Blood Is the Sky

October 17, 2006

English 101.56

Draft 1, Literary Evaluation

BLOOD IS THE SKY BY STEVE HAMILTON

The book begins with McKnight trying to rebuild his late father's cabin, recently destroyed in a fire. His description, and Hamilton's writing, are extremely vivid right from the first scene.

I saw a lot of fires when I was a cop in Detroit. I was supposed to help secure the scene and then get the hell out of the way, but sometimes I'd stick around and watch the firefighters doing their work. I saw some real battles, but when they were done, the building would always still be standing. That was the thing that got to me. The windows would be blown out, and maybe there'd be a big hole in the roof, but the building would still be there.

Years later, I watched a Lake Superior storm taking down a boathouse. When the storm let up, there was nothing left but a concrete slab covered with sand.

It's this passage that leads into McKnight assessing what's left of his father's cabin and how he starts rebuilding. This entire section looks more like closure from a previous story than the beginning of a new one, but it also does a good job of introducing McKnight to new readers. We see him as a fiftyish loner, trying to lead a quiet life on the edge of civilization.

By the end of the second chapter, though, it's clear that McKnight is merely a supporting character in this one. Thought narrated by McKnight, the story really is about Vinnie LeBlanc, McKnight's Ojibway Indian neighbor.

Vinnie sneaks into the story helping McKnight rebuild the cabin, partly to make amends for a falling out the two had. Soon, though, Vinnie's ulterior motive comes to the surface. His brother, Tom, has disappeared on a hunting trip in northern Ontario. He soon enlists McKnight's help since, as McKnight himself puts it, he has a hard time saying no.

Complicating matters is Tom's recent parole from prison. Vinnie let Tom assume his identity as a way to go on the trip and purge a few demons. Tom didn't return from Canada. Vinnie and McKnight make the eight-hour trek from Paradise, Michigan, into the Canadian wilderness. They arrive at a lodge where Tom and his party left by plane for one of Canada's remote moose lakes. The inhabitants behave strangely, and the police are convinced everyone returned to Michigan.

Vinnie is not. McKnight thinks the situation stinks as well. They enlist the aid of a local hunting guide from the nearby Cree reserve. He and his grandfather drop them at the lake where the hunting party stayed. From there, things turn ugly fast, and McKnight soon watches his friend slowly go to hell and back, trying to connect the dots.

This is a neatly written story, with three clear acts. The evolution of both McKnight and Vinnie are finely drawn. Hamilton peppers their dialogue with a little interracial humor that could easily have gotten cutesy or offensive (or both). Instead, it sounds natural, partly because it's not overdone, and partly because Vinnie gets his digs in as much as McKnight.

I followed him around to the back door. There were toys everywhere - a red car, a big plastic yellow house with green shutters, even a wooden fort like something out of the old west. "What do they do in this fort?" I said. "Play cowboys and indians?"

"You're funny," [Vinnie] said. "Are you ready?"

With all your family in there, we're gonna play that game right now. I'll be General Custer."

He shot me a look. "Don't bring any