Rating: 
Summary: Actually a 3.5...a C+
Review: "Ice Run" is Steve Hamilton's sixth Alex McKnight novel...and the first that failed to electrify me.Just as the first major blizzard of winter pelts Michigan's UP, Alex is off for a romantic weekend with his newly found love, Ontario Provincial Police officer, Natalie Renaud. Things get weird as soon as Alex arrives. An immaculately dressed elderly man approaches Alex and joins him in the elevator. The man shows Alex his out-of-date homberg, asking Alex to guess how old it is. Trying to ignore him, Alex remains silent. Later that evening, the old man is found frozen to death...and the hat placed in front of Alex's hotel room filled with ice, snow and a note that says, "I KNOW WHO YOU ARE." This incident restarts a generations old blood feud...Natalie's past being as scarred as Alex's. As usual, Alex will go to the mat for a friend in jeopardy. He gets beaten within an inch of his life...and remains far from any answers. I felt Alex pulled so many stupid moves, that all credulity was stretched...and found his girl friend totally unsympathetic---slowing the plot. On the plus side, we see quite a bit of Leon Prudell (Alex's former PI partner) as well as Vinnie LeBlanc, Alex's Ojibway comrade. These two are outstanding and well defined supporting characters. The usual wonderful sense of place that is a Steve Hamilton hallmark transports you into the middle of the frozen landscape. A C+.
Rating: 
Summary: Baby, it's cold outside.
Review: "Ice Run" is the latest Alex McKnight novel by Steve Hamilton, and it takes place during the coldest time of the year in Michigan. Snow is measured by feet, not inches, and if you don't bundle up, you can freeze to death. Alex McKnight, the loner ex-cop who had pretty much given up on love, has fallen for Natalie Reynaud, a cop from the Ontario Provincial Police. One night, when Alex and Natalie visit the fancy Ojibway Hotel in Sault Ste. Marie, an elderly man tips his hat to them. Little do they know that this man holds the key to Natalie's painful past, and both Natalie and Alex are about to be dragged back in time. At its best, "Ice Run" is an atmospheric and brooding story, with terse dialogue and some delightfully quirky characters. I especially like Jackie, who cares for Alex so much that he reams him for getting sucked into Natalie's problems, and Leon, Alex's old friend, who at a moment's notice, drops everything to do some important digging for his old pal. The villains, alas, are stock characters, and the mystery itself is not particularly involving. However, Hamilton has a way of capturing the loneliness and desolation of a Michigan winter and tying it in with the characters' bitter and icy emotions. Alex is a charismatic and compassionate hero, and it is hard not to cheer for a man who is willing to risk his life for the woman he loves.
Rating:
Summary: Baby, it's cold outside.
Review: "Ice Run" is the latest Alex McKnight novel by Steve Hamilton, and it takes place during the coldest time of the year in Michigan. Snow is measured by feet, not inches, and if you don't bundle up, you can freeze to death. Alex McKnight, the loner ex-cop who had pretty much given up on love, has fallen for Natalie Reynaud, a cop from the Ontario Provincial Police. One night, when Alex and Natalie visit the fancy Ojibway Hotel in Sault Ste. Marie, an elderly man tips his hat to them. Little do they know that this man holds the key to Natalie's painful past, and both Natalie and Alex are about to be dragged back in time. At its best, "Ice Run" is an atmospheric and brooding story, with terse dialogue and some delightfully quirky characters. I especially like Jackie, who cares for Alex so much that he reams him for getting sucked into Natalie's problems, and Leon, Alex's old friend, who at a moment's notice, drops everything to do some important digging for his old pal. The villains, alas, are stock characters, and the mystery itself is not particularly involving. However, Hamilton has a way of capturing the loneliness and desolation of a Michigan winter and tying it in with the characters' bitter and icy emotions. Alex is a charismatic and compassionate hero, and it is hard not to cheer for a man who is willing to risk his life for the woman he loves.
Rating: 
Summary: The Key to the Present often lies in the Past.
Review: Another full-strength North Woods Alex McKnight mystery from Edgar Award winning author Steve Hamilton, "Ice Run" is a riveting ride that makes TundraVision's "Sleep? Who Needs Sleep? Page Turners - all night long" List. Sufficient background information is provided that a reader would not necessarily need to start at the beginning with "A Cold Day in Paradise," - but why miss all the fun and excitement? Alex McKnight is a former Detroit cop, former Major League Baseball player for a day, currently cabin concierge cum reluctant investigator in Michigan's Upper Peninsula (UP) When we last saw him, he and friend Vinnie LeBlanc, Bay Mills Ojibwa, had just solved the mystery of Vinnie's missing brother - with some help along the way from the beautiful but enigmatic Constable Natalie Reynaud, Ontario Provincial Police. Alex and Natalie meet in the middle, in Sault St. Marie, where they encounter an odd old man in a hat, who mysteriously dies on a walk on a cold winter night. What's going on here? And what has it to do with Natalie? Making thrilling and chilling ice runs through blinding blizzards between Alex's home in Paradise, UP Michigan, Natalie's home in Blind River, Ontario, Batchwana Bay and knick knack Mackinac Island, the sleep-deprived reader learns that the key to the present often lies in the past. Reviewed by TundraVision, Amazon Reviewer.
Rating:
Summary: Emotionally charged, tautly paced mystery
Review: 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
Rating:
Summary: Natalie is a jerk!
Review: 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
Rating:
Summary: Natalie is a jerk!
Review: 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
Rating:
Summary: COLD COLD HEART
Review: 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.
Rating:
Summary: chilling
Review: 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.
Rating:
Summary: THE "ALEX MCKNIGHT" SERIES IS ONE OF THE BEST BEING WRITTEN
Review: 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!!!
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