At a very young age, Michael witnessed a horrendous crime. Since then, he’s been unable to speak. Nearly a decade later, Michael learns he has a special skill: he can pick the most difficult of locks, including padlocks, combination locks, even safes.
As punishment for a prank he and a few other teens participate in, Michael is forced to provide manual labor for the family of the victim. It is here that Michael’s trade is discovered. This knowledge falls into the wrong hands and Michael becomes quite a commodity for the wrong kind of people.
Michael also meets Amelia here. She’s the one bright spot in his life, the one person who understands him. The both share a love of drawing that brings them closer together, allows them to communicate without words. She gives him hope for a better life, a future. Their relationship becomes one similar to Romeo & Juliet: two individuals who love one another but cannot due to circumstances beyond their control.
While Michael is bright & extremely intelligent, the fact he does not speak separates him from the outside world. Because of these circumstances, he’s forced to choose a vocation that puts him in danger. Michael is an extremely courageous man, forced to deal with the mistakes of the past and see forward to his future. Despite his line of work, he is an man with a conscious, one that prevents him from doing much darker & deadlier things in order to get paid.
This is my first experience with this author and it will not be my last. Hamilton is extremely talented, weaving the story of a innocent child and the effect that trauma has on his future with a story of crime & corruption. Ultimately it is also a story of love, and how it can help one overcome any obstacle.
I cannot say enough about the narrator, MacLeod Andrews. He does an outstanding job of portraying Michael, both as a child and as an adult. I plan to actively look for and listen to more of his work!
I must thank Jen Forbus from Jen’s Book Thoughts for recommending this book to me. I really shouldn’t be suprised at how much I enjoyed this book, Jen’s recommendations have never steered me wrong. Here is Jen’s review of The Lock Artist, a book she calls “one of the most unique books I have read in a long time.”
If you’re looking for a thriller with a unique storyline then The Lock Artist is the book for you. If you are partial to audiobooks, read it in this format; you won’t regret it.
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