Not like Hamiltons typical books. This was a did. Not finish for me. To bad as well waited for awhile for this one.

The following review was published or updated in several Alabama, Mississippi and Georgia newspapers and magazines in November and December 2024:

Booking a full year of reading

Review by Tom Mayer

If only us readers could just spend our days … reading. What would a year look like? Here, the editors of Home for the Holidays present their yearlong list of books, culled from the past 12 months of reading and reviewing. A few of the titles you’ll immediately recognize, and you’ll likely have more than few in your own library. But just in case you missed a title or two, we’re showcasing the whole year’s worth of books that we’ve read and reviewed, month by month.

Except for the first title, the list is simply a list. To find the reviews of many of these titles, visit our newspaper parent, The (Athens) News Courier at enewscourier.com — with a slight caveat. Our newspaper webmasters are currently working overtime to improve our content management system, the foundation of any website, and while many of our archives are now found there, it may be a few weeks before everything is fully re-uploaded — including the most recent editions of Limestone Life and Home for the Holidays. For now, though, enjoy our literary stroll through 2024.

And about that first title: Not every college professor can make statistical analysis approachable, let along interesting to their students and the general population, but Athens State University emeritus professor of psychology Mark Durm is not every college professor. After spending nearly five decades teaching thousands of students, the “ol’ psychology professor” decided that he’d best get around to writing the one book out of his nearly 100 published pieces that’s he always wanted to write. Call it a legacy piece, but what it really is is a “best of” Durm’s peer-reviewed, book reviews, non-peer reviewed and magazine articles from his 47 years in higher education.

The result is “Professional Publications of an Ol’ Psychology Professor” (Dorrance) with full previously published articles ranging from studies on the effects of glasses on a child’s self-esteem to his ever-popular parapsychology pieces, Durm presents his internationally recognized efforts with a twist.

“It’s a different kind of book because it doesn’t talk about the research, it presents the research,” the professor says from his second-career office at Durm Properties in Athens, about a half-mile from where he first presented that research in person. “I’ve spent hours on all of these articles, especially in the peer-reviewed journal articles.”

And so, articles on divorce, sex, religion and other topics now populate the pages of Durm’s most recent book in an effort to both continue his teaching and satisfy what has been a lifelong wonderment.

“You know, most people don’t understand statistics, so it’s all in there,” Durm said. “What I’m trying to do is a more critical approach to ‘just don’t believe everything you’re told.’ … It’s things that were in my life that I wanted to see if they were so, by using a psychological analysis.”

And like any good professor, Durm didn’t do that research on his own — or take all of the credit. Among the co-authors of many of his articles in the book were students — many of who he’s lost touch with, but all of whom who he credits by name in his acknowledgements and for each of who, if they look up their ol’ mentor, he has a signed book ready to hand over. For the rest of us, you can find the book at any online bookseller — just as you can with the remainder of our list, presented by the month in which the book was published, read and reviewed.

JANUARY

Unbound (Blackstone) by Christy Healy NG/F

The Devil’s Daughter by Gordon Greisman NG/ARC

FEBRUARY

Almost Surely Dead (Mindy’s Book Studio) by Amina Akhtar NG

The Chaos Agent (Gray Man 13) (Berkley) by Mark Greaney NG

The Lady in Glass and Other Stories (Ace) by Anne Bishop ARC

A Haunting in the Arctic (Berkley paperback) by C.J. Cooke NG

Ghost Island (Berkley) by Max Seeck

MARCH

Hello, Alabama (Arcadia) by Martha Day Zschock

The Unquiet Bones (Montlake) by Loreth Anne White

I am Rome: A novel of Julius Caesar (Ballantine Books by Santiago PosteguilloMarch 5: Murder Road (Berkley) by Simone St. James

The Luminous Life of Lucy Landry (Holiday House) by Anna Rose Johnson

Ferris (Candlewick) by Kate DiCamillo

After Annie (Random House, Feb. 27) by Anna Quindlen

Crocodile Tears Didn't Cause the Flood (Montag Press) by Bradley Sides The #1 Lawyer (Little, Brown and Company) by James Patterson, Nancy Allen

