What does honor mean in a world of professional killers? This is the central question Steve Hamilton grapples with in his latest thriller, An Honorable Assassin. In an exclusive interview, the acclaimed author and winner of the Edgar Award takes us behind the scenes of his latest thriller exploring the moral tightrope, Nick Mason the main character of the novel, has to follow.
Steve Hamilton Introduction
Steve Hamilton is an American author best known for this Alex McKnight series, set in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula. He’s written over 18 books, all in the crime fiction genre, with the Alex McKnight series totaling 13 books.
He is now developing yet another series of thriller books, the Nick Mason series, which already has 3 books. The newest installment is An Honorable Assassin released in August 2024 and published by Blackstone Publishing.
Steve Hamilton has also won prestigious awards during his career such as the Edgar and the Shamus Award for his first novel: A Cold Day in Paradise.
I had the pleasure to read and review an advanced copy of the book which was an absolute thrillride to read. If you are looking for a fast-paced, action-filled thriller book to read this end of summer, you should definitely pick up the latest novel from the Nick Mason series.
After reading the book, I had several burning questions I just needed to have the answer to. Mr. Hamilton was very generous with his time and answered some of my most poignant questions.
Let’s dive in!
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Potential Spoilers Ahead
How did the idea of Nick Mason come to you, what were your inspirations for the character?
My previous main characters have been an ex-cop, a probation officer, and a young safecracker, but even the safecracker is pulled into a life of crime against his will.
For Nick Mason, I wanted the challenge of writing about a straight-up criminal, someone who chose this life from a young age, but who still retains an essential humanity and code of ethics. It naturally means a story with a harder edge and higher level of suspense – and If I can still make you root for him in the process, then I’ve done my job as a writer.
For the missions that Mason is on during the story, do you plan those missions ahead or do you write and see what happens?
I have a broad general idea of what the mission is and how it’s going to go. (And in this case, it means going very badly the first time out. And then the second time, too!) But I never know exactly how it’s going to feel – both for Nick and for the reader – until I get there, if that makes sense.
In this book, Mason is faced with characters that do not perform the job the way he does. In the long run with these and other characters, could this potentially change the way he approaches his future missions?
In the first book of the series, Nick has a strict rule. In fact, it’s officially called Rule #1: Never work with strangers. Strangers either put you in prison or they put you in the ground. So that’s the first big challenge he faces in this book, because he’s immediately forced to not only work with strangers, but to do it in a place that’s also totally foreign to him. (And yes, I’m sure this won’t be the last time!)
Mason, for the first time, failed his mission, but he was not phased by it. Is this something that will come up or catch up to him later down the line?
In this case, he does fail in his mission, and in fact, he fails more than once. He’s savvy enough to negotiate his second and third chances here, because he knows that he’s probably the only person who can eventually succeed. I think this teaches him a vital lesson about the people he works with, and his own value to the organization.
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Mason has a name to go after his next target: Zander. What is next in store for Mason?
One key thread in this book was Nick and Luna both finding out more about this man who they really work for. It’s already suggested toward the end that he’s the one they’ll be looking for, so expect more travel to another part of the world in the next book!
His latest installment of the Nick Mason series, An Honorable Assassin, was published on August 27th, 2024, and is available in your local bookstore. I would like to thank Steve Hamilton for taking the time to answer our questions and we cannot wait to see what is in store for Nick Mason on his next mission.
