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3.99 AVERAGE
3.99 AVERAGE
adventurous
emotional
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I only picked this up because it was free and I wanted a quick, light read. It was mostly some enjoyable brain candy, though I felt she "cheated" a bit by having one part of the solution be something that wasn't really even hinted at earlier in the book. Not the favorite Gerritsen book I've ever read, but it was OK.
I really didn't care as much for this one as I did The Mephisto Club and The Keepsake. Maybe the religious cult storyline has just become overdone.
My mom won this on FirstReads and passed it on to me (hi, mom!).
Not too bad. Would rate it higher, but I know that I won't remember details in even just a few weeks. Still a good read, though. Fast-paced, twisting plot, and engaging storyline. Some gore and some creepy passages that had me wishing it wasn't so late at night while I was reading it. One thing I particularly liked about this book is that contrary to most mainstream mystery/suspense fiction is that the timing wasn't predictable; it was a nice change of pace from the typical A + B = C formulation. It kept me feeling like I was on my toes to the very last page.
Overall, a quick, entertaining read.
Not too bad. Would rate it higher, but I know that I won't remember details in even just a few weeks. Still a good read, though. Fast-paced, twisting plot, and engaging storyline. Some gore and some creepy passages that had me wishing it wasn't so late at night while I was reading it. One thing I particularly liked about this book is that contrary to most mainstream mystery/suspense fiction is that the timing wasn't predictable; it was a nice change of pace from the typical A + B = C formulation. It kept me feeling like I was on my toes to the very last page.
Overall, a quick, entertaining read.
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
dark
mysterious
tense
For pulp fiction, Ice Cold was surprisingly well written, and I'm fascinated by cults, ergo I loved the story. The characters also surprised me - they weren't terribly deep (but then again this is a series, and it's my first of the bunch - perhaps they do develop over the course of several novels) - BUT they were at least not stereotypical stock characters common in the genre. I found myself liking them tremendously and never rolled my eyes once at anything they said.
Still, some flaws and other personal preferences detracted from my rating:
* I am one of those people who becomes squeamish at the sight of a needle, so the medical details about rotting legs, autopsies, puncturing lungs to help someone breathe, and the like were just too much for me to handle. I also have 0 authority to judge if the descriptions were accurate, although I know Gerritsen started out as a doctor, so I give her the benefit of the doubt on that.
* There's a plot twist at the end that just seemed unnecessary and too hasty - it was almost as if Gerritsen wanted to not be the only one in the genre to not engage in this tactic, so she forced it upon the story.
* The pacing was uneven - the "disappearance" mentioned in the blurb wasn't even mentioned until halfway-through the book. The investigation only occurred over the last 100 pages or so (of over 400) - the rest was setup, and then a plot twist took up 20 pages that entirely changed the storyline unnecessarily.
Overall though, a highly enjoyable summer read, with plenty of suspense, sympathetic characters, and a fun escapist story for a city-dweller (the setting is the untamed wilderness of the midwest, culturally, sociologically, and physically as far from the East Coast as possible while still in the US).
Still, some flaws and other personal preferences detracted from my rating:
* I am one of those people who becomes squeamish at the sight of a needle, so the medical details about rotting legs, autopsies, puncturing lungs to help someone breathe, and the like were just too much for me to handle. I also have 0 authority to judge if the descriptions were accurate, although I know Gerritsen started out as a doctor, so I give her the benefit of the doubt on that.
* There's a plot twist at the end that just seemed unnecessary and too hasty - it was almost as if Gerritsen wanted to not be the only one in the genre to not engage in this tactic, so she forced it upon the story.
* The pacing was uneven - the "disappearance" mentioned in the blurb wasn't even mentioned until halfway-through the book. The investigation only occurred over the last 100 pages or so (of over 400) - the rest was setup, and then a plot twist took up 20 pages that entirely changed the storyline unnecessarily.
Overall though, a highly enjoyable summer read, with plenty of suspense, sympathetic characters, and a fun escapist story for a city-dweller (the setting is the untamed wilderness of the midwest, culturally, sociologically, and physically as far from the East Coast as possible while still in the US).
Brilliant! Made me watch the series from the beginning. Great book, well written.