Lilith (Blackstone) by Eric Rickstad

Life: My Story Through History (Harper One) by Pope Francis

APRIL

Matterhorn (Thomas & Mercer) by Christopher Reich

Friends in Napa (Mindy’s Book Studio) by Sheila Yasmin Marikar

City in Ruins (William Morrow) by Don Winslow

The House on Biscayne Bay (Berkley) by Chanel Cleeton

Two Friends, One Dog, and a Very Unusual Week (Peachtree) by Sarah L. Thomson

For Worse (Blackstone) by L.K. Bowen

A Killing on the Hill (Thomas & Mercer) by Robert Dugoini

The Clock Struck Murder (Poisoned Pen Press) by Betty Webb

The Book That Broke the World (Ace) by Mark Lawrence

The Forgetters (Heyday Books) by Greg Sarris

Lost to Dune Road (Thomas & Mercer) by Kara Thomas

Warrior on the Mound (Holiday House/Peachtree) by Sandra Headed

Pictures of Time (Silver Street Media) by David AlexanderBare Knuckle (Blackstone Publishing) by Stayton Bonner

Murder on Demand (Blackstone Publishing) by Al Roker

Home is Where the Bodies Are (Blackstone) by Jeneva Rose

MAY

Matterhorn by Christopher Reich

The Hunter's Daughter (Berkley) by Nicola Solvinic

The House That Horror Built (Berkley) by Christina Henry

In our stars (Berkley) by Jack Campbell

Freeset (book 2) (Blackstone) by Sarina Dahlan

Southern Man (William Morrow) by Greg Iles

Camino Ghosts (Doubleday) by John Grisham

JUNE

Specter of Betrayal by Rick DeStefanis

Lake County (Thomas & Mercer) by Lori Roy

Serendipity (Dutton) by Becky Chalsen

Shelterwood (Ballantine) by Lisa Wingate

The (Mostly) True Story of Cleopatra’s Needle (Holiday House) by Dan Gutman

Jackpot (Penguin) by Elysa Friedland

The Helper (Blackstone) by M.M. Dewil

Winter Lost (Ace) by Patricia Briggs

Shadow Heart (Blackstone) by Meg Gardiner

Lake Country (Thomas & Mercer) by Lori Roy

The Out-of-Town Lawyer (Blackstone) by Robert Rotten

Love Letter to a Serial Killer (Berkley) by Tasha Coryell

Sentinel Berkley) by Mark Greaney

JULY

Three Kings: Race, Class, and the Barrier-Breaking Rivals Who Redefined Sports and Launched the Modern Olympic Age (Blackstone) by Todd Balf

The Night Ends with Fire (Berkley) by K.X. Song

Echo Road (Montlake) by Melinda Leigh

It’s Elementary (Berkley) by Elise Bryant

You Shouldn’t Be Here (Thomas & Mercer) by Lauren Thoman

Back In Black (Blackstone) edited by Don Bruns

The Recruiter (Blackstone) by Gregg Podolski

AUGUST

You Shouldn’t Be Here (Thomas & Mercer) by Lauren Thoman ARC

Not What She Seems (Thomas & Mercer) by Yasmin Angoe NG

Fatal Intrusion by Jeff Deaver/Isabella Maldonado

Death at Morning House (HARPERTeen) by Maureen Johnson

Fire and Bones (Scribner) by Kathy Reichs

Some Nightmares Are Real (University of Alabama Press) by Kelly Kazoo

The Brothers Kenny (Blackstone) by Adam Mitzner

Blind to Midnight (Blackstone) by Reed Farrel Coleman

The Wayside (Blackstone) by Carolina Wolff

Enemy of the State (Blackstone) by Robert Smartwood

You Will Never Be Me (Berkley) by Jesse Q. Sutanto

On Settler Colonialism: Ideology, Violence, and Justice (W.W. Norton) by Adam Kirsch

We Love the Nightlife (Berkley) by Rachel Koller Croft

Talking To Strangers (Berkley) by Fiona Barton

An Honorable Assassin (Blackstone) by Steve Hamilton possible interview see email

Dungeon Crawler Carl (1 of 6 but see next two months) (Ace) by Matt Dinniman

SEPTEMBER

Fatal Intrusion (Thomas & Mercer) by Jeffrey Deaver and Isabella Maldonado

When They Last Saw Her (Penguin) by Marcie Rendon

American Ghoul (Blackstone) by Michelle McGill-Vargas

First Do No Harm (Blackstone) by Steve Hamilton

A Quiet Life: A Novel (Arcade) by William Cooper and Michael McKinley

One More From the Top (Mariner) by Emily Layden

No Address (Forefront Books) by Ken Abraham.

