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mikekaz's review
5.0
This is Piccirilli's second book involving Chase, a thief and getaway driver. The first THE COLD SPOT was awesome! A hard to put down novel that sucked you in. Fortunately THE COLDEST MILE is equally strong. The action picks up shortly after the end of THE COLD SPOT. Chase is recovering from his injuries and still dealing with the emotional aspects of what happened. However, he also has a goal, a goal reinforced by the ghosts of his loved ones who have died. The goal: to rescue his grandfather's daughter, Kylie, from being raised in a life of crime by his amoral grandfather. To finance that goal, Chase has a score in mind of robbing a weakening and dysfunctional crime family. Once he scores the money, then he'll hunt his criminal grandfather and rescue Kylie.
The book is moody, brutal and addictive! The action is equally intense as the previous book but at the same time it almost seems subdued. Chase is dealing with issues and problems that take up most of his attention. So the action becomes almost secondary to a lot of what is happening to him. But this also means that Chase is not thinking about what he is doing and making mistakes. It is these mistakes and the brutal bursts of action combined with Chase's emotional turmoil that suck us in. We can't turn away from watching someone hurt and try to do something about it. And having the whole book be retro-pulp noir set in today makes it even more enthralling. A fact that even Chase acknowledges when he notes his "throwback mentality" for using the term strongarm. This time the story is about love and moving on and having to continue to face life. A fact that slaps us across the face at the end of the book. There were revelations made at the end that totally flipped the story and left me aching for more. There is obviously more story beyond this book. Most likely one more novel to complete the trilogy. According to Wikipedia, it is tentatively titled THE COLD AND THE DEAD with no release date planned. I hope that Piccirilli doesn't forget about writing it because I know that I will snag it up in an instant.
The book is moody, brutal and addictive! The action is equally intense as the previous book but at the same time it almost seems subdued. Chase is dealing with issues and problems that take up most of his attention. So the action becomes almost secondary to a lot of what is happening to him. But this also means that Chase is not thinking about what he is doing and making mistakes. It is these mistakes and the brutal bursts of action combined with Chase's emotional turmoil that suck us in. We can't turn away from watching someone hurt and try to do something about it. And having the whole book be retro-pulp noir set in today makes it even more enthralling. A fact that even Chase acknowledges when he notes his "throwback mentality" for using the term strongarm. This time the story is about love and moving on and having to continue to face life. A fact that slaps us across the face at the end of the book. There were revelations made at the end that totally flipped the story and left me aching for more. There is obviously more story beyond this book. Most likely one more novel to complete the trilogy. According to Wikipedia, it is tentatively titled THE COLD AND THE DEAD with no release date planned. I hope that Piccirilli doesn't forget about writing it because I know that I will snag it up in an instant.
alanbaxter's review
5.0
Piccirilli is such a natural noir writer that these books are an utter joy to read, even while they're dark and brutal and unforgiving. A bloody shame the author died so young for many reasons, especially the natural injustice if it, but not least because there's clearly a third book here that we'll never have now. But we can be thankful for these two (this one and The Cold Spot) because they are truly brilliant.
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