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Alex McKnight #4
North of Nowhere
Summer has finally arrived in Paradise, Michigan, but Alex McKnight doesn't seem to notice the change in the weather. He's been retreating into own his private world the past few months and now he barely leaves his cabin except to go have his meals in the nearby Glasgow Inn. The Inn's proprietor, Jackie, is more and more concerned with Alex's state, and the last straw comes as he watches Alex morosely counting up his "failures" on the eve of his 49th birthday-- his marriage, his baseball career, his stint in the Detroit police. He offers his friend an ultimatum: "Either I take you to the airport and put your ass on a plane to Moosehide or you play poker with me tonight."
The other poker players are men Alex hardly knows, in a posh house near the water. In the middle of the game, masked robbers invade the premises, hold the players at gunpoint and proceed to rob the homeowner. Alex is roused to action and so is his former detective partner, Leon Prudell. Working first against one another and later together, they discover that the crime is far more complex than a simple robbery. There is murder and greed and revenge involved, and a wild chase on the waters of Lake Superior before Alex is forced to realize that there is no retreat from life. And that maybe this is a good thing.
The other poker players are men Alex hardly knows, in a posh house near the water. In the middle of the game, masked robbers invade the premises, hold the players at gunpoint and proceed to rob the homeowner. Alex is roused to action and so is his former detective partner, Leon Prudell. Working first against one another and later together, they discover that the crime is far more complex than a simple robbery. There is murder and greed and revenge involved, and a wild chase on the waters of Lake Superior before Alex is forced to realize that there is no retreat from life. And that maybe this is a good thing.
288 pages, Hardcover
First published May 8, 2002
336 people are currently reading
1036 people want to read
About the author
Steve Hamilton
53 books1,685 followersTwo-time Edgar Award-winning and New York Times bestselling author of the Nick Mason series, The Lock Artist, and the Alex McKnight series. AN HONORABLE ASSASSIN (Mason #3) coming August 27, 2024!
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 277 reviews
February 5, 2017
I love Alex McNight and I really love this series. If you nebpver picked up this series , start from book number 1... And then enjoy the ride!
July 28, 2016
Though my first book by Steve Hamilton but with North of Nowhere he got me below the belt and I promise to read all of his work.
North of Nowhere...totally Enjoyable.
North of Nowhere...totally Enjoyable.
March 3, 2019
Hamilton's books are not high brow literature. Nevertheless, they make for very good reading, at least for me and if that doesn't apply to you then to each their own. There is no reason you should like everything I do.
Alex McKnight isn't a super hero. He isn't the best at martial arts though he can hold his own in a fight. He lives a quiet life, or rather tries to. It seems that circumstances all too often gets in the way of that quietness. He doesn't live in a mansion, instead he owns several cabins which he rents out to people who come up to the UP (Michigan's Upper Peninsula for those not in the know) to enjoy the beautiful though short summers and the snowy winters making for good snowmobiling. He lives in one of the cabins, the smallest one and is quite comfortable. He's single, doesn't date much and enjoys the company of his friends, mainly Jackie, the Scottish owner of the Glasgow inn just up the road from the cabins.
Alex is comfortable in his life, until, that is, he attends a poker game and winds up with a gun pressed to his head as 3 home invaders come in to spoil the evening. Ha! A gun held to one's head will do that almost every time.
And it gets worse from there.
What happens after that? Oh, a little murder, a little fighting, a little back stabbing, a little police harassment, a little of. . . but wait. Read the book.
Oh, did I mention that Alex isn't a great detective? Well I should have. He isn't great, but he has a doggedness that usually leads him to the right answer, sometimes, often, later than sooner.
Alex is a guy you can like. You don't have to love him but you probably will like him. He has a good heart even with a bullet embedded in his chest next to it. If you like good guys, a bit of mystery, a decent amount of skullduggery, you should like this series. If you haven't read one, pick on up, download it to your Kindle or other device, listen on your audio device; there are many ways to enjoy Alex and his friends. . . and enemies.
Alex McKnight isn't a super hero. He isn't the best at martial arts though he can hold his own in a fight. He lives a quiet life, or rather tries to. It seems that circumstances all too often gets in the way of that quietness. He doesn't live in a mansion, instead he owns several cabins which he rents out to people who come up to the UP (Michigan's Upper Peninsula for those not in the know) to enjoy the beautiful though short summers and the snowy winters making for good snowmobiling. He lives in one of the cabins, the smallest one and is quite comfortable. He's single, doesn't date much and enjoys the company of his friends, mainly Jackie, the Scottish owner of the Glasgow inn just up the road from the cabins.
Alex is comfortable in his life, until, that is, he attends a poker game and winds up with a gun pressed to his head as 3 home invaders come in to spoil the evening. Ha! A gun held to one's head will do that almost every time.
And it gets worse from there.
What happens after that? Oh, a little murder, a little fighting, a little back stabbing, a little police harassment, a little of. . . but wait. Read the book.
Oh, did I mention that Alex isn't a great detective? Well I should have. He isn't great, but he has a doggedness that usually leads him to the right answer, sometimes, often, later than sooner.
Alex is a guy you can like. You don't have to love him but you probably will like him. He has a good heart even with a bullet embedded in his chest next to it. If you like good guys, a bit of mystery, a decent amount of skullduggery, you should like this series. If you haven't read one, pick on up, download it to your Kindle or other device, listen on your audio device; there are many ways to enjoy Alex and his friends. . . and enemies.