Tiger’s Tale (Blackstone) by Colleen Houck

An Academy for Liars (Ace) by Alexis Henderson

Rewitched (Berkley) by Lucy Jane Wood

Gaslight (Blackstone) by Sara Shepard and Miles Joris-Peyrafitte

Counting Miracles (Random House) by Nicholas Sparks

The Village Library Demon-Hunting Society (Ace) by C.M. Waggoner

The Hitchcock Hotel (Berkley) by Stephanie Wrobel

In the Garden of Monsters by Crystal King

Carl’s Doomsday Scenario (2 of 6 see next month also) (Ace) by Matt Dinniman

OCTOBER

The Hushed (Blackstone) by K.R. Blair NG

A Grim Reaper’s Guide to Catching a Killer (Berkley) by Maxie Dara

On Settler Colonialism: Ideology, Violence, and Justice (Norton) by WSJ Weekend review editor Adam Kirsch

Framed (Doubleday) by John Grisham and Jim McCloskey

This Cursed House (Penguin) by Del Sandeen

The Puzzle Box (Random House) by Danielle Trussoni

Two Good Men (Blackstone) by S.E. Redfearn

Dark Space (Blackstone) by Rob Hart and Alex Segura

This Cursed House (Berkley’s open submission)by Del Sandeen

Vindicating Trump (Regnery) by Dinesh D’Souza

The Book of Witching (Berkley) by C.J. Cooke

The World Walk (Skyhorse) by Tom Turcich

The Waiting Game by Michael Connelly  ARC, possible interview see email

Beyond Reasonable Doubt (Thomas & Mercer) by Robert Dugoni

Dungeon Anarchist’s Cookbook (3 of 6, with bonus material) (Ace) by Matt Dinniman

Frozen Lives (Blackstone) by Jennifer Graeser Fronbush NG

Vincent, Starry Starry Night (Meteor 17 Books) intro by Don McLean

Paris in Winter: An Illustrated Memoir (PowerHouse Books) by David Coggins

NOVEMBER

The Waiting (Little, Brown) by Michael Connelly

The Teller of Small Fortunes (Penguin) by Julie Long

Shadow Lab (Blackstone) by Brendan Deneen

Trial by Ambush (Thomas & Mercer) by Marcia Clark

Devil Take It (Heresy Press) by Daniel Debs Nossiter

SerVant of Earth (Ace) by Sarah Hawley

All the other me (Blackstone) by Jody Holford

The Perfect Marriage (Blackstone reissue re-edit) by Jenny Rose

DECEMBER

Trial By Ambush (Thomas & Mercer) by Marcia Clark

The Close-Up (Gallery Books) by Pip Drysdale

The Silent Watcher (Thomas & Mercer) by Victor Methos

Leviathan (Lividian Trade HC) by Robert McCammon

The Silent Watcher (Thomas & Mercer) by Victor Method

Assume Nothing (Thomas & Mercer) by Joshua Corin

One example link:
https://enewscourier.com/2024/11/29/in-review-booking-a-full-year-of-reading/

An Honorable Assassin by Steve Hamilton is the third in the Nick Mason series, Mason, just out of federal precision, needs to kill a bad guy or his ex-wife and daughter will suffer the consequences. Interpol’s #1 on the most wanted “Red Notice” list escapes Mason who must then work with an Interpol agent to save his family. There’s exciting non-stop action in this unique international thriller.

I enjoyed most of this book. There was a lot of action and a sense of urgency. The villains were diabolical and not all of them were on the other side which made it more insidious.

Mason was an interesting character. While I don't know if I would call him an honorable assassin, he did have his own code that he tried to live by. He tried to make a difference in one little girl's life which was honorable. Seeing him care for her was one of the high points of the story for me.


