|
[ Home ]
[ About | Reviews | Search | Submit ]
Nick Mason is in a maximum security prison for at least the next twenty-five years and up to the rest of his life because he killed a federal agent. His wife divorced him and remarried. He's doing his time one day at a time, keeping his head down and doing his best not to draw anyone's attention while still keeping what little self-respect he can. This is the very behavior that draws someone's attention: Darius Cole. Darius Cole is a very powerful man, even inside a maximum security prison. He becomes Nick's mentor, thus giving Nick some major perks and protections. Four years later, Darius offers Nick a deal. A very big deal. A "get out of jail free" deal - who could turn that down? The catch? He's at Darius's beck-and-call - no matter where, when, or what else is going on in Nick's life. Nick takes the deal.
He has a great place to live, plenty of money, a "job" that requires nothing from him, and the coolest/fastest cars money can buy. If there's a problem, he has a handler to fix things. He has a cell phone; if it rings, he has to answer it and do exactly what he's told to do. Exactly. His wife wants no part of him. He has to hide at his daughter's soccer games to see her. His old neighborhood doesn't welcome him, and his old friends are not thrilled to see him. Then, as he knew it would, the telephone rings.
Steve Hamilton has been writing mystery novels and/or thrillers for a long time. He knows what he's doing, and he does it quite well. Nick is, for all his flaws, a likeable kind of guy. His ability to compartmentalize is his strong suit, followed by his ability to plan. These are also qualities that lead to his problems, as is so often the case. The secondary characters are well written, as human as anyone. Chicago is a great setting for this kind of story; the neighborhoods are almost characters by themselves, the well-known reality that is the dirty police force in and around Chicago, the income disparities; the drugs - these are all important in Nick Mason's world. Hamilton can make a story twist and turn like a down-hill skier making a run for the gold medal. SECOND LIFE is being marketed as the first in a new series for Hamilton. If the next book is as good as this one, Hamilton will have another winner on his hands.
§ I have been reading and reviewing mystery fiction for over a quarter of a century and read broadly within just about all genres and sub-genres. I have been a preliminary judge for the Malice Domestic/St. Martin’s Press Best First Traditional Mystery Novel Contest for at least 25 years. I live in Northern lower Michigan with my spousal unit, one large cat, and 2 fairly small dogs. My Sherlockian (BSI) nom-de-plume is VR; my license plate is BSI VR
Reviewed by PJ Coldren, May 2016
[ Top ]
QUICK SEARCH:
Contact: Yvonne Klein (ymk@reviewingtheevidence.com)
[ About | Reviews | Search | Submit ]
[ Home ]
|
