by Terrance Mc Arthur

Glen Erik Hamilton will be at Mysterious Galaxy for a booksigning on Saturday, March 12, 2016 at 2:00 p.m.
Mysterious Galaxy is located at 5943 Balboa Ave, Suite 100, San Diego, CA.

Details at the end of this post on how to enter to win a copy of the book, and a link to purchase it from Mysterious Galaxy if you can’t make it to the signing.

Van Shaw was raised to steal by criminals like his grandfather Dono, and taught to kill by Uncle Sam. Now, he is out of the Rangers, and a friend of his grandfather’s wants him to find his niece Luce, Van’s old girlfriend, who wasn’t quite, who was running with a high-rent crowd. What Van finds is pretty grisly in Hard Cold Winter by Glen Erik Hamilton.

Van investigates, finding things he doesn’t want to find, gaining the attention of people who want him to ignore the truth because they think they have enough money to make everything go away, and raising the anger of people who use violence as a business strategy. His criminal background gives him the outside-the-law tools to track down the truth, and his military training gives him the toughness he needs for the physical fights.

The Seattle setting is wet and wild, and the action rings true, even when it borders on James Bond outrageousness. Violence is a part of Van’s life, and he uses it: weapons, fists, welding torches, explosives. People in his world do not use Sunday-school language, but I’ve heard worse—I used to be a substitute teacher.

Hamilton peoples his Pacific Northwest with interesting people…and a bear. There are gamblers, bookies, honest cops, crooked industrialists with political aspirations, hired muscle, Russian gangsters, trust-fund kids with dirty little secrets, a sweet little old lady with a mammoth dog, a bar owner who wants to love Van and help him overcome his Afghanistan-fueled nightmares, and a former sniper whose PTSD and nightmares are even worse than Van’s. The grandfather even comes back to life in flashbacks tied to Luce. Oh, yeah…there’s a bear, too.

It’s a noirish mystery, a caper in a conundrum, a buddy action tale, a bittersweet romance, and a nail-biter of a thriller. I enjoyed Past Crimes, the first Van Shaw adventure. Hard Cold Winter fills in more of Van’s background, and his former comrade-in-arms offers a chance for a Casablanca-esque ‘beautiful friendship’ as they both battle the demons of the past.

I really wanted to review this book because I like Hamilton’s writing and his characters. I wasn’t disappointed.

To enter to win a copy of Hard Cold Winter, simply email KRL at krlcontests@gmail[dot]com by replacing the [dot] with a period, and with the subject line “winter,” or comment on this article. A winner will be chosen March 12, 2016. U.S. residents only. If entering via email please include your mailing address.

Check out other mystery articles, reviews, book giveaways & short stories in our mystery section.

Use this link to purchase this book & a portion goes to help support KRL & indie bookstore Mysterious Galaxy:

Hard Cold Winter

Terrance V. Mc Arthur is a Community Librarian for the WoW! (WithOut Walls) Division of the Fresno County Public Library, roaming the Valley to meet the public’s information needs.