Mystery/Thriller Book Reviews
Page One of ThreeBlood is the Sky by Steve Hamilton
St. Martin's Minotaur, June, 2003Hardcover, 304 pages
ISBN: 0312301154
Ordering information:
Amazon.com
Ex-cop Alex McKnight has moved to Michigan's
Upper Peninsula to try to forget his past.
His law enforcement career was ended by a bullet
and his marriage was also a casualty. Alex agrees
to help his friend, Vinnie Red Sky LeBlanc, a member
of the Ojibway Indian tribe (and no, they don't like the
term "Native American"). Vinnie's brother has always
been a troublemaker, but now he's out on parole, and is
supposed to be turning his life around. After signing on
to be a hunting guide for a group of wealthy men,
Vinnie is now missing, along with the hunters.
The hunting party was heading to Canada, although the
terms of Vinnie's parole do not allow him to leave the
country. The group was last seen flying off to an isolated
island. But the owners of the hunting lodge seem very
unhelpful when Vinnie and Alex question them, and soon
they are embroiled in a dark story of revenge for a crime
committed long ago.
Edgar-winning author Steve Hamilton takes readers on a gripping, moving adventure with his latest novel. The quiet, remote beauty of the Canadian wilderness is the perfect backdrop for this story of friendship and revenge. Alex McKnight is a man driven by demons from his past who has isolated himself from people. But he is pulled back into the land of the living by his friendship with Vinnie. Peopled with both eccentric and memorable characters, Blood is the Sky is a powerful and thought-provoking novel.
-- Claire E. White
Dirty Work by Stuart Woods
Putnam, April, 2003Hardcover, 322 pages
ISBN: 0399149821
Ordering information:
Amazon.com
Dapper attorney Stone Barrington hates divorce cases --
they really are the dirty work of the legal profession.
Bill Eggers of Woodman and Weld asks Stone
to catch a client's husband in a compromising position.
Stone is of counsel at Woodman
and Weld, who sends Stone quite a bit of work, so he reluctantly
agrees. But the photographer that Stone hires to catch the husband
in the act sees the husband get murdered by a beautiful woman -- and
then promptly falls through the skylight right into the middle of
the murder scene. The killer turns out to be a world class
assassin, Marie-Therese duBois, also known as La Biche. Stone's
squeeze from the last book, The Short Forever, British agent
Carpenter, arrives in town also looking for duBois, and -- with the
help of local police detective Dino Bachetti -- the chase is on
to find a killer.
Stone Barrington is as intelligent as he is suave -- he's never at a loss for words or falls apart in a crisis. He needs his sang-froid in this adventure, because the assassin Marie Therese DuBois is very good at her job. Barrington and Bachetti are a great team, and their dialogue is quite funny. The pacing is fast and the addition of British agent Carpenter is a definite plus. The ever-talented Stuart Woods just keeps turning out immensely entertaining books, and his latest is no exception.
Mystery/Thriller Reviews
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