Synopses & Reviews
"The best mysteries are about the past coming up out of the ground and grabbing the present by the throat. Steve Hamilton knows this. Blood is the Sky fills that bill and then some. This is his best yet." -Michael Connelly, author of Chasing the DimeWinning the Edgar Award for A Cold Day in Paradise, Steve Hamilton introduced one of the most compelling characters in modern fiction: Alex McKnight, a gritty ex-Detroit cop who can't say no to a friend in need-no matter the cost. Now McKnight finds himself in the forests of northern Ontario, a land of savage beauty and sudden danger, where some secrets just won't stay buried.
Alex McKnight isn't a man with many friends, but the few he has know they're never alone in a fix. So when Vinnie LeBlanc asks for his help in taking a trip deep into Canada in search of his missing brother, the Ojibwa Indian knows he can count on Alex. Tom LeBlanc had taken a job as hunting guide for a rough crew of Detroit "businessmen." The group was due back days ago, yet there's been no sign of them, and there's mounting evidence of something odd about their disappearing act. The trackless forests of northern Ontario keep many secrets, but none more shocking than the one that Alex is about to uncover. And the more closely Alex looks for answers, the more the questions become: where are the hunters...and who is the prey?
"Overflows with an element lacking from too many mysteries: a genuine sense of mystery...Blood boldly crosses genre boundaries as it turns into a thrilling outdoor adventure, then a heartfelt small town tragedy. All along, Hamilton's prose...remains an unselfconsciously terse pleasure." -Entertainment Weekly
Review
"[E]ngrossing...alternates between well-paced action fraught with danger and Alex's slow, meticulous inquiries....A fine writer, [Hamilton] excels at describing the lonely locale as well as depicting [his] memorable characters..." Publishers Weekly
Review
"[Hamilton's] writing is smooth, understated and masculine. His story does not seem contrived but organic; the initial mistake of letting the brother make the illegal trip to Canada leads inexorably to one tragedy after another." Patrick Anderson, The Washington Post Book World
Review
"Hamilton won an Edgar and an Anthony in 1998 for A Cold Day in Paradise. This smart, brisk, twisty tale is even better." Kirkus Reviews
Review
"[An] excellent series....Hamilton moves from detective story to survival thriller as Alex and Vinnie make their way through the Canadian wilderness. Strained characterization but terrific suspense." Connie Fletcher, Booklist
Review
"The pace is relentless and the action violent and disturbing. Hamilton...never fails to deliver a superb mystery and a cliffhanger of a thriller." Library Journal
Review
"The best mysteries are about the past coming up out of the ground and grabbing the present by the throat. Steve Hamilton knows this. Blood is the Sky fills that bill and then some. This is his best yet." Michael Connelly, author of Chasing the Dime
Review
"Easily Steve Hamilton's best novel so far therefore an automatic book of the year. Everything is here his trademark sense of place, vivid, resonant characters, and a plot that will break your heart." Lee Child, author of Persuader
Review
"Blood is the Sky takes us into the dark and brooding heart of Michigan's Upper Peninsula. It's got everything tension, action, surprises." T. Jefferson Parker, author of Black Winter
Review
"Blood is the Sky is brilliant. Some books you can't put down because the story is so compelling. Some books you can't put down because the prose is so spellbinding. And then, every once in a while, you read a book that combines both. Steve Hamilton has written the best private eye novel heck, maybe the best novel I've read this year." Harlan Coben, author of Left for Dead
Synopsis
P.I. Alex McKnight and his friend Vinnie search the Canadian woods for Vinnie's brother, uncover a chain reaction of multiple murders and dodge attempts on their lives in the fourth mystery of the series.
Synopsis
When a longtime friend asks Alex McKnight for help in finding his brother, a hunting guide to rich clients who has vanished in northern Ontario with a group of hunters, they begin the long drive north. Soon, Alex and his friend are stranded in the heart of the Canadian wilderness with no food, no weapons and no way out.
Synopsis
"When a fire is done, whats left is only half-destroyed. It is charred and brittle. It is obscene. There is nothing so ugly in all the world as what a fire leaves behind, covered in ashes and smoke and a smell youll think about every day for the rest of your life."Steve Hamilton is one of crime fictions rising stars. His first novel, A Cold Day in Paradise, won the Edgar Award, and each successive novel has met with widespread critical acclaim. Now Hamilton raises the stakes dramatically in his most accomplished work to date.
