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badseedgirl's review against another edition
3.0
This was a neo-noir novel, heavy on the noir. I can't say I enjoyed the character of Sarah all that much, she was a bit of a whiney butt. It could be because she was a pregnant 18-year old running away from home put in a stressful situation, but still, every time she opened her mouth I wanted to slap the whine out of it.
Still all and all it was a 31/2 star book and I would read John Rector again.
Still all and all it was a 31/2 star book and I would read John Rector again.
jacki_f's review against another edition
4.0
Nate and Sara are driving through snowy America, hoping to make a fresh start in Nevada. Along the way, they are persuaded to pick up a hitchhiker called Syl who offers them $500 to take him to Omaha. As a blizzard sets in, they are forced to stop at a motel in the middle of nowhere and things abruptly take a turn for the worse. Their hitchhiker is no longer breathing and his backpack contains a sizeable amount of money - enough to give Nate and Sara the fresh start that they badly need. However there's a body to dispose of and then there's the question of who Syl was so desperate to get away from in the first place...
Right from the start this book grabs you and there's a strong sense of menace which builds throughout. I could almost hear the creepy soundtrack playing along, ratcheting up the tension. In the second half the plot becomes increasingly improbable and I also felt that the author missed the opportunity to really build up the villain more than he does. Nevertheless it's a highly readable thriller which is very hard to put down. I devoured it in a day.
This is my first John Rector novel. He has a sparse writing style that's very similar to Neil Cross and indeed this reminded me of Cross's books.
Right from the start this book grabs you and there's a strong sense of menace which builds throughout. I could almost hear the creepy soundtrack playing along, ratcheting up the tension. In the second half the plot becomes increasingly improbable and I also felt that the author missed the opportunity to really build up the villain more than he does. Nevertheless it's a highly readable thriller which is very hard to put down. I devoured it in a day.
This is my first John Rector novel. He has a sparse writing style that's very similar to Neil Cross and indeed this reminded me of Cross's books.
cjay1957's review against another edition
1.0
Fast easy read that you want to be a great explosive ending. Instead it just sort of fizzled out like a weak candle leaving me so disgusted with the ending that I nearly threw the book across the room. Now there's 3 hours I can never get back. Complete waste of time and really, just not that good.
decembermum's review against another edition
3.0
I read this as The Couple in Room 13. It was a 99p Kindle book. Quick, tense, enjoyable with a twist.
As usual stars out of 5 is difficult, too good for 2 so had to give 3, but really a solid 5/10.
As usual stars out of 5 is difficult, too good for 2 so had to give 3, but really a solid 5/10.
raven88's review against another edition
4.0
I found the setting wonderfully claustrophobic and I loved the way little twists were eked into the plot throughout the book. I thought the characterisation was great as Rector has assembled a good mix of the psychopathic, the natural victims and I liked the way that no-one was essentially good being prey to very essentially human foibles e.g greed. The dialogue was crisp and sharp and reminded me in style of Denis Johnson's 'Nobody Move' and Castle Freeman's 'Go With Me' but retaining the filmic qualities of 'A Simple Plan' meets 'Identity'- a great little debut.
moreadsbooks's review against another edition
3.0
If I have learned anything from watching movies, it's that if you Find Money in circumstances that involve dead people, you must absolutely not talk yourself into keeping it to build a better life. Turn it over to the cops, leave it in the downed plane with that dead guy, bury it in the woods, but for god's sake don't take it with you because someone is always going to follow you & try to kill you messily in order to get it back. Happily, though, none of the characters in books like these know the things that I know, so they make their justifications for their foolish choices & I get to read snappy little noir-ish business like this. It's pretty easy to see exactly where all of this is going from the first page, but this is still well-written & tight enough to entertain, especially if you read it with your feet up on a hot day so you can marvel at how it could ever be that cold.
tdeshler's review against another edition
3.0
l liked the tight structure of the small group in the motel, but then the ending sort of fizzled out for me.
ericwelch's review against another edition
4.0
Audiobook. A good thriller must have several things going for it to keep me entertained: I must care about one or more of the characters; I have to want to find out what happens in the end; and it has to be reasonably well written. If the characters are relatively normal people, i.e., don’t have the superhuman powers so common in some thrillers today, that's a plus. My crap-detector swings into overdrive when our hero manages to take on twelve bad guys with one six-shooter and gets all of them. Sometimes two criteria out of three works; sometimes not. Cold Kiss meets all three.
This book reminded me so much of A Simple Plan (https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/39543741) by Scott Smith. Nate and his fiancé find themselves driving into a blizzard on their way to Reno to get married. At a rest stop they meet a man, obviously ill, who offers them $500 to drive him there also as his car needs some work. They agree but as the snow worsens they are forced to stop at a motel in the middle of nowhere with heat but no power. They discover the man has been shot, and, he has a suitcase full of money. One thing leads to another and soon the man is dead, the motel’s handyman is suspicious, the snow is worsening, and everyone is getting greedy.
Paul Michael Garcia reads with a laconic, slow tempo that drives the tension effectively.
This book reminded me so much of A Simple Plan (https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/39543741) by Scott Smith. Nate and his fiancé find themselves driving into a blizzard on their way to Reno to get married. At a rest stop they meet a man, obviously ill, who offers them $500 to drive him there also as his car needs some work. They agree but as the snow worsens they are forced to stop at a motel in the middle of nowhere with heat but no power. They discover the man has been shot, and, he has a suitcase full of money. One thing leads to another and soon the man is dead, the motel’s handyman is suspicious, the snow is worsening, and everyone is getting greedy.
Paul Michael Garcia reads with a laconic, slow tempo that drives the tension effectively.