Hard cold winter A Van Shaw novel

Van Shaw is easily bored. He seeks the thrill of dangerous action the way gamblers hunger for the rush. As a teenager, he helped steal a roomful of optical lenses and spent an exquisite few minutes hanging from the side of a building, hoping the cops wouldn't spot him. Later, as an Army ranger in Afghanistan, he almost shocks himself when he has a fine time charging an enemy ambush. Now, back home in Seattle, Shaw agrees to help out a friend of his late grandfather's and finds himself on a trek to the Olympic Mountains, investigating a double murder. This is where the novel runs on rails, making all the predictable stops: the warning from ape-necked thugs; the lying client; the bomb tossed through the door; the involvement of the rich guy. Some readers won't mind this reliance on formula, especially since Hamilton stages the scenes with understated skill. Others will want to know more about Shaw than just his love of fistfights and flying bullets. As his buddy observes when the mayhem begins, You're happier than I've seen you in weeks. As is, it's a fine ride for action lovers.--Crinklaw, Don Copyright 2016 Booklist

In Hamilton's entertaining sequel to 2015's Past Crimes, Elana Coll, the niece of the massive Will Willard, who was once the closest crony of former Army ranger Van Shaw's late grandad in Seattle, has gone missing. Will wants Van to locate her. After all, Elana was close to Van when both were teenage thieves. Elana was heading for the cabin of her rich boyfriend, Kend Haymes, in the Olympic Forest when she fell off the grid. Van hikes to the remote cabin, where he discovers Kend and Elana shot to death. What was the motive? Van hooks up with former Afghanistan ranger and sniper Leonard Pak to learn why the young couple was killed. The mayhem that follows uncovers a Byzantine conspiracy generated by Russian gangsters and corrupt business tycoons. Hamilton renders the ample violent action effectively, but the best parts of the story are the vignettes he intersperses depicting Van and Elana's criminal exploits when they were 17. Agent: Lisa Erbach Vance, Aaron Priest Literary Agency. (Mar.) © Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.

Forged from a criminal and military past, ex-army ranger and sometime thief Van Shaw (introduced in Past Crimes) is back from the Middle East and home in Seattle. As a favor to an old friend of his grandfather's, Van searches for a young girl who has vanished after traveling with a pal to a remote cabin. There Van finds instead a brutal multiple murder scene, and one of the victims is from one of Seattle's most prominent families. The bodies are only the start of Van's troubles as he tracks a killer with the assistance of his army buddy Leo, while trying to protect his longtime girlfriend Luce and stay out of the path of Russian gangsters. Verdict In his sophomore effort, Hamilton skillfully creates a well-oiled situation with a direct writing style that keeps the story line from becoming too complicated but still brimming with action, conflict, and realistic and compelling characters. From the very first page, this thriller is clever, timely, and definitely an attention grabber. Readers of the first book will be delighted with the backstory, and aficionados of the genre will eat this one up.-Vicki Gregory, Sch. of Information, Univ. of South Florida, Tampa © Copyright 2016. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.