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| Author: Steve Hamilton
Publisher: St. Martin's Minotaur
Category: Book
List Price: $21.95
Buy Used: $0.43
You Save: $21.52 (98%)
New (12) Used (51) Collectible (5) from $0.43
Avg. Customer Rating:  22 reviews
Sales Rank: 769033
Media: Hardcover
Edition: 1st
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 320
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1.3
Dimensions (in): 9.3 x 6.2 x 1.2
ISBN: 0312301219
Dewey Decimal Number: 813.54
EAN: 9780312301217
ASIN: 0312301219
Publication Date: June 1, 2004
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Shipping: Expedited shipping available
Shipping: International shipping available
Condition: Standard used condition.
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| Customer Reviews:
chilling September 6, 2004
4 out of 4 found this review helpful
It's January in Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan and as it is wont to do in January a blizzard is taking place. Alex McKnight has made plans to meet the woman in his life, Natalie Reynard, in a historic hotel in Sault Ste. Marie. There they meet a mysterious old man who leaves them a cryptic message in an old fedora filled with snow. The next morning the old man is found frozen to death in a snowbank. When Alex goes to the old man's funeral, his relatives beat the bloody daylights out of him. Natalie's father was murdered in Soo fifteen years earlier and it is not too long before the incidents are tied together.
What sets Steve Hamilton's books apart from other in the genre is the atmospheric setting of the books. I actually felt cold in ninety-degree heat while reading this book. It is wonderfully descriptive and I could really feel the winter of northern Michigan. In this installment, the romance of Natalie and Alex is an integral part to the mystery. As a result, the mystery suffers somewhat as it never rises to the level of suspense I have come to expect from Steve Hamilton. Even though I would not consider this the best book of the series plot-wise, it is still a fine addition to the evolution of the characterization of Alex McKnight.
 THE "ALEX MCKNIGHT" SERIES IS ONE OF THE BEST BEING WRITTEN August 2, 2004
3 out of 3 found this review helpful
Since the publication of A COLD DAY IN PARADISE several years ago, the "Alex McKnight" series has gotten better and better with each preceding novel. The newest book in the series, ICE RUN, is no exception. It clearly displays the extraordinary talent of author, Steve Hamilton, putting him in the same class as James Lee Burke, Lawrence Block, and Dennis Lehane. ICE RUN begins a few months later where BLOOD IN THE SKY left off. Alex McKnight is still seeing Natalie Reynaud, an Ontario police officer who has been on an administrative leave of absence since her partner was killed the previous fall. McKnight is so in love with this woman that he's starting to lose weight and to dye his hair, and he doesn't mind in the least making a two-and-a-half hour trip to her house once or twice a week. This time, however, Natalie wants to visit him, but McKnight is somewhat embarrassed by the small cabin he lives in and talks Natalie into meeting him at the Ojibway Hotel in Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan. That is the beginning of their troubles. While at the hotel, they meet a strange old man named Simon Grant who befriends them with a bottle of champagne during dinner. Later, the man leaves them a rather bizarre note that says, "I know who you are." He then walks out into a snowstorm at night and freezes to death. When McKnight finds out about Simon Grant's death, he begins to dig into the old man's past to find out who he was and why he left the note. Unbeknownst to McKnight, he opens Pandora's Box with his prying and almost gets killed right off the bat, finding himself caught up in a number of unsolved murders that took place decades before. His love for Natalie will be severely tested as he seeks to find the answers that have eluted the police for so long, refusing to give up and finally accepting the fact that he can't do it alone. With the help of his two friends, Leon Prudell and Vinnie LeBlanc, McKnight pushes ahead against the advice of others and eventually finds himself, along with Natalie, facing death with no way out! ICE RUN is one of those books you can't put down once it's started. The reader quickly finds himself/herself caught up in the mystery of Simon Grant's life and how Natalie and McKnight are involved with the past connecting to the present, revealing surprises that will change the lives of these two people forever. Author Steve Hamilton is the real deal and knows how to bring each character alive so that the reader is with them each step of the way. He knows how to create an atmosphere of cutting-edge suspense that is tied closely to the coldness of the locale (which is almost a character within itself), each feeding upon the other and building to an avalanche of shocking revelations that not only stuns the lead characters, but the reader as well. Mysteries and suspense thrillers don't get much better this. Needless to say, ICE RUN succeeds on every level and should be a contender for the bestseller lists. If you want a new series to get addicted to, then pick-up the "Alex McKnight" books. I guarantee you'll have all six of them read within the first week!!!
Emotionally charged, tautly paced mystery July 23, 2004
6 out of 6 found this review helpful
Following on the heels of last year's Gumshoe Award-winning Blood is the Sky, Steve Hamilton's Ice Run is another emotionally charged, tautly paced mystery featuring reluctant investigator Alex McKnight.
Still recovering from the deadly journey he took in the previous novel, McKnight is trying to fashion some reasonable facsimile of an ordinary life for the first time in years. He's even become involved with a woman and things look promising.
All of that begins to unravel when a romantic dinner is interrupted by a puzzling old man who informs the startled couple that he knows a secret from their past. His bizarre revelation would have been easy enough to ignore -- had he not been found dead later that night.
Hamilton is one of the best in the business at using a keen sense of place as the foundation for his stories. The feeling of isolation, loneliness and bitter cold in the North Woods that fills his books makes them stand out from otherwise similar novels in the crime fiction genre.
Focusing on the domestic side of McKnight's life is a departure for the series, and there are times when it works less well that we've come to expect from Hamilton. The mystery of Ice Run never rises to the level of intrigue that one might hope, and the sense of jeopardy is not as keenly felt.
Those are minor quibbles, however, when a writer has the talent that this one does. With such fine use of setting and memorable characters, Ice Run is a journey you will want to take.
Reviewed by David Montgomery, Chicago Sun-Times
COLD COLD HEART July 20, 2004
2 out of 3 found this review helpful
In this 6th entry in the very well written Alex McKnight series, Alex finds himself head over heels in love with Natalie Reynaud, whom he met in the 5th novel. Alex is certainly a diehard knight in shining armor. When it comes to Natalie, he dyes his hair and starts eating salads. At a rendezvous in Sault St. Marie, Alex and Natalie encounter an old man with a Hapsburg hat, who plunges them into a deep dark mystery that involves Natalie's family's past. Hamilton once again uses the frigid landscape of the upper peninsula to compliment the dark and cold mood this book evokes. The plot is a little overdone this time, and Natalie is not the kind of heroine I feel Alex deserves. Sometimes the constant running back and forth from Michigan to Canada slows the pace of the book down, but it's climax is satisfying. I do think Hamilton needs to reconsider making Natalie Alex's partner, though.
 Natalie is a jerk! July 18, 2004
2 out of 4 found this review helpful
I love Steve Hamilton's books and have read them all. But in this one Natalie is introduced again as Alex's girlfriend. What a waste! Alex doesnt deserve her! I am jealous!
Seriously, Steve Hamilton writes one cool book. His descriptions are the best and you run for a blankie to finish the book.Alex is always (...) in trouble and this time he gets the stuffing kicked out of him = again. How that bullet doesnt blow up inside him is beyond me. I guess I keep reading to see when and if it ever does. In the meantime, give Alex a hug for me. This was a fast, exciting read. Lose the babe!!!!! Alex deserves better! :D
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