ICE RUN

ICE RUN
Steve Hamilton
306 pages
ISBN: 0-312-30121-9
St. Martin’s Minotaur
June 2004
$21.95

An ICE RUN was the illegal smuggling of liquor during the time of prohibition over the frozen waters between the United States and Canada.
Alex was a member of the Detroit police force, but after being shot and one bullet near his heart was not removed, he decided to leave police work in favor of a quiet, peaceful life of renting cabins for those who wish to enjoy the pleasures of snowmobiling in Paradise, Michigan. Snow tends to be overly plentiful in this town and the economy depends on the snowmobiling business.

When finally beginning to have an adult relationship with a woman, she wants to visit Alex during a snow storm. Defensive of his bachelor pad of the out-dated 70’s, Alex decides on a compromise of meeting at a hotel in nearby Soo, Michigan.

Natalie Reynaud was a constable with the Ontario Provincial Police, but has chosen to take some time off after the death of her partner. With this time, she is sorting through the family house and deciding what to do with all the pictures and things that will never be used.

At the Ojibway, the hotel where Alex and Natalie meet, an elderly man is in the lobby watching Alex as he arrives. He then rides the elevator to the sixth-floor with Alex and watches him as Alex knocks on Natalie’s door. He then just stays on the elevator and returns to the lobby. This strange event does bother Alex.

Even stranger though is when the hat the elderly man was wearing was placed upside-down outside Natalie’s door full of snow and ice and a note which said, “I know who you are.”

Naturally Alex searched for the old man, only to find out that he had just died, frozen to death near the hotel. This begins the mission of this book which is to find out who he was and why this note was left with the hat. Keeping the past secret is the intention of the dead man’s family.
Spellbinding, would definitely describe the pace and the addiction any reader will feel for ICE RUN. As Alex and Natalie attempt to sort out their relationship with each other, Alex, especially is attempting to sort out the past with the clue of the hat.

This extremely chilling and haunting plot causes the reader to think about the book long after reading it. I definitely am looking forward to more from Steve Hamilton.

Steve Hamilton has written other books including BLOOD IS THE SKY, NORTH OF NOWHERE, HUNTING WIND, WINTER OF THE WOLF MOON, and A COLD DAY IN PARADISE. While working for IBM in New York, Hamilton has the unique distinction of being the only writer to ever win both the Edgar and Shamus Awards for the best first novel.