I had a review for Night Work and lost it, but I can't forget Steve Hamilton's characters and how the story ended. I remember the story like I just put the book down. Joe Trumbull put up a constant effort to make things right with himself and help others, but . . . you need to read the book or I'd give it away.

[This is the second of three Steve Hamilton book reviews.] ( )

Joe Trumbull is one unlucky guy - he lost his fiancee 2 years ago to a grisly murder and when he finally decides to go on a date with another woman, another murder happens.

"Night Work" is the first Hamilton non-series novel and it is decidedly different from his series. It is a lot darker and I suspect it was an exploration of a different storytelling that cannot work with Alex McKnight.

Trumbull is a probationary officer in Kingston, New York and had buried himself into his work and into boxing after the love of his life died. The biggest issue is that it seems like he may be a killer - hiding behind a civilized facade. And when the state police decides to investigate, things start looking worse by the minute - especially when more corpses show up.

For most of the novel, I was not sure if we are dealing with an unreliable narrator or if something is really off. And when one decided to trust Joe's story, the clues and misdirection were always there to make you doubt yourself. Trying to pull this technique usually backfires but here it works beautifully - all the way to the very end.

It takes awhile to get into the story - the setup is part of how Hamilton pulls off the story. The only thing I am sorry about is that I will not be able to read this novel again while not knowing what happens at the end. And Steve Hamilton proves again that he can write. ( )

Two years ago, probation officer Joe Trumbull's fiancée was murdered, just days before their wedding. Still aching from the loss, Joe decides it's time to move forward, so he accepts a blind date, which goes surprisingly well—until he learns the next day that his date, too, has been murdered. It's not Alex McKnight but I totally enjoyed this book, a new setting, a new character and a new approach to his writing says he will be around a long time. ( )

Not a book in the Alex McKnight series but a reasonably good story set right up the road from here in Kingston, NY. Two years after Joe Trumble's fiance is brutally murdered, he finally accepts a blind date. The date goes well but the next day he finds out the his date was strangled to death and he is a suspect. ( )

This was a pretty good book to listen to, it flowed easily enough and to me was realistic.

Joe Trumble is a probabation Officer in Kingston, New York whose fiance Laurel was murdered 2 years earlier. Joe has decided to date again and his first date goes quite well but the next morning his date is found dead and soon another 2 women are murdered as well, women who Joe has met, though briefly. The police ask Joe to go through his files to look for someone who may have a problem with him. ( )