Scan barcode
A review by carolpk
The Lock Artist by Steve Hamilton
4.0
The Lock Artist recently won an Edgar for best novel. Steve Hamilton was in fine company for this award competing with authors Harlan Coben, Tana French, Tom Franklin, Laura Lippman and Timothy Hallinan. I hadn’t read all the nominees but the ones I did were really good so I thought Steve Hamilton’s winner should be good. It absolutely was.
I really like the way Hamilton told the tale. You know right from the beginning that something horrific and violent happened to 8 year old Michael but you don’t know what. The incident leaves Michael unable to speak. Skip ahead a few years; Michael, an orphan, and kind of an outsider in school, becomes quite popular with his classmates and others when they find out about a talent he has. Michael is able to open most any lock or safe. Soon this talent becomes of interest to some pretty shady characters and they groom Michael as a boxman, the man you go to when you need a safe cracked.
Revealing bits and pieces of Michael’s tragedy, weaving back and forth from present to past and back again, kept me turning the pages to see how it would all end.
The Lock Artist is first rate thriller, deserving of the award in my book.
I really like the way Hamilton told the tale. You know right from the beginning that something horrific and violent happened to 8 year old Michael but you don’t know what. The incident leaves Michael unable to speak. Skip ahead a few years; Michael, an orphan, and kind of an outsider in school, becomes quite popular with his classmates and others when they find out about a talent he has. Michael is able to open most any lock or safe. Soon this talent becomes of interest to some pretty shady characters and they groom Michael as a boxman, the man you go to when you need a safe cracked.
Revealing bits and pieces of Michael’s tragedy, weaving back and forth from present to past and back again, kept me turning the pages to see how it would all end.
The Lock Artist is first rate thriller, deserving of the award in my book.