I didn't like all the swearing in the book and felt it didn't need the sex scene either...at least it wasn't graphic.

Thank you to Blackstone Publishing for providing me with a free e-copy of this book. All opinions are my own.

I would like to thank Netgalley, Blackstone Publishing and Steve Hamilton for the chance to read An Honorable Assassin. Steve Hamilton is a new Author for me. I am going to read the rest of this series because I couldn't put this one down. The main Character Nick Mason is excellent. I found this book to be one where if I closed my eyes I could imagine the events as if I was there. This is a must read if you want twists and lots of action. The way it ended is something that I wonder why it happens but then realized it does probably happens in real life. This is a must read book.

A lethal assassin who operates in ever-shifting shades of grey.

Nick Mason made a bargain a while back in order to be released from federal prison 20 years early, and it was one he soon regretted. While he was free from a prison cell he was now a reluctant assassin for Chicago crime lord Darius Cole, knowing that if he did not do what he was ordered to do Cole would have Mason’s ex-wife Gina and daughter Adriana killed. When he finally killed Cole Mason thought he could leave that life behind, but found out that Cole was but a mid-level player in a much larger organization, one which had no intention of losing Mason’s services. He now finds himself in Jakarta, Indonesia, and within hours of his arrival he is expected to kill Hashim Baya, an independent sponsor of terrorism known as The Crocodile. Mason has a local team to support him headed by Torino (who doesn’t want Mason around,), Luna who acts as his spotter and back-up, and Farhan his driver and guide to navigating the unfamiliar culture. With little data provided and no time with which to formulate a plan it is little more than a exercise in suicide, but with a combination of skills and luck Mason survives the first aborted attempt and must make another. The head of the organization is determined to have Baya eliminated, and with Gina’s and Adriana’s lives hanging in the balance Mason has no option but to keep trying to get to Baya and kill him, but Baya remains a step ahead at each turn. Working in an unfamiliar territory with limited and often faulty intel with a support team whom he is unsure he can trust, and having attracted the attention of an Interpol investigator who has his own reasons to want Baya dead, Mason can only take one step after another to remove Baya from the board in time to save those he loves from horrible deaths….even if he himself dies in doing it.
The third in the Nick Mason series, An Honorable Assassin is a fast paced thriller tracking an anti-hero who is out of his element as he seeks to kill a man he doesn't know for reasons he doesn’t understand. His lethality is a commodity co-opted by an organization with far-reaching influence, and when he asks for answers is told that, “The bullet does not ask the gun why it was fired.”. Luna, who is another useful tool that the organization has under their control, tells Nick to stop clinging to a code of honor….she gave up long ago. But his love for Gina and Adriana gives him the strength to fight on, and while he has blood on his hands that he might never be able to wash away he does try to do some good along the way. Fans of Gregg Hurwitz, Mark Greaney and Harlan Coben should give this book and the preceding two titles in the series a try. Readers of author Steve Hamilton’s Alex McKnight series will find this a departure from those books, but a worthwhile read nonetheless. With a troubled but engaging protagonist, settings that veer between glamorous and squalid, and villains who really need killing, An Honorable Assassin delivers a terrific story. Many thanks to NetGalley and Blackstone Publishing for allowing me early access to the latest thriller from an accomplished author.

Nick mason is finally back. An Honorable Assassin by Steve Hamilton is the third book and Nick is still caught in a bad place. He is flown into Jakarta to kill someone to save his family but it is not as easy as it should be. I have been a fan of Steve Hamilton since I discovered his Alex McKnight and so far everything he has written is great. I like this book because he puts Nick in a situation where he finds that things are not what it seems and the clash with a different culture is evident. It is as always well written and there are some twists that I rellay liked. I must thank Netgalley and Blackstone Publishing for letting me read this advance copy. I really recommend that you try something by this author.

Steve Hamilton is best known for his series featuring former Detroit cop turned reluctant Upper Peninsula private eye, Alex McKnight. McKnight appeared in eleven novels between 1999 and 2018. The first, A Cold Day in Paradise—which I heartily recommend—netted Hamilton an Edgar Award for Best First Novel. The McKnight books are meaty, well-plotted, character-driven extravaganzas, but they never attracted many readers outside the P.I. genre. Which is a shame because they are as good as anything the mystery genre has to offer.