June 30, 2014
I gave each of the first three titles in this series four stars. It's time to be honest and admit, "It was amazing." His craft is such that his artistry is subtle and "off screen." Hamilton gets better and better. The satisfying conclusion left questions hanging about the fate of a couple of the characters. I find myself willing to live with that uncertainty, and curious if their fate will unfold in one of the future volumes. I can tell you this: I am leaving for the library after writing this, to return the book and get my hands on the next one in the series. This is an excellent series, one in which our hero continues to get the heck beat out of him, yet moves on because that is the least important (which is not to say the least painful) consideration as he chooses to do “the next right thing.” Steve Hamilton has given us, in Alex McKnight, a hero we can be proud to “know.”
April 23, 2018
Alex McKnight is moping around when a friend invites him to a poker game. The host is predictably obnoxious in a nouveau riche sort of way. After showing off his wealth, the poker game is robbed. As Alex is the only guy there the host didn't know before, he is naturally the guy's chief suspect. Alex has to find the true culprit, but the cops and the host are both out against him.
Thrilling, but not over the top.
Thrilling, but not over the top.
January 19, 2017
This quick read is my first introduction to Alex McKnight, penned in 2002. This story coasted along until its decent ending. 5 of 10 stars
August 30, 2015
#4 in the Alex McKnight series. "Finalist 2003 Shamus Award for Best Novel; Finalist 2003 Anthony Award for Best Mystery; Finalist 2003 Barry Award for Best Novel"
Alex McKnight series - Alex has become so much a recluse in the little town of Paradise in Michigan's Upper Peninsula that his few friends are worried about him. That leads Jackie Connery, the Scottish-raised proprietor of the bar where Alex sometimes hangs out, to badger him into joining a friendly poker game at the home of Win Vargas. Before Alex can even work up a good dislike of the blustery, wealth-flaunting Vargas, three armed men interrupt the poker game. While Alex, Jackie and the other players are held at gunpoint, their host is led off to open a safe and his treasured collection of artifacts in trashed or stolen. From that quick beginning, events move swiftly and strangely. Alex finds Vargas's suspicions centering on him; the police, led by old enemy Chief Roy Maven, think Jack and the other players were in on the robbery. And Alex's ex-partner, PI Leon Prudell, turns out to have yet another take on who's behind the robbery.
Alex McKnight series - Alex has become so much a recluse in the little town of Paradise in Michigan's Upper Peninsula that his few friends are worried about him. That leads Jackie Connery, the Scottish-raised proprietor of the bar where Alex sometimes hangs out, to badger him into joining a friendly poker game at the home of Win Vargas. Before Alex can even work up a good dislike of the blustery, wealth-flaunting Vargas, three armed men interrupt the poker game. While Alex, Jackie and the other players are held at gunpoint, their host is led off to open a safe and his treasured collection of artifacts in trashed or stolen. From that quick beginning, events move swiftly and strangely. Alex finds Vargas's suspicions centering on him; the police, led by old enemy Chief Roy Maven, think Jack and the other players were in on the robbery. And Alex's ex-partner, PI Leon Prudell, turns out to have yet another take on who's behind the robbery.
August 6, 2024
Another solid Steve Hamilton. The reluctant Upper Peninsula detective, ex-cop, and good friend finds himself again beat up, out gunned, and a bit outta sorts.
July 23, 2017
Alex comes pretty close to crossing the line that Chief Maven thinks he has already crossed to begin with. He realizes he really does have friends and he wants to protect his friend no matter what side of the law he has to be on.
October 12, 2024
I got my copy of this book at a free-book bookshelf at a fish-fry joint in a campground on a Midwestern lake a couple of years ago (right before that joint changed hands, actually), which is as good of a book acquisition story as anyone'll ever have. Little did I know that *North of Nowhere* would actually *feel* like it takes place along that northern Midwestern lake to the point where the situation almost feels like poetry. The sad thing is that this metafictional context around it is more meaningful and beautiful than anything that happens in this novel, which turns out to be a bit dull and lifeless, but sometimes, you just get what you get. I did enjoy how quickly I was able to tear through it - I credit the thinner prose and the larger words - but there were still some good things about it which I should probably talk about after I summarize the book.
I've never read any Steve Hamilton before, so this is my first Alex McKnight story, but I take it that he's an ex-cop who's become a worn-down recluse on his father's old campground, renting his units out to tourists all summer. His isolation is interrupted when one of his better friends, Jackie, asks him to come play poker with him and the guys because one of their regulars - a lawyer - couldn't make. Alex grumbles but lets himself be dragged to local kitchen-appliance mogul Vargas' poker game alongside three other men: O'Dell and Gill, Jackie's friends, and Kenny, Vargas' professional underling. The game takes a slide south when Vargas starts talking about how he wants to turn everyone's ideal northern place of residence into a luxury, industrialized area, but it completely falls off the deep end when gunmen storm the game and force Vargas to give them money from his safe. Alex keeps his cool and gets questioned by the local police chief - who happens to be one of his enemies - but everything seems to be going okay... until Jackie, O'Dell, and Gill are all arrested because parts of Vargas' artifact collection were found in their homes. But Alex is convinced that none of them committed the crime, which means that he needs to clear their names and investigate things despite the police chief's orders not to get involved...
