Blood Is the Sky
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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 fathers cabin, recently destroyed in a fire. His description, and Hamiltons 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 Id 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 thered 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.
Its this passage that leads into McKnight assessing whats left of his fathers 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, its clear that McKnight is merely a supporting character in this one. Thought narrated by McKnight, the story really is about Vinnie LeBlanc, McKnights 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, Vinnies ulterior motive comes to the surface. His brother, Tom, has disappeared on a hunting trip in northern Ontario. He soon enlists McKnights help since, as McKnight himself puts it, he has a hard time saying no.
Complicating matters is Toms recent parole from prison. Vinnie let Tom assume his identity as a way to go on the trip and purge a few demons. Tom didnt 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 Canadas 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 its 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?”
“Youre funny,” [Vinnie] said. “Are you ready?”
With all your family in there, were gonna play that game right now. Ill be General Custer.”
He shot me a look. “Dont bring any