Wednesday, October 27, 2010

Workout Wednesday: Ice Cold: Suspense That Will Chill You to The Bone




Pages read 97 of 336 pages
Riding Time 1 hours 4 minutes
Calories Burned 242
Distance Peddled 13.42

Disclaimer: Yes I had a read-n-ride fail this week. I had good intentions, but once I started this book...I just had to keep on reading!


Making the Grade: A



For My Thoughts


I do love me some Tess Gerritsen. She’s an auto buy author for me (even if they are in hardcover first). Her books always evoke a wide range of emotions. Her stories are always memorable, compelling and highly suspenseful. Sometimes the descriptions can be graphic since Gerritsen pulls no punches but you just have to keep turning the pages, no matter how cringe worthy the descriptions.

Jane Rizzoli and Maura Isles are back in Gerritsen’s latest novel. Jane and Maura are great friends with a mutual respect for one another and have forged a strong friendship. In Ice Cold one woman battles for her life against evil forces and the elements, while the other races against the clock to save a friend.

If you’ve never read any books in this series, I wouldn’t suggest you start with this one. If you do want to give it a try, there is some back story provided but so much history exists in this series that you would be doing yourself a disservice by not starting with the amazing and unforgettable first book in the series The Surgeon. If you’ve been a follower all along, then buckle in for another great ride. Ice Cold was a chilling, roller-coaster ride that was worth the wait.

Medical examiner Maura Isles is kind of at a crossroads in her life and is in the midst of making a difficult, life changing decision in her personal relationship with Father Daniel Brophy (yes the Catholic kind of Father). So when she heads off to a medical conference in Montana, the time away allows for some personal reflection and a spur of the moment decision to accompany an old classmate she reconnects with at the conference, his daughter and another couple on a little sight-seeing side trip - will result in one of the worst decisions Maura ever makes.

A freak snowstorm and car trouble strands the group in their SUV in the middle of nowhere with no help in sight.  Cold, wet and forced to rely on each other for their survival, the group is forced to trek through the wilderness and fight the elements as they seek shelter in an abandoned settlement they happen upon called Kingdom Come (cue the spooky music). Gerritsen uses the elements in Ice Cold  to the fullest extent as this group struggles to stay alive.

It doesn’t take long to establish that something seriously bad happened among the deserted homes. The evil presence is palpable and Gerritsen is a master at making you feel like you are a part of the story and experience the emotions right along with the characters. There was lots of heart pounding tension and teeth gnashing as I flew through the pages.

Once homicide detective Jane Rizzoli finds out her good friend Maura is missing, she along with her FBI hubby Gabe and Father Daniel trek off to the wilds of Montana to search for Maura, leaving no stone unturned. Jane’s not about to let the local yokels give up on looking for Maura - no matter what the evidence points to.

The suspense is riveting, the story chilling and if you can figure out what was going on before the end, then kudos to you. If you plan to start this book then 1. Don’t start it at night - cuz it’s spooky and 2. You better block off a chunk of time because you won’t want to put it down until the last page is read.


From the Author's Website

In Wyoming for a medical conference, Boston medical examiner Maura Isles joins a group of friends on a spur-of-the-moment ski trip. But when their SUV stalls on a snow-choked mountain road, they’re stranded with no help in sight.
As night falls, the group seeks refuge from the blizzard in the remote village of Kingdom Come, where twelve eerily identical houses stand dark and abandoned. Something terrible has happened in Kingdom Come: Meals sit untouched on tables, cars are still parked in garages. The town’s previous residents seem to have vanished into thin air, but footprints in the snow betray the presence of someone who still lurks in the cold darkness—someone who is watching Maura and her friends.
Days later, Boston homicide detective Jane Rizzoli receives the grim news that Maura’s charred body has been found in a mountain ravine. Shocked and grieving, Jane is determined to learn what happened to her friend. The investigation plunges Jane into the twisted history of Kingdom Come, where a gruesome discovery lies buried beneath the snow. As horrifying revelations come to light, Jane closes in on an enemy both powerful and merciless—and the chilling truth about Maura’s fate.

5 comments:

A Buckeye Girl Reads said...

I haven't read any of her books yet, but am going to have to change that now. This sounds like a great read for when I'm in the mood for a mystery. Do you have to read the series in order?

WEIGHT LESS NOT MORE said...

Colette: If you want to try Tess Gerritsen, I would start with her 1st book The Surgeon. To this day it is one book in this genre (mystery/thriller) that I still remember vividly. I hope you decide to try her sometime. She is one of my favorites and tells an exceptional story.

audreygeddes said...

This one looks intriguing - thanks for the great review! Right now I'm really enjoying a fantastic new fantasy read called, "Blood Soup," by Kelly A. Harmon. The characters are complex, vivid, and compelling. This story is a real page turner.

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