Though it is October and winter is establishing its frozen grip on Michigan's Upper Peninsula, Alex McKnight begins rebuilding his devastated cabin. The ex everything (minor-league catcher, cop, and private investigator, et al) feels he must complete this job now as his humble abode, wrecked by a nut case, once belonged to his dad. His stoic best friend Vinnie "Red Sky" LeBlanc reluctantly helps though he thinks Alex should add asylum time to his resume.

Works stops when Vinnie learns that his brother Tom, a professional guide currently escorting a group in the Canadian woods, is lost. This seems out of character for a skilled expert like Tom, which worries Vinnie as much as his concern that his sibling's parole officer might learn about the parole violation of crossing the border. Vinnie heads north while Alex follows his friend. Neither realizes that the biting cold is not the nightmare on this journey.

Edgar and Shamus Award winner, Steve Hamilton has written his best mystery to date, which seems impossible, as the McKnight series is one of the best of the last few years. The story line twists and turns keeping the reader guessing as to what the heroes will find behind the next corner yet keeps a fast albeit cold pace without losing the prime plot. In spite of the frozen tundra, Alex seems warmer yet not mellower than he has previously appeared and the support cast provides the depth to a grand slam tale.

Harriet Klausner

This is another full-strength North Woods mystery from Edgar Award winning author Steve Hamilton. Sufficient background information is provided that a reader would not necessarily need to start at the beginning with "A Cold Day in Paradise," - but why miss all the fun and excitement?

Alex McKnight, former Detroit cop, former Major League Baseball player for a day, currently cabin concierge cum reluctant investigator in Michigan's Upper Peninsula (UP) signs on to help Ojibwa buddy Vinnie LeBlanc (Misquogeezhig - Red Sky) locate his wayward brother, last seen "guiding" a bunch of Detroit chimookomanag. This leads McKinight and LeBlanc through Northern Ontario - but it ain't no lightweight Bob Hope/Bing Crosby Road Movie. It's a taut tale, often bleak and gritty as the two, with help from friends and family back home in the UP, search for answers in the mysterious North. It's a fine addition to the Hamilton oeuvre. Reviewed by TundraVision

Though it is October and winter is establishing its frozen grip on Michigan's Upper Peninsula, Alex McKnight begins rebuilding his devastated cabin. The ex everything (minor-league catcher, cop, and private investigator, et al) feels he must complete this job now as his humble abode, wrecked by a nut case, once belonged to his dad. His stoic best friend Vinnie "Red Sky" LeBlanc reluctantly helps though he thinks Alex should add asylum time to his resume. Works stops when Vinnie learns that his brother Tom, a professional guide currently escorting a group in the Canadian woods, is lost. This seems out of character for a skilled expert like Tom, which worries Vinnie as much as his concern that his sibling's parole officer might learn about the parole violation of crossing the border. Vinnie heads north while Alex follows his friend. Neither realizes that the biting cold is not the nightmare on this journey. Edgar and Shamus Award winner, Steve Hamilton has written his best mystery to date, which seems impossible, as the McKnight series is one of the best of the last few years. The story line twists and turns keeping the reader guessing as to what the heroes will find behind the next corner yet keeps a fast albeit cold pace without losing the prime plot. In spite of the frozen tundra, Alex seems warmer yet not mellower than he has previously appeared and the support cast provides the depth to a grand slam tale.Along with another book "HE NEVER CALLED AGAIN", I really enjoyed these two books.

Alex McKnight is a delight as always. The lyrical descriptions of Michigan's Upper Peninsula are a joy to read. However, the plot is contrived, convoluted and improbable. The cast burgeons until there are so many people involved; I ended up being indifferent to the outcome.

Alex is in a black depression. To get him out of the house, his good friend Jackie forces him to sit in on a poker game held at the opulent home of Winthrop Vargas. Armed robbers appear and rob Vargas' very secret safe. Suspicion of an inside job spreads to the poker regulars who were the only outsiders who knew Vargas had a safe and kept money in it. Murder of one of the robbers follows. Alex is galvanized into action to protect his friend Jackie. A wild boat chase on Lake Superior unmasks the wrongdoers.

Alex's former partner Archie provides some welcome comic moments. Alex enthusiastically chases so many red herrings, I lost faith. Many of the characters are stereotypical. I think Steve Hamilton needs to infuse Paradise with some new blood.
-sweetmolly-Amazon Reviewer

I live in Nowhere, Michigan...just south of where Steve Hamilton sets this novel. I enjoyed the novel, as I have enjoyed all of Hamilton's Alex McKnight novels, not only because of the setting, but also because Hamilton is a darn good writer! You don't have to be from Nowhere to understand the need to isolate yourself in the beauty of Northern Michigan, and to fear and resent the greed which drives men to murder each other and despoil the environment. These are the themes of Steve Hamilton's books: weave them through an engrossing plot line filled with action and intelligence and you have this latest in the Alex McKnight series--and perhaps the best.