McKnight first goes to there isn't much else to be said.
My biggest problem with the book - what better place to start from there? - had to be the character of Alex McKnight. I just... couldn't get a feel for the kind of person he was, and I didn't get the feeling that it was due to A) not reading the other Alex McKnight books or B) Hamilton wanting him to come off as super mysterious or shielded. I say A) because you shouldn't need to read past books in a series to get a firm grasp on who characters are (unless they're super plot-heavy, but that wasn't the case here), and B) because Alex McKnight was kind of an average guy. He wasn't mysterious - occasionally ignorant of his own emotions, which led to him not asking the right bonding questions with his friends at time, but not mysterious - and he wasn't particularly good at the whole detective thing. I mean, not everyone's Sherlock Holmes, but you can try to be a little less disruptive with all your bulldogging, even if that persistence is the only thing that ends up solving that case at the end of the day. And I don't *need* my mystery protagonists to be fully formed detectives like Holmes, especially since one of my top two mystery novels - *Panama* by Eric Zencey - featured Henry James as the protagonist in a story that played far outside the realm of detective form. I just prefer a little bit of structure if their personalities aren't formed and up to snuff, which I can confirm that McKnight's was... not.
Still, there's a lot more to a mystery than the main character's personality: there's plot. What's more important than plot? Not much, but I suppose when it comes to a mystery novel, the sub-item of "the solution" gets pretty close. And *North of Nowhere* doesn't have a bad solution. It comes at things from a side I guessed at fairly early on () but from a different angle (a
I've never read any Steve Hamilton before, so this is my first Alex McKnight story, but I take it that he's an ex-cop who's become a worn-down recluse on his father's old campground, renting his units out to tourists all summer. His isolation is interrupted when one of his better friends, Jackie, asks him to come play poker with him and the guys because one of their regulars - a lawyer - couldn't make. Alex grumbles but lets himself be dragged to local kitchen-appliance mogul Vargas' poker game alongside three other men: O'Dell and Gill, Jackie's friends, and Kenny, Vargas' professional underling. The game takes a slide south when Vargas starts talking about how he wants to turn everyone's ideal northern place of residence into a luxury, industrialized area, but it completely falls off the deep end when gunmen storm the game and force Vargas to give them money from his safe. Alex keeps his cool and gets questioned by the local police chief - who happens to be one of his enemies - but everything seems to be going okay... until Jackie, O'Dell, and Gill are all arrested because parts of Vargas' artifact collection were found in their homes. But Alex is convinced that none of them committed the crime, which means that he needs to clear their names and investigate things despite the police chief's orders not to get involved...
McKnight first goes to there isn't much else to be said.
My biggest problem with the book - what better place to start from there? - had to be the character of Alex McKnight. I just... couldn't get a feel for the kind of person he was, and I didn't get the feeling that it was due to A) not reading the other Alex McKnight books or B) Hamilton wanting him to come off as super mysterious or shielded. I say A) because you shouldn't need to read past books in a series to get a firm grasp on who characters are (unless they're super plot-heavy, but that wasn't the case here), and B) because Alex McKnight was kind of an average guy. He wasn't mysterious - occasionally ignorant of his own emotions, which led to him not asking the right bonding questions with his friends at time, but not mysterious - and he wasn't particularly good at the whole detective thing. I mean, not everyone's Sherlock Holmes, but you can try to be a little less disruptive with all your bulldogging, even if that persistence is the only thing that ends up solving that case at the end of the day. And I don't *need* my mystery protagonists to be fully formed detectives like Holmes, especially since one of my top two mystery novels - *Panama* by Eric Zencey - featured Henry James as the protagonist in a story that played far outside the realm of detective form. I just prefer a little bit of structure if their personalities aren't formed and up to snuff, which I can confirm that McKnight's was... not.
Still, there's a lot more to a mystery than the main character's personality: there's plot. What's more important than plot? Not much, but I suppose when it comes to a mystery novel, the sub-item of "the solution" gets pretty close. And *North of Nowhere* doesn't have a bad solution. It comes at things from a side I guessed at fairly early on () but from a different angle (a
June 12, 2019
In North of Nowhere, Alex McKnight has turned into a bit of a recluse. He's been spending a lot of time by himself and it has been noticed by his friend Jackie, who runs the local Glasglow Inn. Instead of letting Alex continue down this path he gives him an ultimatum: Get on a plane to go live in the Yukon territory where Alex would then get the chance to go whole years without seeing anyone - or attend a local poker game and be social. Alex eventually gets the point of what Jackie is trying to say and agrees to go to the poker game.
The poker game that night is played at the house of a man named Vargas. Vargas is a self absorbed showboater - he loves to display his collection of artifacts that he has in his house, to show his wealth off, and to talk about his future real estate plans he has for Michigan. He loves to talk and then boast some more. He also has an annoying little dog. The others at the game are just putting up with it and doing a good job of ignoring it - that is until three armed robbers come in unexpectedly. They hold five of the poker players hostage while they take Vargas and have him empty out his safe. Thus ends the quiet night of poker - with guns, police, and sheer exhaustion. What comes next in the story are mistaken arrests, false accusations, fights, backstabbing, and more.
This is the first Alex McKnight book I have read - or listened to in this case. I needed a new audio book from the library and selected this one at random. One of the things I appreciated from this book was seeing another part of the world I am not familiar with. With Lake Superior within reach of Paradise, Michigan it almost becomes one of the supporting characters - as it gets used more than once during the story.