In 2016, Hamilton changed course and released a crime thriller, The Second Life of Nick Mason, to great fanfare. It made multiple best-of-year lists, including from NPR and Kirkus Reviews and, perhaps most telling, it landed on the New York Times bestseller list. The Second Life of Nick Mason combined a rich Chicago setting with solid characterization and an intricate (and surprising) plot. It, frankly, surpassed most thrillers of its kind on every level. Hamilton followed it up with the second Nick Mason book, Exit Strategy, in 2017, then in 2018 released an oddball Alex McKnight book—odd because, unlike the other McKnight books, it alternates between first and third person and is told from multiple character perspectives—titled Dead Man Running. Since then, other than a co-authored novel with Janet Evanovich, Steve Hamilton has been silent.

At least until now, because his third Nick Mason title, An Honorable Assassin, is scheduled for release tomorrow (Aug. 27). The Second Life of Nick Mason opened with Mason being released from a 25-years-to-life sentence, for a truck heist gone wrong, after serving only five years. Part of the deal is Mason must work as an assassin for a Chicago gangster named Darius Cole; the guy who arranged for Mason’s release. Those first two books are about Mason’s struggle to break free from Cole and now in An Honorable Assassin, after he has finally escaped Cole, he finds himself bound to a mysterious and sinister international cartel.

An Honorable Assassin begins only hours after Exit Strategy ends. Mason is sent to the world’s second largest city, Jakarta, Indonesia, without any instructions except that he’ll be met at the airport. When he arrives in Jakarta, even before he has left the airport, Mason’s first assignment is dished out—assassinate a wealthy terrorist sponsor named Hasham Baya as he arrives on a skyscraper’s helipad. Everything goes wrong: Baya escapes, the building is overrun by Indonesia’s paramilitary unit, Detachement-88, and Mason is arrested. The mission planning seems non-existent to Mason and, even worse, before he can get out of police custody a French Interpol agent, Martin Sauvage, takes an interest in him.

Unlike Hamilton’s first two Nick Mason novels, which are a marvelous marriage of the crime and the thriller genres, An Honorable Assassin is a straight-line rocket propelled thriller. It is closer to Lee Child and David Baldacci than what we are used to seeing from Hamilton, but the electric style and frenetic pacing keep the pages turning and the reader from wandering into the improbabilities of the plot. A step below the first two books in the series, An Honorable Assassin is still a bunch of fun and very much worth reading.

A little different take on the assassin for hire book. An assassin is forced into work by a group holding the safety of his family over his head. He heads to Southeast Asia where the book takes places. Nothing is it seems. He works with a group that runs into issue after issue. The first 3/4 of the book moves really well and I really enjoyed it. The ending seems a little less cohesive and I did not like the way Baya was lured to the last location. Just didn't seem to fit with the rest of the story. I did like the Interpol agent's relationship with Mason and look forward to reading more from this author. The action in a different part of the world than I am familiar with made the story fun to read.

After making a deal with a crime lord to be released from prison early, Nick Mason has traded one bad situation for another. He now has a new but anonymous boss who is forcing Nick to assassinate an international terrorist financier by threatening the lives of his ex-wife and daughter. Nick's first attempt in Jakarta fails, and he sets off on an action-filled hunt across Indonesia to complete his mission and ensure his family's safety. This book goes non-stop from the first page and if you like thrillers with plenty of action, this one will keep you hooked. #NetGalley. #AnHonorableAssassin

It's been 7 years. Nick Mason is back. An absolute scorcher of a thriller and too long of a wait. Great read.

Non-stop action. A burst of adrenaline. Harrowing situations that our lead, Nick Mason, finds himself in and has to get out of. Steve Hamilton delivers once again with a twisty plot, the aforementioned action (more so than in previous installments), and characters you will care about.