Steve Hamilton has written another great mystery book. One of the reasons I like his books is their setting in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, close to home. The next reason is they are good! He always has a surprise. I like his characters, I like his style.
With his motive for mischief in this book, Hamilton brings in a subject dear to the hearts of many Northern Michigan residents...keep the developers OUT. There are someplaces that should always remain "North of Nowhere." It's a fast and entertaining way to spend some time with the fireplace.
I highly recommend the entire Alex McKnight series.

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.

Winter of the Wolf Moon picks up where A Cold Day in Paradise left off. It's winter in Michigan's Upper Peninsula and Alex McKnight is caught up in another missing person case involving the DEA and Russian drug dealers. Vinnie, Jackie, Chief Maven and Leon Prudell are back and better than ever. The plot takes you on a roller-coaster ride from Michigan to Canada, with Alex snowmobiling, playing hockey and spending way too much time in the hospital. And Hamilton gives you winter in the upper peninsula...a character in and of itself. You won't be able to put this one down. The only bad thing about reading Winter of the Wolf Moon, is that once you've finished, you'll have a long wait for the next Steve Hamilton mystery.

When you find a writer as good as Steve Hamilton, you wish they'd write faster so there'd be more and more of their books to read. Winter of the Wolf Moon is another terrific outing for Alex McKnight. Having started with his most recent book, I had to buy the previous ones (and I've got the new one on order) and I've discovered that this is an author who hit the ground running and never lets up. Alex is a character with warmth, integrity and gently self-mocking humor. He is so well-realized that his every move and thought is completely valid, as is the behavior of all the other characters in this book--including the weather, which has a personality all its own. The miserable cold, the ever-accumulating snow are vital to the plot twists; and the ending is completely unpredictable. Never does the author inflict himself on the material, but rather allows the characters to speak, to live and breathe for themselves. This is a can't-put-it-down tale, too soon ended, splendidly done.
Most highly recommended.

and winner of the Edgar Award, A COLD DAY N PARADISE, is truly outstanding in it's characters and story line. It was a book recommended to me by Amazon and they were right....I couldn't read it fast enough. It immediately gets into the story wih Alex McKnight as the retired cop turned private eye. The way in which the plot is developed, the introduction of the characters, the characters themselves and the insertions of McKnight remembering his past make a marvelous, intriguing package - tied together very, very expertly at the shocking and truly amazing ending. I have already puchased "WINTER OF THE WOLF MOON" , Hamilton's second novel and I will bet "dollars to donuts" that it will be just as suberbly written and even more suspenseful than the first. If you like intrigue, suspense,surprises, excellent character and plot development and an answer to the mystery that is at your fingertips but just out of your reach- read this: "A COLD DAY IN PARADISE'; and no matter how warm the summer weather is, keep a blanket handy because besides everything else this novel contains, it is chilling! Have a wonderful read!

Steve Hamilton comes at you from several different directions in his first novel, A Cold Day in Paradise. That's Paradise, Michigan on the shores of Lake Superior in the upper peninsula. The setting and local color are terrific. Alex McKnight, ex-minor league baseball player, ex-Detroit cop with a bullet still lodged in his chest and now a private investigator, works his way through two murders, a missing person case and a monster killer from his past that leave you guessing until the very end of the book. Good characters. Tight plot. A real page-turner. This is a book you won't be able to put down. Steve Hamilton's got a real winning combination here.

Steve Hamilton's award-winning debut is a very involving and well-written novel. The main character, Alex McKnight, is an interesting, if flawed, hero, one minute being Superman and the next Supersensitive. But he's likeable and he seems real.

The background of Alex's shootout with a madman named Rose is fascinating in that a bullet was left lodged in his heart, although his partner died in the onslaught.

Fourteen years later, McKnight is back home in the upper Michigan peninsula, running cabins his late father built, and becoming a reluctant PI assisting a smooth lawyer named Lane.

McKnight is then embroiled in a thick noir plot involving his somewhat best friend millionaire and his wife, whom McKnight once had an affair with.

The book moves at a very quick pace, and as it appears that the madman responsible for his injury is somehow murdering bookmakers, the plot thickens.

The denouement is unusually abrupt, but it certainly does smell of a sequel.

All in all, a very good read and I'm looking forward to reading the second entry in the Alex McKnight series, which I shall do as soon as I finish this review.