Audio Book Review:
As an audio book, this one was nicely done and it went really fast at 7hrs. It was narrated by Nick Sullivan and was almost over before I knew it. There were distinct American and Canadian voices, but what impressed me the most was how he made the main character and the other men all sound like people you might naturally know in real life. I do think the women voices weren't quite as good and would be the weak spot in the audio, but overall well done.
After reading the book, I was a bit surprised on how much I wanted to talk to someone about two of the characters within the story. I felt the need to unload my thoughts and wished more than once that this had been a book club book so that I could. I'm not sure if this is due to the book and the writing, or the narration and the personalities he gave them - probably both. But I've always thought that if a character and whatever they did or whatever happened to them make you want to continue discussing it after the book is finished, then you've probably read a pretty decent book with good plot and character building. However, as I mentioned previously it was a random find at the library so I am out of luck there. Plus, this is a mystery book, which hinders how much I can say in this review.
In 2003, North of Nowhere was a finalist in the Shamus Awards for Best Novel, Anthony Awards for Best Mystery, and Barry Awards for Best Novel. I enjoyed the story and its characters as well as the character development within the story. I would be willing to read more in this series. I'm not ready to give it 5 stars yet, but it is a very high 4 and can definitely recommend it.
The poker game that night is played at the house of a man named Vargas. Vargas is a self absorbed showboater - he loves to display his collection of artifacts that he has in his house, to show his wealth off, and to talk about his future real estate plans he has for Michigan. He loves to talk and then boast some more. He also has an annoying little dog. The others at the game are just putting up with it and doing a good job of ignoring it - that is until three armed robbers come in unexpectedly. They hold five of the poker players hostage while they take Vargas and have him empty out his safe. Thus ends the quiet night of poker - with guns, police, and sheer exhaustion. What comes next in the story are mistaken arrests, false accusations, fights, backstabbing, and more.
This is the first Alex McKnight book I have read - or listened to in this case. I needed a new audio book from the library and selected this one at random. One of the things I appreciated from this book was seeing another part of the world I am not familiar with. With Lake Superior within reach of Paradise, Michigan it almost becomes one of the supporting characters - as it gets used more than once during the story.
Audio Book Review:
As an audio book, this one was nicely done and it went really fast at 7hrs. It was narrated by Nick Sullivan and was almost over before I knew it. There were distinct American and Canadian voices, but what impressed me the most was how he made the main character and the other men all sound like people you might naturally know in real life. I do think the women voices weren't quite as good and would be the weak spot in the audio, but overall well done.
After reading the book, I was a bit surprised on how much I wanted to talk to someone about two of the characters within the story. I felt the need to unload my thoughts and wished more than once that this had been a book club book so that I could. I'm not sure if this is due to the book and the writing, or the narration and the personalities he gave them - probably both. But I've always thought that if a character and whatever they did or whatever happened to them make you want to continue discussing it after the book is finished, then you've probably read a pretty decent book with good plot and character building. However, as I mentioned previously it was a random find at the library so I am out of luck there. Plus, this is a mystery book, which hinders how much I can say in this review.
In 2003, North of Nowhere was a finalist in the Shamus Awards for Best Novel, Anthony Awards for Best Mystery, and Barry Awards for Best Novel. I enjoyed the story and its characters as well as the character development within the story. I would be willing to read more in this series. I'm not ready to give it 5 stars yet, but it is a very high 4 and can definitely recommend it.
July 15, 2018
Alex lives up North in Michigan, off Lake Superior in a small town called Paradise. His father built a bunch of cabins years ago, and left them to him, and he moved there from Detroit after he got shot and watched his partner die beside him. He tried private eye work, and it did not work well, so he dropped it and has been behaving like a hermit, so his friend Jackie from the local bar, takes him to a poker game and a mans' house on St. Mary's river, what could go wrong? right? Great characters, and interesting plots, fun read.
July 13, 2019
Hamilton's writing improves with each book, and it was good to begin with. I definitely enjoyed #4 of the Alex McKnight series. This is a main character that is a GOOD GUY, but man...he's human and prone to error like the rest of us. Makes him all the more likable.
Note: Definitely some language in this one, but it's not on every page.
Note: Definitely some language in this one, but it's not on every page.
March 7, 2025
This was my first book by Steve Hamilton and I really liked it. I found the book when I was looking for an audio book that was available. Unfortunately my library doesn't have his books as eBooks or audio books so I probably have to go there and get the real books.
The book reminded me a bit about the books by Linda Castillo. Like her, Steve tells the story like it happens.
****2025****
I gave up when my library didn't have the books. I recently found all the audio books in the series on Hoppla! If you have a library card in the US and Canada your library is probably connected to Hoppla. I do like Hoppla. There are no wait times! If they have the book you can borrow it. The bad part is that I can only borrow 6 books per month. It might be different at other libraries.
I do like the narrator, he makes the books even better :)
If you have Kindle unlimited you can also borrow the Kindle book for free at the moment.
I've read all the previous books in the series. I had not done that the first time I listened to the book. Reading a series from the beginning is always better than reading a book in the middle of a series. You can't compare the two!
I do have a bit of a problem with understanding why the bad guys did certain things. I still think the book was good but I'm going to lower my 5* to 4.5*
The book reminded me a bit about the books by Linda Castillo. Like her, Steve tells the story like it happens.
