Steve Hamilton - Böcker

A breathtakingly chilling novel of suspense from the author of A COLD DAY IN PARADISEIt's winter in Paradise, a small town in Michigan's Upper Peninsula on the frozen borders of Canada. After ploughing the new snow from his drive every morning, Alex McKnight is content to stay warm in front of the fireplace at the Glasgow Inn with a bottle of his favourite Canadian beer. Once a catcher in the minor leagues, later a Detroit police officer, Alex gave the private eye business a try and it ended up being the 'second worst' mistake of his life. So when a young native American woman of the Ojibwa tribe comes to him for help, Alex is reluctant to become involved. Nor does he want anything to do with goofy Leon Prudell, who wants to get back in the PI business and has fixed on Alex as his partner. But before you can say 'storm warning', events have spun out of Alex's control. Soon he'll have to deal with an entire team of drug-crazed hockey goons, two mysterious men wearing guns and hunting caps, and a cold-blooded killer from the other side of the world. Perhaps Alex needs that new partner after all...

'The calendar said April, but April in Paradise is still cold enough to hurt you ' - a terrific Alex McKnight novel from award-winning Steve Hamilton.Alex McKnight is sipping his beer in the Glasgow Inn when Randy Wilkins, a friend from his days in Detroit, turns up out of the blue. Finally he gets to the point. Randy's in love with a girl called Maria and wants to find her. The only problem being that he last saw her thirty years ago. It's a test of friendship to say the least and, at first, Alex can't think of anything worse. But loyalty gets the better of him and together Alex and Randy go back to Detroit where, as a police officer, Alex got shot. The bullet is still lodged in his chest. Their search for Maria leads them back to the past - a strange country which is unsavoury for Randy and painful for Alex as they hunt for Randy's lost love and Alex's lost life.

A superb new Alex McKnight novel from Edgar award-winning author Steve Hamilton.It is February in Paradise, Michigan, and for the first time since moving there, Alex is taking a hard look at his life. This is what happens when a middle-aged solitary guy falls in love. The woman is Natalie Reynaud, an officer from the Ontario Provincial Police whose partner has recently been killed. As far as the OPP are concerned, Natalie is responsible for her partner's death. She needs a break - from the past as well as the present. Alex and Natalie spend a romantic weekend together, but just as everything seems to be going so well, they are disturbed by someone who knows all about Natalie, and about a dark episode buried in her family's past which still drives men to violence.As much as Natalie doesn't want Alex to get involved, there's no way he can let her face this danger alone. After all, he's been beaten up and shot at, all to help a friend in need. How much further would he go for the woman he loves?

Prize-winning crime author Steve Hamilton's hugely commercial mainstream breakout tells the extraordinary story of a safe-cracker trying to unlock the key to his past.Michael hit the headlines once before, a seven-year-old kid the papers called The Miracle Boy on account of how he survived the terrible incident that took his parents. But although his escape was miraculous, it left him unable to speak. Taunted as a freak, school becomes a fresh nightmare, until Michael discovers he has a special talent that makes people sit up and take notice: he can open locks. But a teenage prank, breaking into the house of a rival school's quarterback, lands him in hot water, and despite his best intentions, Michael soon finds himself on a downward slope that ends with expert instruction on how to open safes. And unless he agrees to put his newfound skills to use, the mob are going to kill the father of the girl he now loves. So begins an extraordinary life of crime - at once terrifying and exhilarating - while all the while, Michael plots how to turn the tables on his employer, win back Amelia, and find the key to unlocking his traumatic childhood memories.

The brilliant new thriller from the author of the EDGAR AWARD-winning THE LOCK ARTIST.Half a lifetime ago, Alex McKnight was a young cop in Detroit. Now he's an occasional private eye up in Paradise, Michigan, and trying hard to put the past behind him. Then he gets the call that every cop dreads: a killer he helped put behind bars is getting released, and he might just have payback on his mind.Suddenly the years fall away, and in his mind Alex is back in that hot summer in Detroit, hunting the brutal murderer of a young woman. The problem is, something about the case no longer makes sense, and Alex feels compelled to retrace the steps that led to the arrest and conviction of Darryl King. But it's not just the case that looks different: returning to Detroit, Alex finds a city that is almost unrecognizable from the one he left, a city that is quite literally dying on its feet, where crime and decay hold sway, and law and order are in retreat.And as Alex searches for the truth among the shadows of the past, he discovers a story more shocking than the one he thought he knew and a danger more threatening than an ex-con looking for revenge.

En svår olycka vid åtta års ålder har traumatiserat artonårige Michael så svårt att han inte yppat ett ord sedan dess. Detta har gjort uppväxten svår. I sin strävan att smälta in upptäcker han en oanad talang: han kan öppna i stort sett vilket lås som helst: en dörr, . Det spelar ingen roll om det är en dörr, ett hänglås utan kombination, eller ett fyrahundrakilos kassaskåp han kan öppna dem alla. Det är en oförsonlig talang. En talang som gör unge Michael till ett hett byte för fel sorts människor, och som, vare sig han vill det eller inte, för honom närmare ett liv som kriminell. Till slut tror sig Michael ha funnit en väg att inte bara fly undan sitt nya liv, utan även kunna komma hem till den enda person han någonsin älskat och dessutom finna svaret på sin egen gåta: skälet till att han varit stum under alla dessa år. Tystnadens gåta är en både gripande och intelligent roman som sträcker sig långt utanför den gängse ramen för genren. Förmågan att knyta ihop en spännande kriminalhistora med en stark uppväxtskildring och en vacker kärlekssaga gav romanen priset för bästa amerikanska deckare 2011.