By: Steve Hamilton Publisher: St. Martin's Minotaur Average Rating: Binding: Hardcover Label: St. Martin's Minotaur Number of Items: 1 Number of Pages: 304 Publication Date: September 18, 2007 Release Date: September 18, 2007
Award-winning author of the acclaimed Alex McKnight series Steve Hamilton delivers his eagerly awaited, breakaway thriller with Night Work.
Joe Trumbull is not a man who scares easily. As a juvenile probation officer in Kingston, New York, he’s half cop, half social worker to the most high-risk youth in the city. And when he’s not pounding the streets, trying to keep his kids out of jail, he’s pounding a heavy bag in the gym to stay in shape.
But tonight Joe Trumbull is scared to death.
It’s been two years since his fiancée, Laurel, was brutally murdered. Two years of grief and loneliness. On this hot summer night, he’s finally going out on a blind date, his first date since Laurel’s death. He’s not looking for love, just testing the waters to see if it’s possible to live a normal life again. The thought of it is turning his knees to jelly.
Marlene Frost is a beautiful woman. She’s warm and funny, with a smile to match. After the first awkward minutes, Joe finally starts to think this isn’t such a bad idea after all. In fact, maybe this blind date will turn out to be one of the best things that ever happened to him.
He couldn’t be more wrong. Because somehow, for reasons Joe can barely understand, this one evening will mark the beginning of a new nightmare. A nightmare that will lead him to the faceless man in the shadows, and to the most terrible realization of all.…
For Joe Trumbull, the past is never past. And the worst is yet to come.
Great until the last twenty-five pages! I'm a big fan of Steve Hamilton's "Alex McNight" novels, and if you haven't read any of the books in that series, you owe it to yourself to check them out. Night Work, however, is a stand-alone book, or maybe the beginning of a new series by the author. I actually enjoyed the novel right up till the last twenty-five pages or so, and then found myself shaking my head in disbelief and skimming over the rest of it. Some readers may not have a problem with the ending, but I certainly did. It just wasn't what I expected or was hoping for.
The story deals with probation officer, Joe Trumbull, whose job it is to determine if a teenager who's arrested for a crime should be placed in prison or kept on probation until the sentence is carried out. As the author states, the lead character is half cop and half social worker. Trumbull definitely loves his job and tries to save as many kids from prison as he possibly can. A few, however, always manage to slip through cracks and he inevitably blames himself for it. For the last two years, Joe has been dealing with the murder of his fiancé and the fact that the killer was never caught. Everything comes to a head when he finally decides to move on with his life and to start dating again. Unfortunately, the new woman in his life is murdered on the night of their first date. This throws Joe into a state of shock as he attempts to cope with this unexpected tragedy. The good news is that he's not initially a suspect. The bad news is that when the next woman he comes into contact with dies, the state police start taking a closer look at him, especially when the killer uses Joe's tie and shoelaces as the murder weapons. The killer has been patient over the years, and he's smart enough to set our probation officer up as the perfect suspect for the crimes. For Trumbull, time is running out. He has to find the person, or persons, responsible for the deaths before the police arrest him and throw away the key.
As I stated, the novel hooked me at the beginning and held my interest right up till the last few pages. Unfortunately, I found myself unable to buy into the resolution and what was done to Trumbull. Other than that, the book was excellent in my opinion. Hamilton certainly knows how to create compelling characters, realistic settings, and plots with a velocity that rushes the reader from the first page to the last in record-breaking time. Though Night Work is a good novel for the beach, I'm anxiously awaiting the next "Alex McNight" novel, which may be a couple of years down the road.
This was an outstanding book This was my first Steve Hamilton book and I can't wait for the next stand alone book from this author.This book catches you from the first page and you can't wait to see what happens next.
Starts strong but falls apart I enjoyed the first third of this book. I found the main character to be interesting but once the plot got going it all came crashing down. The twist is obvious and how the events unfold don't really make a whole lot of sense. I've enjoyed Mr.Hamilton's Alex McKnight series and I give him credit for trying something new but he just didn't pull it off.
Night Work by Steve Hamilton This is yet another good murder mystery but Steve Hamilton. You will like it if you read these types of books.
Night Work is Light work This novel from Steve Hamilton is a departure from his Alex McKnight series, and it suffers from all new characters not nearly as well drawn as the residents of Paradise, MI. Hamilton draws some interesting details, but the story is at once weaker and scarier, since often the people are not nearly as believable, yet the hero finds himself in very strange situations. The story drags, then jerks: then it dawdles, then jerks. Overall, I would prefer to return to Alex and his buddies, especially more about his Ojibwa Indian buddy Vinnie, and his inn-keeper foil, Jackie. At least they offer some consistency and some familiarity. Maybe I should have started with this book, THEN discovered the rest of Mr. Hamilton's work, since the book, taken separately is not at all bad, just not comparing well to the rest of his oeuvre.
Anything Goes Trivia
Megaton Man
Not Available Comics
Tony's Online Tips
Trevor