****2025****
I gave up when my library didn't have the books. I recently found all the audio books in the series on Hoppla! If you have a library card in the US and Canada your library is probably connected to Hoppla. I do like Hoppla. There are no wait times! If they have the book you can borrow it. The bad part is that I can only borrow 6 books per month. It might be different at other libraries.
I do like the narrator, he makes the books even better :)
If you have Kindle unlimited you can also borrow the Kindle book for free at the moment.
I've read all the previous books in the series. I had not done that the first time I listened to the book. Reading a series from the beginning is always better than reading a book in the middle of a series. You can't compare the two!
I do have a bit of a problem with understanding why the bad guys did certain things. I still think the book was good but I'm going to lower my 5* to 4.5*
September 5, 2012
Other readers may like it more. This competently written book has a good beginning, but it steadily goes downward from there; the plot gets contrived and bizarre. The climactic scene on Lake Superior is hilarious in an unintended way. The misadventures of a group of elderly men remind me the idiotic "Camel Club" by Baldacci. No more Alex McKnight for me.
April 22, 2016
This book was ok...it was easy to read and was supposed to be like a James Patterson thriller but I never really could dive into the characters so I'm giving this book a 3 star. Again, it's easy if you want something light but not something I'd really recommend wasting your time on since there are so many great books out there.
March 21, 2020
finished 21 mar 2020 good read three stars liked it kindle library loaner have read quite a few hamilton have enjoyed them all
October 18, 2018
Published in 2002, this fourth Alex McKnight tale drones on far too far. Not nearly as entertaining as first three in Series. Seems like it took me forever to get through this read. A so-so three stars out of a possible five stars. Actually a 2.5 stars outing I'm rounding up to three stars.
December 15, 2013
He’s just turned 49 years old, and failure seems to be the theme of his life. He’s failed at marriage, at a career in baseball, as a police officer and partner and as a private investigator. Living in a remote cabin in Paradise, Michigan, Alex McKnight has begun to isolate himself from the world. But his friend, Jackie, proprietor of a bar and restaurant that is Alex’s refuge, won’t let his pal become a hermit. He shows up at Alex’s door and offers him one of two options—he will pay Alex’s expenses for a trip to Moosehide, Yukon, where even the moose are lonely or Alex has to come to a poker game that evening at a local developer’s home. Alex reluctantly chooses the latter, knowing that Jackie has good intentions.
The poker game consists of the obnoxious rich developer, Win Vargas, Jackie, Alex and 3 other friends. Vargas is one of those guys who has to brag about his materialistic accomplishments. Alex can’t stand him, purely for the fact that he wants to turn the pristine wilderness into one of those nouveau riche enclaves with security guards, gates and sodded lawns. As the game progresses, the stakes become higher than expected when several men with guns show up and rob the place.
When Jackie and the others are arrested after being set up, Alex knows that he is the only one that can help them out and prove them innocent. He at first contacts his old PI partner, Leon Prudell, who is wary and uncooperative. He’s been tailing Vargas’ wife, who Win suspects is being unfaithful. Vargas is Leon’s only client, and he pays him well. Prudell isn’t really willing to sacrifice his dream of being a successful PI for one of Alex’s misadventures. In the past, Alex was a reluctant PI at best. By his own reckoning, he’s had his ass kicked in every case he ever worked on. In this situation, he doesn’t even consider that he is investigating. It’s just something that he needs to do to support his best (and just about only) friend.
This book is superlative on every count. Each of the characters if fully developed and has his own voice, with the dialog as natural as if you were listening to them speak with a hidden tape recorder under the table. The plot is wonderfully complex and takes several twists and turns, many of which are unexpected but none of which are implausible. The setting, as always, is almost like another character. Add to that Hamilton’s wit, smoothly written prose and impeccable sense of pacing, and you have a winner.
North of Nowhere is the fourth book in the series and quite possibly the best. I appreciated everything about it, most especially the well-done resolution which has been a huge weakness in a majority of the books that I have read lately. Five stars, thumbs up, don’t wait for the paperback!
The poker game consists of the obnoxious rich developer, Win Vargas, Jackie, Alex and 3 other friends. Vargas is one of those guys who has to brag about his materialistic accomplishments. Alex can’t stand him, purely for the fact that he wants to turn the pristine wilderness into one of those nouveau riche enclaves with security guards, gates and sodded lawns. As the game progresses, the stakes become higher than expected when several men with guns show up and rob the place.
When Jackie and the others are arrested after being set up, Alex knows that he is the only one that can help them out and prove them innocent. He at first contacts his old PI partner, Leon Prudell, who is wary and uncooperative. He’s been tailing Vargas’ wife, who Win suspects is being unfaithful. Vargas is Leon’s only client, and he pays him well. Prudell isn’t really willing to sacrifice his dream of being a successful PI for one of Alex’s misadventures. In the past, Alex was a reluctant PI at best. By his own reckoning, he’s had his ass kicked in every case he ever worked on. In this situation, he doesn’t even consider that he is investigating. It’s just something that he needs to do to support his best (and just about only) friend.
This book is superlative on every count. Each of the characters if fully developed and has his own voice, with the dialog as natural as if you were listening to them speak with a hidden tape recorder under the table. The plot is wonderfully complex and takes several twists and turns, many of which are unexpected but none of which are implausible. The setting, as always, is almost like another character. Add to that Hamilton’s wit, smoothly written prose and impeccable sense of pacing, and you have a winner.
