A Cold Day In Paradise

Steve Hamilton

An above average crime thriller, the first in Steve Hamilton’s series featuring down on his luck, broken detective Alex McKnight. I picked this up because I read somewhere that Hamilton’s an underrated crime writer – I guess that’s true. Certainly better than the Baldacci’s of the world, but the prose isn’t a clean as Child, and the plot and characters are a bit too formulaic, even for my formulaic taste. I knew who the killer was pretty early, and McKnight is very much of a type — former cop, injured on the job, now looking for quiet solitude, until the world of murder drags him back in.

Clichés or no, the plot moves and the writing was good enough that I stayed up till one in the morning finishing it, so maybe I should talk too much smack.

Suffice it to say Hamilton is now on my stuck in an airport without a book list (where he joins Child), but not on my read it as soon as it comes out list (ala Price).

If crime novels are your thing, you could do worse, but I’m not sure this is worth seeking out otherwise.

Recommended for the enthusiast.