Reluctant investigator Alex McKnight finds himself drawn by friendship into a long drive north. The brother of Alexs longtime Ojibwa friend Vinnie LeBlanc works as a hunting guide, serving the rich clients from downstate. It seems that Vinnies brother and his most recent group of hunters have vanished in northern Ontario, and Vinnie is scared enough to ask Alex to help him find them.
Their arrival sets in motion a heart-pounding string of events that leaves Alex and his friend miles from civilization, stranded in the heart of the Canadian wilderness with no food, no weapons---and no way out. And theres someone out there who definitely does not want them to make it back alive.
At once elegant and enormously suspenseful, Steve Hamiltons Blood Is the Sky heralds his arrival as one of the premier crime writers working today.
Synopsis
Advance Praise for
Blood Is the Sky“The best mysteries are about the past coming up out of the ground and grabbing the present by the throat. Steve Hamilton knows this. Blood Is the Sky fills that bill and then some. This is his best yet.”
---Michael Connelly, author of Chasing the Dime
“Easily Steve Hamiltons best novel so far---therefore an automatic book of the year. Everything is here---his trademark sense of place, vivid, resonant characters, and a plot that will break your heart.”
---Lee Child, author of Persuader
“Blood Is the Sky takes us into the dark and brooding heart of Michigans Upper Peninsula. Its got everything---tension, action, surprises.”
---T. Jefferson Parker, author of Black Winter
“Blood Is the Sky is brilliant. Some books you cant put down because the story is so compelling. Some books you cant put down because the prose is so spellbinding. And then, every once in a while, you read a book that combines both. Steve Hamilton has written the best private eye novel---heck, maybe the best novel---Ive read this year.”
---Harlan Coben, author of Left for Dead
Synopsis
Winning the Edgar Award for
A Cold Day in Paradise, Steve Hamilton introduced one of the most compelling characters in modern fiction: Alex McKnight, a gritty ex-Detroit cop who can't say no to a friend in need-no matter the cost. Now McKnight finds himself in the forests of northern Ontario, a land of savage beauty and sudden danger, where some secrets just won't stay buried.
Alex McKnight isn't a man with many friends, but the few he has know they're never alone in a fix. So when Vinnie LeBlanc asks for his help in taking a trip deep into Canada in search of his missing brother, the Ojibwa Indian knows he can count on Alex. Tom LeBlanc had taken a job as hunting guide for a rough crew of Detroit "businessmen." The group was due back days ago, yet there's been no sign of them, and there's mounting evidence of something odd about their disappearing act. The trackless forests of northern Ontario keep many secrets, but none more shocking than the one that Alex is about to uncover. And the more closely Alex looks for answers, the more the questions become: where are the hunters...and who is the prey?
Synopsis
Winning the Edgar Award for
A Cold Day in Paradise, Steve Hamilton introduced one of the most compelling characters in modern fiction: Alex McKnight, a gritty ex-Detroit cop who can't say no to a friend in need-no matter the cost. Now McKnight finds himself in the forests of northern Ontario, a land of savage beauty and sudden danger, where some secrets just won't stay buried.
Alex McKnight isn't a man with many friends, but the few he has know they're never alone in a fix. So when Vinnie LeBlanc asks for his help in taking a trip deep into Canada in search of his missing brother, the Ojibwa Indian knows he can count on Alex. Tom LeBlanc had taken a job as hunting guide for a rough crew of Detroit "businessmen." The group was due back days ago, yet there's been no sign of them, and there's mounting evidence of something odd about their disappearing act. The trackless forests of northern Ontario keep many secrets, but none more shocking than the one that Alex is about to uncover. And the more closely Alex looks for answers, the more the questions become: where are the hunters...and who is the prey?
Synopsis
"The best mysteries are about the past coming up out of the ground and grabbing the present by the throat. Steve Hamilton knows this. Blood is the Sky fills that bill and then some. This is his best yet." -Michael Connelly, author of Chasing the DimeWinning the Edgar Award for A Cold Day in Paradise, Steve Hamilton introduced one of the most compelling characters in modern fiction: Alex McKnight, a gritty ex-Detroit cop who can't say no to a friend in need-no matter the cost. Now McKnight finds himself in the forests of northern Ontario, a land of savage beauty and sudden danger, where some secrets just won't stay buried.