North of Nowhere is the fourth book in the series and quite possibly the best. I appreciated everything about it, most especially the well-done resolution which has been a huge weakness in a majority of the books that I have read lately. Five stars, thumbs up, don’t wait for the paperback!
April 5, 2015
This is the kind of book you pick up on a weekend away at a friend's holiday house when you realize that you've left the new Lee Child that you were planning to read behind at home. You haven't read any of the others in the series but it looks reasonably intriguing and it's fewer than 200 pages, so you figure there'll be time to knock it off before you have to head home on Sunday. The engaging writing style quickly pulls you in and you find yourself enjoying the narrator's witticisms. It's a story about a former cop, living in remote northern Michigan, who is present when an armed robbery takes place at a poker game that he's attending. He is drawn into investigating it when his friends are implicated. The stakes go up when one of the robbers is found dead. The story unfolds at a satisfying pace and you annoy your spouse by refusing to go out for a walk, preferring to stay in and keep reading. There's an icy silence all the way home in the car but at least the book was good, similar in feel to Simon Kernick.
September 13, 2014
Didn't like it as well as the first 3, but I did finish it. Will see how he does for me with #4. I think the story in this one was a little less compelling than usual. I also have a teeny complaint with the dialogue he gives the rich guy's wife. She's cheating on her nouveau riche and wannabe tough guy husband, but that's no reason to make her a snotty bitch to everyone she encounters. I didn't believe she'd speak to a stranger the way she did to McKnight. Made her seem a little cartoonish and I want all my characters to be real people. I read because it's usually better than TV, and I don't want Hamilton to be a slacker when it comes to sketching these folks. She came off like a cross between a 15 year old and a gangster's moll, as Hollywood might do it. Like I said, a teeny complaint.
October 23, 2015
this series is kinda growing in me and the characters too Leon specially with his technical terms
and weird Povs Alex is growing a Pair and starting to use his head simultaneously , hope the next books are getting better...
and weird Povs Alex is growing a Pair and starting to use his head simultaneously , hope the next books are getting better...
June 29, 2022
The fourth book in the Alex McKnight series, a book series, particularly as narrated by the wonderful Dan John Miller, that has become some of my favorite literary comfort food. I love the main character, his assorted rogue’s gallery of friends and frenemies, the wonderful Upper Peninsula setting, and how the mysteries are always much deeper than they first appear. The books always start out so cozy but by the end huge stakes are involved with people’s lives.
The story starts out with Alex having become something of a recluse, not really even going to the Glasgow for cold Canadians and dinner, just staying in his cabin reading most true crime books. Jackie, owner and operator of the Glasgow, comes to drag him out, ostensibly for Alex’s own good, though also as much because Jackie doesn’t want to go to a poker game with only five people.
Alex agrees mainly because Jackie is his best friend and goes to the Soo, to a house owned by a stranger to Alex, one Winston Vargas, a brash, abrasive, nouveau-riche appliance and interior design merchant who found a niche market among the very wealthy moving in the area (mostly in a gated community in the upper Lower Peninsula but Alex fears and Winston hopes it will be in the Upper Peninsula very soon).
Alex doesn’t like Winston or his yappy annoying chihuahua Miata, but stays to play for Jackie’s sake as well as some fine alcohol…and masked gun men break in and tell everyone to get to the ground while they apparently go upstairs to ransack Winston’s display cases of dubiously acquired Native American artifacts and the money from his safe. Though one person is kicked in the ribs, no one is otherwise harmed.
Meanwhile, Alex’s former partner Leon Prudell (I hope I am spelling all these names right) had been working for Vargas. Having gone into business by himself as a private investigator, Leon had been trailing a lawyer Vargas was confident was sleeping with his wife. In the course of events, Leon managed by accident to catch the robbers leaving Vargas’ place on video, the video leading to Jackie and the others being arrested for what happened afterwards and for not only Chief Maven to suspect Alex for being in on the heist but also possibly Winston as well.
Alex has to clear his friends' name (most especially Jackie’s), clear his own name, and oh it seems either one of the gunmen is a murderer or someone else is a murderer. A tangled web that includes Winston’s wife and the lawyer she is having an affair with, the people at the poker game that night, and certain criminal types in Canada.
I liked it. Lots of twists and turns. Leon, though absent for parts of the book, plays a key role and there is further development in his relationship with Alex. We got a great deal of detail about Jackie, far more than in the previous three books in the series. Vinnie LeBlanc isn’t even mentioned but I understand he is a major character in the fifth book in the series, _Blood is the Sky_, which I have yet to read or listen to. Good sense of place again, with Lake Superior itself playing a big role in the story. The climatic scene was one of the most exciting of the series.
The story starts out with Alex having become something of a recluse, not really even going to the Glasgow for cold Canadians and dinner, just staying in his cabin reading most true crime books. Jackie, owner and operator of the Glasgow, comes to drag him out, ostensibly for Alex’s own good, though also as much because Jackie doesn’t want to go to a poker game with only five people.
Alex agrees mainly because Jackie is his best friend and goes to the Soo, to a house owned by a stranger to Alex, one Winston Vargas, a brash, abrasive, nouveau-riche appliance and interior design merchant who found a niche market among the very wealthy moving in the area (mostly in a gated community in the upper Lower Peninsula but Alex fears and Winston hopes it will be in the Upper Peninsula very soon).
