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As this novel opens, we know two things about the narrator: he is in prison, and he went through a terrible trauma as a child that left him mute. What follows is a double-stranded narrative that unfolds in alternating time frames, explaining in counterpoint how he became a criminal and what led to his imprisonment. Like many Christmas presents, some assembly is required for the reader to put the pieces together. But the mute teenager telling the story has a fresh, uncomplicated, and straightforward storytelling style that prevents this narrative complexity from becoming too clever or convoluted. After surviving the undisclosed event that put him in the headlines and left him mute, Michael is sent to live with his uncle, a hapless substitute parent who struggles to find a way to connect with a silent nine-year-old. Michael begins to fool around with locks, fascinated by the puzzle they present, the logic hidden inside. It leads him into trouble with the law as he helps high school friends break into a house as a prank. He ends up sentenced to serve the cruel homeowner who has a beautiful daughter and some very dangerous friends. Michael falls hard for the daughter, who breaks through his reserve through drawing comics, inviting him into a story that they create together, alternating pages as they grow acquainted, but just as their relationship begins to heat up, her father's dubious business dealings leads him to trade Michael’s skills to get out of a bind. In order to protect the girl he loves, Michael has to go to work for professional crooks, summoned by color coded pagers to safecracking jobs around the country. Reading the book is like working a combination, nudging forward in one direction until a piece of the story clicks, then spinning back until another pin from the past falls into place, moving back and forth between time lines to unlock the moment that made Michael fall mute. THE LOCK ARTIST is far more than a suspenseful heist caper. It’s the story of a boy emerging into his own life as well as a touching love story, combining a tricky narrative structure with a protagonist who is disarmingly open, fresh, and honest. The talent that Steve Hamilton has developed over the course of the Alex McKnight series is in full bloom here in this daring and deeply satisfying novel.
Reviewed by Barbara Fister, December 2009
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Contact: Yvonne Klein (ymk@reviewingtheevidence.com)
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