Admittedly, I've read only two books in this series, but they were good enough to make me a fan of former cop Alex McKnight. That familiarity made me doubly happy to be approved for an advance review copy from the publisher (via NetGalley). And once again, I wasn't disappointed. In fact - save perhaps for the knock-down, drag-'em-out ending involving almost super-human feats - this is my pick of the litter so far. It was so good, in fact, that I kept reading all the way through a nightly episode of "The Rachel Maddow Show" (well, okay, with one eye on the program); that should convince those who know how much of a news junkie I am that I'm telling the truth about how much I liked the book.
Anyway, this one starts off with a [figurative] bang as a vacationing homeowner watches a live video from the security cameras he installed in his bedroom back home. Not too long of a story short, they catch the perp - a presumed serial killer named Martin T. Livermore - who refuses to talk to anyone except Alex, who's now contents himself working for Superior Bail Bonds in Paradise, Michigan. Hot to trot (or at least get some kind of confession out of Livermore), the FBI agrees to bring Alex in. But when he meets Livermore, he has absolutely no idea why the guy sought him out; there's no readily discernible connection between the two men, nor does there seem to be any among all the other five (at least) women Livermore has brutally murdered over the years.
Once in Alex's presence, Livermore not only admits to the heinous crimes, but promises to take him and an FBI crew to the place he's stored his victims' bodies. Livermore isn't exactly trustworthy, but the lawmen agree, albeit reluctantly, that there's no other way to find the bodies - all women. What happens next, though, proves them dead wrong; clearly, Livermore not only can't be trusted, but he's intent on playing some kind of head game with Alex to reach some kind of end that is intended to be the end of Alex.
Will Livermore emerge triumphant? Assuming as I read along that this book doesn't mark the end of the series, I was on the edge of my seat but not too worried about Alex's life. But why the killer wants to get Alex remained a mystery almost to the aforementioned action-packed end, making the book almost impossible to put down till then. I must point out one other tidbit made this book more interesting to me - that some of the scenes are set in two of my favorite places on earth: Columbus, Ohio (go Bucks!) and Michigan's scenic, secluded Upper Peninsula. All in all, this is a stellar entry in the series, and yes, I'm already looking forward to the next installment.
Dead Man Running by Steve Hamilton (G.P. Putnam's Sons, August 2018); 304 pp.
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