Alex doesn’t like Winston or his yappy annoying chihuahua Miata, but stays to play for Jackie’s sake as well as some fine alcohol…and masked gun men break in and tell everyone to get to the ground while they apparently go upstairs to ransack Winston’s display cases of dubiously acquired Native American artifacts and the money from his safe. Though one person is kicked in the ribs, no one is otherwise harmed.
Meanwhile, Alex’s former partner Leon Prudell (I hope I am spelling all these names right) had been working for Vargas. Having gone into business by himself as a private investigator, Leon had been trailing a lawyer Vargas was confident was sleeping with his wife. In the course of events, Leon managed by accident to catch the robbers leaving Vargas’ place on video, the video leading to Jackie and the others being arrested for what happened afterwards and for not only Chief Maven to suspect Alex for being in on the heist but also possibly Winston as well.
Alex has to clear his friends' name (most especially Jackie’s), clear his own name, and oh it seems either one of the gunmen is a murderer or someone else is a murderer. A tangled web that includes Winston’s wife and the lawyer she is having an affair with, the people at the poker game that night, and certain criminal types in Canada.
I liked it. Lots of twists and turns. Leon, though absent for parts of the book, plays a key role and there is further development in his relationship with Alex. We got a great deal of detail about Jackie, far more than in the previous three books in the series. Vinnie LeBlanc isn’t even mentioned but I understand he is a major character in the fifth book in the series, _Blood is the Sky_, which I have yet to read or listen to. Good sense of place again, with Lake Superior itself playing a big role in the story. The climatic scene was one of the most exciting of the series.
March 22, 2022
Alex McKnight is about to turn 49 and he’s in a funk, and tallying up his losses (failed marriage, failed baseball career, failed career as a Detroit Police Officer). Isolating himself in his cabin in Paradise in Michigan's Upper Penninsula he pondered his situation: “Was I going to join the human race? Or was I going to keep drifting until I was too far away to ever really come back?” His best friend, Jackie Glasgow, owner of the Glasgow Inn where McKnight often takes his meals and enjoys a cold Canadian Molson’s, has noticed. To get him out of his funk Jackie badgers him into joining a weekly poker game that night. McKnight has a casual acquaintance with most of the players, except the host, Winston Vargas who is wealthy, full of himself and obnoxious.
When 3 armed, costumed, men break in to Vargas’ home mid-game McKnight (having once been a police officer) is able to provide the best descriptions to the local police. Of course, having been the only guy new to Vargas’ weekly game, he also becomes the lead suspect (at least in Vargas’ mind). The police have arrested Jackie and the 2 others on the grounds that artifacts, previously in Vargas’ home were found in the 3 others. To defend his friends Alex must determine who was really behind the break-in. Eventually McKnight realizes that he is overlooking the obvious and his investigation takes a surprising turn.
This is a fun series with lots of action and plenty of twists and turns. North of Nowhere is book 4 in the Alex McKnight series and I’m hooked. This is my first audio book version and, through no fault of the narrator, it did not work for me. This is likely because I had already created voices and accents for these characters in my head by reading the previous 3 books on kindle. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
#EmptyNestReader #instagram #NorthOfNowhere #SteveHamilton #AlexMcKnightSeries #MinotaurBooks #NickSullivanNarrator #mysteryfiction #bookstagram #bookstagrammer #bookstagramalabama #bookstagrammichigan #bookreviews #bookreviewer #bookrecommendations #MarchReads #audiobooks #audible #readalittlelearnalittlelivealittle #librarybooks #AnnArborDistrictLibrary #AADLGRAM
When 3 armed, costumed, men break in to Vargas’ home mid-game McKnight (having once been a police officer) is able to provide the best descriptions to the local police. Of course, having been the only guy new to Vargas’ weekly game, he also becomes the lead suspect (at least in Vargas’ mind). The police have arrested Jackie and the 2 others on the grounds that artifacts, previously in Vargas’ home were found in the 3 others. To defend his friends Alex must determine who was really behind the break-in. Eventually McKnight realizes that he is overlooking the obvious and his investigation takes a surprising turn.
This is a fun series with lots of action and plenty of twists and turns. North of Nowhere is book 4 in the Alex McKnight series and I’m hooked. This is my first audio book version and, through no fault of the narrator, it did not work for me. This is likely because I had already created voices and accents for these characters in my head by reading the previous 3 books on kindle. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
#EmptyNestReader #instagram #NorthOfNowhere #SteveHamilton #AlexMcKnightSeries #MinotaurBooks #NickSullivanNarrator #mysteryfiction #bookstagram #bookstagrammer #bookstagramalabama #bookstagrammichigan #bookreviews #bookreviewer #bookrecommendations #MarchReads #audiobooks #audible #readalittlelearnalittlelivealittle #librarybooks #AnnArborDistrictLibrary #AADLGRAM
February 3, 2023
Alex was in a funk while contemplating his life failure. Failure as a cop, failure in his marriage, failure as a PI, failure in his love life etc. Spending much of his summer holed in his cabin reading and moping. Jackie was concerned for his mental health has came around to his cabin one day. Issuing an ultimatum that he either move to Mooseland in Alaska or come play poker with some of his friends. How he wished he has chosen Mooseland. While playing poker at the home of a businessman Win Vargas, there were invaded by three gun totting masked men. They went on to ransacked the safe and thrashed up the house. In the aftermath, Vargas begun to suspect that the robbery gas got to do with one of the poker players in his house. Alex decided to investigate on his own volition after three of his fellow poker player including Jackie was arrested for conspiracy in the robbery. What he found out points to a connection between the robbery and one of the poker player. Thing heated up when one of the robber suspect turns up dead shot in the back. Jackie was abducted by one of the robber and a ransom was to take place right on the Lake Superior that involved speed boats and gunfight. In the end, there is still the identity of who that poker player that colluded with the robbery to be revealed. Only Alex can uncover that.