Great thriller by Hamilton.
Mason is a hit man under the thumb of a shadow ops leader who prefers to remain anonymous. He was released from prison only to be taken into the organization and controlled by threats to his ex wife and their daughter.
In Jakarta, he is given his new assignment to kill an internationally known and feared violent criminal leader named Baya and tracks him as he moves about, failing in his mission to kill him on a couple of occasions.
In his quest, he meets up with an Interpol agent who also wants Baya dead and together they work to hunt him down.
An absolutely riveting thriller with non stop action, mayhem and intriguing side stories that completely
complement and enhance the main plot. The characters are finely tuned and their placement within the story, well crafted.
My first Nick Mason story but more than ready for the next one up.

It's been a long time between Nick Mason books. The first was in 2016 and the second a year later. But finally we are given a third in the series.

In this third installment of the Nick Mason series, Nick has spent 5 years in a max security prison when he is offered a deal to get out of there many years early but there’s always a catch. Nick is sent to Jakarta to hunt down and kill a man known as The Crocodile. The kill goes horribly wrong and now Nick must do everything he can to save himself, his child, and his ex wife.

Nick is now on a collision course with Interpole agent Martin Sauvage. Mick wants The Crocodile dead and Sauvage wants him in a cell.
It’s a war of wills to see who comes out on top.

One might miss the Alex Knight crime novels. And one might be surprised that Hamilton is throwing down thrillers ala Vince Flynn but this is series fun. If you are looking to have some time alone to get lost in a novel this is it. Plan on a rest break though you'll need it for this high octane thrill ride.

Action. A lot of action. A lot of hang on to your seat action. If you like action, you'll love An Honorable Assassin. Did I mention Steve Hamilton's latest Nick Mason thriller has a lot of action? Seriously, Hamilton reminds us with each book why he is an award winning author. Both his Alex McKnight and Nick Mason books are essential reads for any fiction lover. An Honorable Assassin grips you from the start and simply doesn't let go. Mason has a lot of challenges to overcome in this one--especially since he is no longer on familiar turf. There are new locations populated by new characters who Mason may or may not wish he'd met. However, I must point out there are some breaks from the action and Hamilton deftly handles those scenes. As much as this book focuses on action and adventure, the heart of this story is family. Thoughts of family is a constant shared by multiple characters in this terrific thriller. This riveting read will leave you hoping there's another Nick Mason adventure in the near future. Thank you to Blackstone Publishing and NetGalley for the advance reading copy in exchange for my honest opinion.

This is an action-packed novel from beginning to end, more so than the two previous novels in the series. There was a long wait for this third installment, and I had forgotten some elements of the arc of the plot. Even so, it was well written and engaging if you are in the market for an action book. There was a bit of mystery which was set up at the end of the book to be investigated in the next installment. I recommend this book to anyone who wants a quick read that reads like an action movie/thriller. Many thanks to Blackstone Publishing and NetGalley for an ARC of this novel

The third entry into the world of Nick Mason and the reader is kept on the edge of their seat just as much as they were with the first two. Having ended the life of the man who freed him from his prison sentence, Nick Mason now finds himself on the other side of the world, thousands of miles away from Chicago. Thrown into the unfamiliar surroundings of Southeast Asia, Nick does what he does best, he finds a way to keep his head above water. This book was a page turner, I didn't want to put it down, and there are very few books nowadays that have that kind of grasp on me. Steve Hamilton writes with such fluidity that there are seamless transitions between not only the chapters, but the storylines and the sub plots. There is of course an erroneous subplot that is not needed in the book as it really doesn't help progress the story much, but i can overlook that because overall, this book is amazing and i cannot wait for the next installment.

The perfect blend of action and mystery, with a charismatic protagonist and vivid descriptions of extravagant set pieces that put you in the action. One of the best thrillers of the year.

This is one of those books that's all plot, and very little else. It's a good plot, if you like rock-'em-sock-'em nonstop action, but that's really all you'll find here.

The effort to give the characters depth is awkward and simplistic. It's very difficult to develop attachments to the characters because of the clumsy way they're drawn.

Perhaps even worse, the exotic settings were completely wasted. They're described, of course, but those descriptions bring no sense of life or immediacy. I know many of the settings here fairly well from my personal experience, and I simply felt no tug of recognition. More's the pity, because they could have been extraordinary if they had been made more real.

Please don't mistake what I'm saying here. This certainly isn't a bad book, but it's more of a comic book than it is a real novel. And personally, I just don't find comic books all that appealing.