Scan barcode
marieplatts's review against another edition
dark
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
arathi's review against another edition
3.0
Emily Kenyon is called to a house which has been uprooted by the storm and she discovers 3 dead bodies, the only problem is they were all shot and their deaths were not because of the storm!
Emily has to solve these murders while trying to trace her daughter who just vanishes from her room overnight!
Is her daughter mixed up with the only survivor from the house affected by the storm or will she herself be a victim of the circumstances?
Emily has to solve these murders while trying to trace her daughter who just vanishes from her room overnight!
Is her daughter mixed up with the only survivor from the house affected by the storm or will she herself be a victim of the circumstances?
scott_a_miller's review against another edition
4.0
Olsen writes some seriously sick bad guys. This one was a tough match for several good cops. In the end, the mystery played out nicely. Emily has a solid future. I look forward to the next one.
Olsen writes the Pacific Northwest well. I haven’t encountered many books set there but find that I really enjoy them. It’s a good thing I have many of his books to choose from. I’ll get to Emily’s next one sooner than later.
Olsen writes the Pacific Northwest well. I haven’t encountered many books set there but find that I really enjoy them. It’s a good thing I have many of his books to choose from. I’ll get to Emily’s next one sooner than later.
kshor's review against another edition
3.0
Kept me interested. Typical serial killer thriller from the detectives perspective. I predicted the ending pretty early on.
caitlinxmartin's review against another edition
1.0
I like a good thriller, but this doesn't qualify. It wasn't horrible, but it wasn't great either - slightly less than mediocre - not a ringing recommendation.
The plot was thin & had loose ends hanging about all over the place that never really got resolved or that got resolved in unbelievable ways. I hated the main character for being such an incompetent whiner. I mean, really, you're the Chief Detective in your town & a murdered family has been discovered in the middle of the night, but rather than see the investigation through you go home to sleep until the morning & don't supervise the crime scene. Add to that the very minor (but irksome) misidentification of BB King as a New Orleans musician (he was born in Mississippi & did most of his recording in Memphis, thank you very much) & I was pretty underwhelmed from the very beginning.
I persevered to completion, thinking it might get better, but it did not. I won't look for this author again.
The plot was thin & had loose ends hanging about all over the place that never really got resolved or that got resolved in unbelievable ways. I hated the main character for being such an incompetent whiner. I mean, really, you're the Chief Detective in your town & a murdered family has been discovered in the middle of the night, but rather than see the investigation through you go home to sleep until the morning & don't supervise the crime scene. Add to that the very minor (but irksome) misidentification of BB King as a New Orleans musician (he was born in Mississippi & did most of his recording in Memphis, thank you very much) & I was pretty underwhelmed from the very beginning.
I persevered to completion, thinking it might get better, but it did not. I won't look for this author again.
jonetta's review against another edition
2.0
The author, Gregg Olsen, is renowned for his true crime novels and I cannot wait to get to them; I don’t question his writing skills in that genre. However, his hand at this work of fiction fell really short for me.
The major problem with this book is with the characterizations and it starts with the main character, Emily Kenyon. She doesn’t seem to have strong relationships with anyone (ex-husband, ex-boyfriend, boss, co-worker) but the underlying reasons of how they got that way were never really addressed and of course they pivot without explanation later in the story. Getting who Emily is was critical to believing and understanding the course of the investigation. When you can’t get a grip on the main character (who does something completely foul in the middle of story), it’s really difficult to relate to her and invest in the rest of the story.
Normally, serial killers are the most well defined characters in a mystery/suspense story. The one here seemed to be pretty clear until we get to the end of the story and nobody is behaving to type. I still don’t understand what happened and why.
This was a convoluted plot with poorly developed characters that in the end didn't make a whole lot of sense. It was hard to predict character's behaviors as I never felt I got to know them, really. The device where the story goes back and forth in time was okay but when we were reading the thoughts of undefined and unidentified characters who never showed up again, it was hard to figure out what was important. If Olsen had spent more time developing the main characters and the serial killer, the story would have worked better. As it was, this was just a mess for me.
I will definitely read the two true crime novels I’ve purchased but I can’t continue this series, even though I bought the next (and last) book. I peeked and found out what I needed to know.