August 20, 2022
Summer has finally arrived in Paradise, Michigan, but Alex McKnight doesn't seem to notice the change in the weather. He's been retreating into own his private world the past few months and now he barely leaves his cabin except to go have his meals in the nearby Glasgow Inn. The Inn's proprietor, Jackie, is more and more concerned with Alex's state, and the last straw comes as he watches Alex morosely counting up his "failures" on the eve of his 49th birthday-- his marriage, his baseball career, his stint in the Detroit police. He offers his friend an ultimatum: "Either I take you to the airport and put your ass on a plane to Moosehide or you play poker with me tonight."
The other poker players are men Alex hardly knows, in a posh house near the water. In the middle of the game, masked robbers invade the premises, hold the players at gunpoint and proceed to rob the homeowner. Alex is roused to action and so is his former detective partner, Leon Prudell. Working first against one another and later together, they discover that the crime is far more complex than a simple robbery. There is murder and greed and revenge involved, and a wild chase on the waters of Lake Superior before Alex is forced to realize that there is no retreat from life.
The other poker players are men Alex hardly knows, in a posh house near the water. In the middle of the game, masked robbers invade the premises, hold the players at gunpoint and proceed to rob the homeowner. Alex is roused to action and so is his former detective partner, Leon Prudell. Working first against one another and later together, they discover that the crime is far more complex than a simple robbery. There is murder and greed and revenge involved, and a wild chase on the waters of Lake Superior before Alex is forced to realize that there is no retreat from life.
March 18, 2020
I listened to this audiobook. Alex McKnight is a former Detroit cop who carries a bullet in his chest. His partner was killed. He left the force and lives in near seclusion in a cabin in a tiny hamlet on Lake Superior. He has few friends and at the beginning of this book he is in a funk. Finally his best friend Jackie, concerned about Alex’s downturn, forces him to go to a poker game at the home of a wealthy upscale appliance store owner. While they are at the game masked men burst into the house, hold them all at gun point, trash the home, and rob the safe. Alex, while no longer in law enforcement nor a private investigator, wants to get to the bottom of it when 3 of his friends who were at the game are arrested for conspiring to plan the raid on the house. Alex has a contentious relationship with the police chief, and he had left a private investigator partnership, but now he needs his ex-partner’s help. Alex pokes and digs to find who really committed the crime. In doing so he finds out about secrets of the wealthy man and his unlawful actions. He learns things about his friends he didn’t know. This is a fast paced book, not very long, kept my interest.
June 23, 2021
It is fun to read a book that quite accurately describes a region that I love: the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. This installment of Hamilton's Alex McNight series continues in the same vein as previous books, but with a couple of surprising plot twists. However, there continue to be some surprising gaps of logic. For example, by this time the Soo police must knows that McNight is a rogue actor, so why not have him tailed when he starts following people around and causing problems? For example, the eastern UP is a pretty empty place, so how many dangerous criminals from Canada will appear across the border to create mayhem? For example, how does one person container to put himself into multiple near-death situations in each book? Despite these gaps, the series is entertaining and personally appealing.
August 7, 2024
Enjoyed the book. It was a quick read with lots of action to keep the reader interested in the storyline. This one started off with a simple home invasion robbery but ended up in a life and death situation for Alex McKnight and some of his closest friends. As in his other books, Mr. Hamilton tells us much about the Upper Peninsula of Michigan and includes stories and activities at the Canadian border and the Soo Locks. Lake Superior is a main physical part of this story. Deep and cold, even in summer, the lake can be tame, but it is always deadly. I will continue to read this series as all of the mysteries have a different situational appearance and a different emotional outcome.
Borrowed from the Berkley, MI library.
Borrowed from the Berkley, MI library.
August 13, 2017
Another Alex McKnight story. A most enjoyable read. Steve Hamilton has a way with words. His descriptions of Michigan's Upper Peninsula and the characters that inhabit that area are worth the read.
North of Nowhere is a gritty account of life in Paradise, Michigan with a cast of local characters, many of whom have known each other for years. Alex McKnight is a retired cop/private investigator who just cannot stay retired. The great dialog allows the reader to become fully immersed in the story. The colorful and quirky characters are like real-life people living in the harsh but beautiful Lake Superior locale.
North of Nowhere is an excellent example of a crime novel.
North of Nowhere is a gritty account of life in Paradise, Michigan with a cast of local characters, many of whom have known each other for years. Alex McKnight is a retired cop/private investigator who just cannot stay retired. The great dialog allows the reader to become fully immersed in the story. The colorful and quirky characters are like real-life people living in the harsh but beautiful Lake Superior locale.
North of Nowhere is an excellent example of a crime novel.
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