Alex McKnight isn't a man with many friends, but the few he has know they're never alone in a fix. So when Vinnie LeBlanc asks for his help in taking a trip deep into Canada in search of his missing brother, the Ojibwa Indian knows he can count on Alex. Tom LeBlanc had taken a job as hunting guide for a rough crew of Detroit "businessmen." The group was due back days ago, yet there's been no sign of them, and there's mounting evidence of something odd about their disappearing act. The trackless forests of northern Ontario keep many secrets, but none more shocking than the one that Alex is about to uncover. And the more closely Alex looks for answers, the more the questions become: where are the hunters...and who is the prey?
"Overflows with an element lacking from too many mysteries: a genuine sense of mystery...Blood boldly crosses genre boundaries as it turns into a thrilling outdoor adventure, then a heartfelt small town tragedy. All along, Hamilton's prose...remains an unselfconsciously terse pleasure." -Entertainment Weekly
Synopsis
"When a fire is done, whats left is only half-destroyed. It is charred and brittle. It is obscene. There is nothing so ugly in all the world as what a fire leaves behind, covered in ashes and smoke and a smell youll think about every day for the rest of your life."Steve Hamilton is one of crime fictions rising stars. His first novel, A Cold Day in Paradise, won the Edgar Award, and each successive novel has met with widespread critical acclaim. Now Hamilton raises the stakes dramatically in his most accomplished work to date.
Reluctant investigator Alex McKnight finds himself drawn by friendship into a long drive north. The brother of Alexs longtime Ojibwa friend Vinnie LeBlanc works as a hunting guide, serving the rich clients from downstate. It seems that Vinnies brother and his most recent group of hunters have vanished in northern Ontario, and Vinnie is scared enough to ask Alex to help him find them.
Their arrival sets in motion a heart-pounding string of events that leaves Alex and his friend miles from civilization, stranded in the heart of the Canadian wilderness with no food, no weapons---and no way out. And theres someone out there who definitely does not want them to make it back alive.
At once elegant and enormously suspenseful, Steve Hamiltons Blood Is the Sky heralds his arrival as one of the premier crime writers working today.
Synopsis
Advance Praise for
Blood Is the Sky“The best mysteries are about the past coming up out of the ground and grabbing the present by the throat. Steve Hamilton knows this. Blood Is the Sky fills that bill and then some. This is his best yet.”
---Michael Connelly, author of Chasing the Dime
“Easily Steve Hamiltons best novel so far---therefore an automatic book of the year. Everything is here---his trademark sense of place, vivid, resonant characters, and a plot that will break your heart.”
---Lee Child, author of Persuader
“Blood Is the Sky takes us into the dark and brooding heart of Michigans Upper Peninsula. Its got everything---tension, action, surprises.”
---T. Jefferson Parker, author of Black Winter
“Blood Is the Sky is brilliant. Some books you cant put down because the story is so compelling. Some books you cant put down because the prose is so spellbinding. And then, every once in a while, you read a book that combines both. Steve Hamilton has written the best private eye novel---heck, maybe the best novel---Ive read this year.”
---Harlan Coben, author of Left for Dead
Synopsis
Before Blood Is the Sky, the Alex McKnight series had already hit bestseller lists and won awards, but this novel took it to a whole new level. Set in the forests of northern Ontario, a land of savage beauty and sudden danger, Blood Is the Sky shows why Steve Hamilton is one of the most acclaimed crime novelists writing today.
Alex McKnight isnt a man with many friends, but the few he has know theyre never alone in a fix. So when Vinnie LeBlanc asks for his help in taking a trip deep into Canada in search of his missing brother, he knows he can count on Alex. His brother had taken a job as a hunting guide for a rough crew of Detroit “businessmen.” The group was due back days ago, yet theres been no sign of them, and theres mounting evidence of something odd about their disappearing act. The trackless forests of northern Ontario keep many secrets, but none more shocking than the one that Alex is about to uncover. And the more closely Alex looks for answers, the more questions there become.
About the Author
Steve Hamiltons debut, A Cold Day in Paradise, won the PWA/SMP Best First Private Eye Novel Contest before winning both an Edgar and 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, and went on to win the Edgar Award for 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.