Alex McKnight has returned to Paradise-Michigan, that is. In his fourth outing, summer has finally set in. It is July and the increasingly reclusive Alex is asked to attend a poker game with his good friend, Jackie, owner of the local bar that Alex frequents. Unfortunately, the poker game at the house of a wealthy local businessman, Winston Vargas, is interrupted by an armed robbery in which everyone is forced to the floor at gunpoint. Vargas, alone, is robbed as he is forced to open his safe. The aftermath is quite perplexing as half the men attending the game are arrested for the robbery. Alex is convinced they are innocent and does what he can to clear their names. However, things get increasingly violent as Alex gets closer to the truth.Steve Hamilton, Edgar winner for best first novel A COLD DAY IN PARADISE has written one of his best novels yet. I am always impressed with his ability to give the locale a certain immediacy to the reader. The first two books in the series took place primarily in the winter cold. Now we get a feeling of this Upper Michigan location in the midst of the summer season. Life is very different as boating and fishing become the primary pastime of the residents and visitors. We are treated to in depth descriptions of this area frequented by tourists. Alex is a loner, yet, he proves in this book that he is a loyal friend who will stop at nothing to defend those he is closest to. His character gives this series the true sense of realism and makes every return visit a pleasure. Pacing is never a problem with Steve Hamilton and this novel is no exception as the book proves to be a very fast and fully enjoyable read. With his talent, Steve Hamilton deserves a much wider audience.
5.0 out of 5 stars
FRIENDS AND FOES?,
By
This review is from: North of Nowhere: An Alex McKnight Novel (Mass Market Paperback)
Alex McKnight is back in full force again, and this time it his closest friends who become possible enemies in this tense game of cat and mouse. McKnight joins his buddy Joe from the bar and his cronies for a poker game at a millionaire's plush estate. In the middle of the game, three men burst in and tell the guests to lay down on the floor or they'll be shot. Uh-oh. After the smoke clears, Alex finds himself a prime suspect in setting up this heist. From there on, Alex is embroiled in a labyrinthine plot where his closest friends aren't the people he thought they were. Interesting plot, with some twists and turns that may shock; this is an intense entry in this ever-improving series.HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.
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