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Tuesday, January 22, 2013

Winter of the Wolf Moon (Book 5)


Title: Winter of the Wolf Moon
Author: Steve Hamilton
First Published: 2000
Genre: Mystery, Thriller, Crime
Series: Alex McKnight (Book 2)


     While I was reading Winter of the Wolf Moon I realized something, I’ve never had guilty pleasures when it comes to books. Unlike movies, the book has to be great or I’ll never read it or finish it. Every once in a while I’ll watch a popcorn movie; I’ll choose the silliest flicks, something I’ll watch once and may never recommend to friends. I do that because I get emotional watching movies and it takes a toll on me not only emotionally but psychologically as well. So watching a bad movie here and there seems to do the trick. Books are different, or so I thought. I never had guilty pleasure books but The Alex McKnight series written by Steve Hamilton might be the one.

     Why am I mentioning this? Even when writing this I can’t for the life of me remember the title of the novel. This never happened to me. Does this mean the book is bad? No, the book is very good. Would I recommend it to friends? Yes.

     The events remind me of 24 The TV Show. How can these events keep happening to the same person? Alex lives in a small town where nothing of significance should happen. He is a retired cop so naturally he shouldn’t be at the center of all these mysteries, it’s not like he is a detective and this is part of his job. But there he is, solving mysteries, fighting criminals and getting his ass kicked most of the time.

I’m very fond of Alex, I think he is the main reason I like the book and the reason I'll finish the series. He is balanced, he likes his routines, and he is faithful to his friends. He might not let people in easily but losing his partner and the events that followed that incident made him soft, he won't admit it even to himself but I find him sentimental.

     In the Winter of the Wolf Moon, a young girl goes to Alex asking him for help. She needs to lie low, and get out of town. Alex sense that she is terrified of something but she won’t say. Somehow he feels the urge to help her. He sets her up in one of his cabins and the next morning she is gone; possibly kidnapped. He suddenly finds himself in the middle of events that involved a ruthless drug dealer from Russia, a gang of young cokeheads, and DEA agents.

     Many of the characters from the original book return. His once nemesis Prudell is now his friend/partner. Maven, the town sheriff is growing to like Alex a little bit but he is still a hard-ass old man. Vinnie, his Indian neighbor plays a more prominent role in this book since the girl that Alex was trying to help comes from his tribe.

     The book is light, not too violent or graphic as most of the crime thriller books these days. It’s an interesting read and I recommend it.


Verdict:


1 comment:

  1. This review is very good. I like the comparison to 24 the TV show. I have read the first book in the series and liked it a lot. This is on my stacks of books to read soon. You have encouraged me to move on to it.

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