The major problem with this book is with the characterizations and it starts with the main character, Emily Kenyon. She doesn’t seem to have strong relationships with anyone (ex-husband, ex-boyfriend, boss, co-worker) but the underlying reasons of how they got that way were never really addressed and of course they pivot without explanation later in the story. Getting who Emily is was critical to believing and understanding the course of the investigation. When you can’t get a grip on the main character (who does something completely foul in the middle of story), it’s really difficult to relate to her and invest in the rest of the story.
Normally, serial killers are the most well defined characters in a mystery/suspense story. The one here seemed to be pretty clear until we get to the end of the story and nobody is behaving to type. I still don’t understand what happened and why.
This was a convoluted plot with poorly developed characters that in the end didn't make a whole lot of sense. It was hard to predict character's behaviors as I never felt I got to know them, really. The device where the story goes back and forth in time was okay but when we were reading the thoughts of undefined and unidentified characters who never showed up again, it was hard to figure out what was important. If Olsen had spent more time developing the main characters and the serial killer, the story would have worked better. As it was, this was just a mess for me.
I will definitely read the two true crime novels I’ve purchased but I can’t continue this series, even though I bought the next (and last) book. I peeked and found out what I needed to know.
baggman's review against another edition
3.0
After first reading A Wicked Snow, I was really looking forward to reading A Cold Dark Place. I'm extremely sorry to say that, for me, it didn't measure up.
A Cold Dark Place just didn't pull me into the story-line as did Olsen's first offering. I didn't get the feeling that I was participating in the events taking place, but rather reading a story. Does that make any sense? I wasn't walking down the path with the protagonists, looking over their shoulder, telling them to be careful. I was reading what they did, and saying, "What? I can't believe that."
Sorry, didn't care for the characters, any of them. Except, maybe Christopher, the old partner and "close" friend. Unfortunately, he had a minor role in the play. Emily, the protagonist, was kind of annoying. Sure, I know she was trying to find someone close, and under extreme pressure. But, I couldn't feel it. I couldn't even get myself to worry about the missing girl.
The killer for me was the ending, where all characters come together for the final action. It's here that a man is beaten senseless with a length of re-bar, but a minute later is explaining why he hates his father. And, another is shot three times, point blank in the chest, then complains that he wants an ambulance. Things that made me say, "Come on now."
2 1/2 stars. Perhaps, had the ending been a little different I would have given it 3 stars. The book wasn't bad, it just didn't reach the bar height established by A Wicked Snow. It seemed that the story was forced, that the author was going out of his way to cover all the mystery/suspense bases. It certainly doesn't make me any less enthusiastic to get hold of another Gregg Olsen novel. Maybe I've been reading too much, and I'm burned out. Or, maybe I'm expecting too much. In any case, my rating system tells me that I wasn't sad that I finished the book, but more so that it didn't match my expectations.
A Cold Dark Place just didn't pull me into the story-line as did Olsen's first offering. I didn't get the feeling that I was participating in the events taking place, but rather reading a story. Does that make any sense? I wasn't walking down the path with the protagonists, looking over their shoulder, telling them to be careful. I was reading what they did, and saying, "What? I can't believe that."
Sorry, didn't care for the characters, any of them. Except, maybe Christopher, the old partner and "close" friend. Unfortunately, he had a minor role in the play. Emily, the protagonist, was kind of annoying. Sure, I know she was trying to find someone close, and under extreme pressure. But, I couldn't feel it. I couldn't even get myself to worry about the missing girl.
The killer for me was the ending, where all characters come together for the final action. It's here that a man is beaten senseless with a length of re-bar, but a minute later is explaining why he hates his father. And, another is shot three times, point blank in the chest, then complains that he wants an ambulance. Things that made me say, "Come on now."
2 1/2 stars. Perhaps, had the ending been a little different I would have given it 3 stars. The book wasn't bad, it just didn't reach the bar height established by A Wicked Snow. It seemed that the story was forced, that the author was going out of his way to cover all the mystery/suspense bases. It certainly doesn't make me any less enthusiastic to get hold of another Gregg Olsen novel. Maybe I've been reading too much, and I'm burned out. Or, maybe I'm expecting too much. In any case, my rating system tells me that I wasn't sad that I finished the book, but more so that it didn't match my expectations.
izziepowers's review against another edition
3.0
This was okay. Definitely dragged on and I agree with a lot of the other reviews it can be hard to follow at times with all the time hopping. Ending wasn’t really surprising but I didn’t hate it, so 3 stars seems fair.
joxertd's review against another edition
2.0
I like Olsen's work normally. This one I think is not his best.