A STOLEN SEASON is my first book by Steve Hamilton. Although it comes in the middle of his Alex McKnight series, it is also my first book in the series. So I can say this for Hamilton upfront: it takes skill to write a book in a series as if it is a standalone. That's how it was for me, no confusion.

But I wasn't entirely happy with A STOLEN SEASON. First, the two main crimes in this novel seem like too much of a coincidence to each other. Even though I decided to just go with this storyline, I still had some problems with it.

Sometimes the story drags. I found myself skipping through some paragraphs, as a result, especially when he describes McKnight unloading boxes of guns.

More than anything, though, McKnight is a terribly frustrating main character. Over and over, he butts in, insists on taking things into his own hands when he should be leaving it to the police. I think Hamilton means for the reader to sympathize with McKnight, and I mostly did. But because he is always looking for trouble, I just wanted to clobber him sometimes. If I were one of his three friends, especially Vinnie, I would steer clear of him.

If you enjoy reading about Michigan, that's a good reason to try a Steve Hamilton book. I liked that about A STOLEN SEASON, although I wish Hamilton concentrated more on the Lower Peninsula, which I am more familiar with.