by Terrance McArthur
Details at the end of this post on how to win a copy of Past Crimes, along with a link to purchase the book where a portion goes to help support KRL & an indie bookstore.
In Glen Erik Hamilton’s Past Crimes, Van left Seattle ten years ago, two days after his high school graduation, but it took a message in Gaelic from his grandfather to bring him back–bring him back to find Dono, his grandfather, shot in the head and unconscious.
Van is an Army Ranger, taught to fight and kill. He is also Dono’s grandson, taught to pick locks and steal. He uses all those talents to track down the shooter and/or the person who ambushed him in Dono’s home. He travels amid his old friends, his grandfather’s partners in crime, and police detectives who want to know what Van is hiding.
Van is beaten, bugged, badgered, and tailed. He wants to go back to his outfit in Afghanistan. He’s still recovering from shrapnel injuries, but he wants to take down somebody, anybody.
Hamilton creates a seedy society in the shadow of the Space Needle, old-guard lowlifes who have their own code of honor and are always willing to help an old friend knock over a big haul. What could cause Dono’s law-breaking cronies to listen in on his life and attack him? Van’s investigating methods aren’t always non-violent, and they often aren’t legal, but they bring him closer to the answers he seeks.
My best way of describing Van is that it’s as if Robert B. Parker’s Spenser character was raised by an Irish version of Oliver Twist’s Fagin, trained as a ninja, and was played by Dwayne Johnson (aka “The Rock”). Van is relentless in his investigating, and he wants to do the right thing…even if he has to break the law to do it. He is able to pick locks, scuba dive, fight hand-to-hand or armed, and he’s ruggedly handsome…except for the IED battle-scarring on one side of his face.
This isn’t a travelogue, but there is a definite sense of the Seattle area and the islands and seaways nearby. It’s a guidebook to surveillance technology, criminal methods, and why old friends aren’t always the best friends. Take a look at Past Crimes, and see how the lessons of the past are the ones that make the difference today.
To enter to win a copy of Past Crimes, simply email KRL at krlcontests@gmail[dot]com by replacing the [dot] with a period, and with the subject line “Past,” or comment on this article. A winner will be chosen July 18, 2015. U.S. residents only. If entering via email please include your mailing address, and if via comment please include your email address.
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Click on this link to purchase this book & a portion goes to help support KRL & Mysterious Galaxy:
We have a winner,
Lorie Ham, KRL Publisher