Die a Stranger

I’m a fan of Steve Hamilton, and this is the sixth book of his that I’ve read. So far, I’m the only one in MRB who has reviewed his novels. His most recent book, vintage 2012, is another Alex McKnight novel. McKnight is the protagonist, and the action in this novel takes place all over Michigan. He used to be a cop in Detroit, but got run out of the force and settled in the UP (Upper Peninsula). Now, he’s an occasional PI. Despite the rural setting in which he lives, McKnight finds trouble, or it finds him. His neighbor is Vinnie Red Sky LeBlanc, an Ojibwa Indian from the Bay Mills Indian Community, a reservation. Vinnie chose to leave his reservation, a decision that most of his Indian brother do not understand or condone. He found life there to be smothering. Even though they see each other almost every day and they’ve been best friends for years, being bound to their own mutual machismo, Alex and Vinnie hardly talk to each other. This is a book about Vinnie getting in unexpected trouble when he responds to a late night call from his Bay Mills cousin who got in bed with guys that are moving drugs across the border from Canada. And, these drug boys have adopted the tactics of the most brutal drug lords from south of the border, kill anyone who gets in the way. Hamilton introduced some good new characters, and his subplots dovetailed nicely with the main story. The beginning of this book was good, and the ending was excellent. I did not see the big ending twist coming, and it provided good theater. But, the middle of the book was draggy as McKnight literally chased clues all over the state, up and down, East and West. That was too much, and it felt as if Hamilton was just working hard to pad the length of the book rather than adding to the drama. All in all, it was an average read.