Hold up, Nick Mason, Steve Hamilton’s other fan-favorite series protagonist is making his return in 2018. . . when Dead Man Running, an all-new Alex McKnight thriller hits bookstores on September 4th.
Over the last two years, Hamilton’s audience has grown substantially since releasing the first two critically acclaimed novels in his Nick Mason franchise, The Second Life of Nick Mason and Exit Strategy. Those books were the first two novels released under Hamilton’s four-book deal that he signed back in 2015 with his new publisher, Putnam, after leaving Minotaur Books, an imprint of St. Martin’s Press.
Hamilton’s split from St. Martin’s Press was widely reported when he left just eight weeks before his book was scheduled to come out. Upon signing with Putnam, Publisher’s Market Place reported that Hamilton would be releasing two Nick Mason novels and two books in his Alex McKnight series. It was also announced that Lionsgate had optioned the rights to The Second Life of Nick Mason in a pre-emptive deal with plans to put Nick Mason on the big screen.
Originally, Hamilton’s third Nick Mason book, An Honorable Assassin, was slated for release in May of this year. Recently, Putnam pushed the pub date back to May 14, 2019, leading many to believe that a corresponding move would be announced, with rumors swirling that Alex McKnight would be returning in late 2018.
It turns out, that’s exactly what happened.
“I’m incredibly excited about the return of Alex McKnight this September,” said Hamilton in an exclusive statement to The Real Book Spy.
“Alex has been with me from the beginning, and readers still ask about him every day. Dead Man Running will be the most intense book in the series and the greatest test for Alex McKnight. And Nick Mason will be back in 2019! Perhaps one day the two will work together or against each other. I’ve been thinking a lot about that.”
Hamilton’s editor, Sara Minnich, Senior Editor, G. P. Putnam’s Sons, told us “I’m a long-time Alex McKnight fan myself, and Steve’s fans have been eagerly awaiting the next installment, so I’m thrilled we could answer their call. Dead Man Running is a doozy of a thriller, twisty and fast-paced, a slam-bang return for Alex McKnight.”
Dead Man Running is the first Alex McKnight book since 2013’s Let it Burn, and while the stories have typically been located in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula, Hamilton’s latest offering raises the stakes considerably for former Detroit cop turned private investigator. Check out the plot details below!
On the Mediterranean Sea, a vacationer logs onto the security camera feed from his home in Scottsdale, Arizona. Something about his living room seems not quite right–the room is bright, when he’s certain he’d left the curtains closed. Rewinding through the feed, he sees an intruder. When he shifts to the bedroom camera, he sees the dead body.
Martin T. Livermore is the key suspect in the abduction and murder of at least five women, but he’s never been this sloppy before. When the FBI finally catches him in Scottsdale, he declares he’ll only talk to one person: a retired police officer from Detroit, now a private investigator living in the tiny town of Paradise, Michigan. A man named Alex McKnight.
Livermore means nothing to McKnight, but it soon becomes clear McKnight means something to Livermore. . . and that Livermore’s capture was only the beginning of an elaborate, twisted plot with McKnight at the center. In a hunt that will take him across the country and to the edge of his limits, McKnight fights to stop a vicious killer before he can exact his ultimate revenge. And his grand finale will cut closer to home than he ever could have imagined.
(Note: The above image is not the final cover.)
If you’re not already, make sure to follow Steve Hamilton on Twitter and Facebook for more updates, and check out his official website while waiting for Dead Man Running, which is now available for pre-order wherever books are sold.
Praised as “one of today’s finest book reviewers” by New York Times bestselling author Gayle Lynds, Ryan Steck has “quickly established himself as the authority on mysteries and thrillers” (Author A.J. Tata). He currently lives in Southwest Michigan with his wife and their six children.