Anyone who thought that the character of Hal Jordan was gettingstale need look no further than this book to find out that there areindeed worse things. Hal Jordan's character maintained a loyal fan base for thirty years, but Kyle Rayner's character gets old, stale, and boring after the first panel. Who cares about this Gen X slacker who had a power ring dropped into his lap without doing anything to earn it? I certainly don't.

For me Hal Jordan will always be the ultimate Green Lantern, but Rayner fills his shoes nicely. Ron Marz follows his brilliant Emerald Twilight story with some surprisingly strong plots. This collection introduces us to Raynor's world. He is a struggling artist with a wild imagination, which is perfect for the character of Green Lanter. Marz also gives artist Daryl Bank some difficult pieces to draw. Instead of using simple baseball bats like Jordan was prone to doing, Raynor conjures up gladiators, robots nad other more imaginative creations through his power ring.

While many people still dwell over the fact that Hal Jordan is no longer with us as the GREEN LANTERN (going nuts and killing all other GL's around then adopting a GOD-like attitude will do that to you), it seems that an equal amount if not more have accepted and ended up loving KYLE RAYNER as the newly appointed GL. This story will take you back to the early days of KYLE, coming to grips with his new destiny. See what made him the hero he is today - recommended reading!!

"A Cold Day in Paradise", Hamilton's first novel, was outstanding! For some reason I lost track of him, and just by chance picked this paperback up when I was in book withdrawal. Although not as interesting, plot-wise, as A Cold Day...this third instalment has a lot to recommend it.

The star of Hamilton's books is the setting....Michigan's Upper Peninsula; a region with so little charm that one wonders what keeps the natives there (yes, I've lived in northern Minnesota,
North Dakota, and some dreary areas in upstate New York, and all of us natives know that feeling of charm: the lack thereof!).
Hamilton captures it perfectly, and surrounds an interesting hero with a lot of small-town sidekicks you want to come to know.

In this novel, Alex doesn't spend much time at home, but traipses around Michigan with a very old friend, Randy Wilkins, who he played minor-league ball with. Randy is a character that MUST return, because he is such a well-drawn good time Charlie.

There's a lot of fits and starts....and probably too much complication in the quest for Maria, Randy's lost love. In particular, both Randy and Maria turning out to be low-lifes is just a little too much unwelcome plot. But, the story comes to a satisfactory close, with Alex eagerly returning to Paradise, and his favorite Canadian beer.

Not as good as his earlier work, but still much to enjoy in this novel!

Alex McKnight's old buddy from his Farm Club Baseball days suddenly reappears & it's time for a road trip! This, unfortunately, means that the quirky cast from way up `dere in da UP is largely absent from Steve Hamilton's third McKight tale. (Ja, Sure, You Betcha, I understand the Jessica Fletcher syndrome - after all those years, who would want to vacation in Cabot Cove, Maine, which must certainly have one of the highest per capita murder rates in the country ? ;-)

And Ja, I sure do understand the night/day difference of which Hamilton speaks about Tourist Season and not-Tourist-Season in the tiny resort town of Orcus Beach. (The ubiquitous cry of year-round denizens of "Seasonal Resort Areas" everywhere: If there is a deer season, a duck season, etc. in which it is permissible, indeed oft-times encouraged, to shoot the eponymous species, what about tourist season?)

The Paradise UP gang from the 1st two Alex McKnight adventures does "bookend" the fast-paced and absorbing action in "The Hunting Wind," and Alex's accidental partner is his usual hoot, but here's hoping that the next book stays home!

The Hunting Wind was my introduction to Steve Hamilton and, wow, what a wonderful introduction! Here is a man who writes with humor, with assurance, and with plotting skills that are right up there with the best of the best; certainly a fine, convoluted, narrative Ross Macdonald would have been proud to have written. Alex McKnight is a weary, highly believable (and very human) former cop who once had a brief-lived baseball career. It is this former career that brings Randy Wilkins, the left-handed one-time pitcher, back into his life after thirty years. Randy is a charming chatterbox who, in many ways, is still the very young man who had a shot at the big time and blew it in the first inning of his one and only major league game. And it is Randy's desire to track down Maria, the love of his young life, that takes the two men on a journey so labyrinthine that much of the state of Michigan is traversed in pursuit of the woman. Along the way the two men encounter some of the most intriguing and eccentric characters ever to appear in print--most notably the exquisitely drawn Maria and the strangely touching Chief Rudiger.

Before writing this review I ordered Hamilton's two previous books, and I will certainly buy anything else he writes. Here is an author with enormous talent who deserves all the kudos and a wide audience.