A COLD DAY IN PARADISE

Hamilton hit pay dirt by snatching up both the Shamus and Edgar Awards for Best First Novel in 1999. Ironically the book struggles--often unsuccessfully--with age-old clichés of the private-eye genre, and with the narrator's vacillation between testosterone and male sensitivity. Nick Sullivan, with his playfully snide voice, attempts to capture the isolation of former Detroit police officer Alex McKnight, now a private detective embroiled in the murders of several bookies in northern Michigan. Sullivan has a high-quality professional voice that is ideal for comedy; but the condescension, annoyance, and cockiness with which he reads it miss the boat to this Paradise. S.E.S. © AudioFile 2000, Portland, Maine [Published: AUG/SEP 00]