Alex McKnight, ex cop, ex PI, a likeable character. Interesting locale, Michigan's Upper Peninsula.
Hamilton is back with his reluctant detective Alex McKnight, who swears his detecting days are done, going so far as to walk out on his partnership with Leon Prudell. But trouble follows McKnight wherever he goes until he realizes he must either solve the case and die trying or sit back and do nothing and die anyway. Hamilton's mysteries are always consistent, well written and worth reading. Any fan of detective fiction will enjoy.

Annie N. (
Sequana) wrote on 12/26/2006...
Poor Alex gets in the worst situations.

Kristin C. (
klokanek) wrote on 12/7/2006...
If you like a good mystery with a good sense of geography, then you'll love this one. A fun read.
Excellent book. I liked it very much.

Pat T. (
Chesara) wrote on 11/11/2006...
Summer has finally arrived in Paradise, Michigan, but Alex McKnight doesn't seem to notice the change in the weather. He's been retreating into own his private world the past few months and now he barely leaves his cabin except to go have his meals in the nearby Glasgow Inn. The Inn's proprietor, Jackie, is more and more concerned with Alex's state, and the last straw comes as he watches Alex morosely counting up his "failures" on the eve of his 49th birthday-- his marriage, his baseball career, his stint in the Detroit police. He offers his friend an ultimatum: "Either I take you to the airport and put your ass on a plane to Moosehide or you play poker with me tonight."
The other poker players are men Alex hardly knows, in a posh house near the water. In the middle of the game, masked robbers invade the premises, hold the players at gunpoint and proceed to rob the homeowner. Alex is roused to action and so is his former detective partner, Leon Prudell. Working first against one another and later together, they discover that the crime is far more complex than a simple robbery. There is murder and greed and revenge involved, and a wild chase on the waters of Lake Superior before Alex is forced to realize that there is no retreat from life. And that maybe this is a good thing.
Excellent book - actually the whole series has been great so far! Hard to put down. If you like a good fictional mystery without all the romance, this is a series you should read!

Andrea R. (
Andi1965) wrote on 5/31/2006...
Murder and mayhem in Northern Michigan! Alex McNight, the former Detroit cop who lives a reclusive life in Paradise, Michingan, is back in "North of Nowhere,". McNight has kept to himself a great deal lately, and his good friend, Jackie Connery, proprietor of the Glasgow Inn, decides that Alex needs to get out more. Jackie invites Alex to play poker at the home of Win Vargas, a very wealthy man with a great many secrets. The evening ends disastrously, when Vargas's home is invaded by masked men who rob Vargas and vandalize his prized collection of artifacts.
Steve Hamilton has a relaxed style that is easy to take, and "North of Nowhere" moves along quickly. You can't help but like Alex, who is down to earth and businesslike in his approach to life.
Hamilton's description of the Upper Peninsula of Michigan is, as usual, colorful, and the dialogue is natural and fast moving. If you have never visited the U.P. this is one way without using any gas!