Night Work
Award-winning author of the acclaimed Alex McKnight series Steve Hamilton delivers his eagerly awaited, breakaway thriller with Night Work. Joe Trumbull is not a man who scares easily. As a juvenile probation officer in Kingston, New York, he's half cop, half social worker to the most high-risk youth in the city. And when he's not pounding the streets, trying to keep his kids out of jail, he's pounding a heavy bag in the gym to stay in shape. But tonight Joe Trumbull is scared to death. It's been two years since his fiancée, Laurel, was brutally murdered. Two years of grief and loneliness. On this hot summer night, he's finally going out on a blind date, his first date since Laurel's death. He's not looking for love, just testing the waters to see if it's possible to live a normal life again. The thought of it is turning his knees to jelly. Marlene Frost is a beautiful woman. She's warm and funny, with a smile to match. After the first awkward minutes, Joe finally starts to think this isn't such a bad idea after all. In fact, maybe this blind date will turn out to be one of the best things that ever happened to him. He couldn't be more wrong. Because somehow, for reasons Joe can barely understand, this one evening will mark the beginning of a new nightmare. A nightmare that will lead him to the faceless man in the shadows, and to the most terrible realization of all.... For Joe Trumbull, the past is never past. And the worst is yet to come.
294 pages
English edition · First published 2007 by Thomas Dunne Books/St. Martin's Minotaur · ISBN 9780312353612
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Ratings and reviews
The book description didn’t do this story justice, but at the same time, the novel ultimately didn’t deliver—especially at the end. When women come into contact with the main character, Joe Trumbull, even briefly, they end up dead, pulling Joe and his colleagues into a large, potentially thrilling mystery. Unfortunately, the execution didn’t fully live up to that premise. I rated this 2.5 out of 5 stars because there were too many scenes that felt unnecessary, with stretches of dull or repetitive dialogue that slowed the pacing. The ending, in particular, didn’t make much sense and felt implausible, which undercut the buildup. That said, the story did manage to hold my attention for most of the book. I wanted to see how it ended—even if the conclusion ultimately left me unsatisfied. The narrator deserves credit, though. He gave Joe Trumbull a strong, macho presence (with a notably attractive voice), and while many narrators with this type of character tend to sound interchangeable, he made Joe feel distinct and alive.
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