A Cold Day in Paradise: An Alex McKnight Novel (Alex McKnight Novels)

by Steve Hamilton

Book Overview

When first published, A Cold Day in Paradise won both the Edgar and Shamus awards for Best First Novel, launching Steve Hamilton into the top ranks of today's crime writers. Now, see for yourself why... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Mass Market Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0312969198
• Release Date: February 2000
• Publisher: St. Martins Press
• Length: 320 Pages
• Weight: 0.33 lbs.
• Dimensions: 6.7" x 0.8" x 4.2"

Customer Reviews

Felt like I was in the U.P with Alex

Excellent story! The first book of the Alex McKnight series is stellar, as are Steve Hamiltons other books. Adventure, suspense and friendship with lots of description and detailed Michigan history. Felt like I was right there!

Reminds me of...

Alex Mcknight is a folksy kind of guy carrying on a locally well-travelled adventure/investigation, as a P.I., in the North Woods. All the driving around and seeing/interviewing different people reminds me somewhat of Lew Archer's (Ross Macdonald) shtick, except for, of course, the locale. Lots of twists and misdirections. A good read.

Two thumbs down

Seems like Steve ran out of steam by the end of the book. Main character not very bright, with a too predictable plot.

A Fine Beginning

This first of Steve Hamilton's Alex McKnight series is a tight, well-done book. There's great emotional truth to all the characters, and Hamilton exercises restraint in his hero's musings, as well as in the overall portrayal of a man haunted by his perceived failures. Nothing is predictable and all the characters are fully-drawn, particularly the mad and pathetic Rose. In one brief climactic confrontation between McKnight and Rose, the frustration and anger of a rational mind coming up hard against an irrational one has powerful resonance. Anyone who's ever tried to reason with someone unreasonable will sympathize with McKnight's helplessness and outrage at being unable to communicate on any "normal" level.Filled with surprising twists, a lot of tension, and a splendid depiction of life in a cold zone, this is a well-crafted book with a likeable, very human cast. Highly recommended.

Great new author...great P. I.

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.

Paradise is real.

Yup. It's a real place, not too far from my home. And it's populated by the bartenders, drunken locals, Indian casinos, and log cabins Hamilton describes in "A Cold Day in Paradise". And greed, lies, manipulation, and terror are real, too. This compelling novel isolates those human traits, puts them in the chill of Northern Michigan, and spins a story I couldn't put down. One whole weekend I sat in my cabin in the woods, listening to the chill winds outside, reading this novel in front of my fireplace. I was in paradise.

Excellent debut

This is the first novel in a series. I agree with the previous reader's threads. The writing is interesting and engaged, and the story is gripping and not farfetched. Maybe the biggest compliment I have for it is that I read it in one day. Couldn't put it down. I recommend it to all detective fiction fans.

He has really been there!

Mr. Hamilton is familiar with the territory in this book. He knows the Upper Peninsula and has written a first rate book about the people, the special places, and a crime that is so convoluted that it kept me guessing until the end. I live in the U. P. and am familiar with his various locales. He brings a new twist to what could have been an old story. And he makes one feel the anguish Alex goes through as he fights his fears and finally faces them. I just finished this book today, came home from work, and ordered his second one immediately. That is how impressed I am with Mr. Hamilton's writing.