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abibliofob's review
5.0
noveldeelights's review
5.0
Die Cold is the fourth instalment in the Jake Boulder series and really, if you’re not reading these, you need to go sit in a corner and think about your life’s choices!
First things first, do yourselves a favour and do not treat this as a stand-alone! Jake’s struggle is real and I feel it’s important that you know him as well as you possibly can to understand him and his actions better. Our reluctant hero has been through a lot and events from the previous book especially have made a massive impact on him.
So much so, that he’s left behind family, friends and his hometown. Jake is now working as a bartender at an exclusive ski resort in Vermont. It’s New Year’s Eve but before the champagne even has the opportunity to start flowing, terrorists hold up the lodge and take everyone hostage. Their female leader is a cold and vile woman who has no qualms whatsoever in getting her point across. But what is it these terrorists want? Stuck up on a mountain in the middle of a fierce snow blizzard, what are the odds that help is coming? Does anyone even realise the people at the resort need any help? Or will it be left to Jake to save the hostages and the day?
Die Cold should have come with a warning to hook up an oxygen tank before you start reading because hoo boy, I found myself thrown right into the action from the very first page and it just didn’t let up! I was holding my breath numerous times (not literally, obviously, or I probably wouldn’t be here right now), could almost feel the adrenaline pumping inside my veins and was quite frankly left utterly exhausted. This would make an incredible action movie!
Now, I must admit, I missed Alphonse. But a character called Daniel made up for so much of that and I’m kind of hoping (possibly against all hope) that he might somehow make an appearance in other Boulder books. I’d quite like that. Through Daniel’s eyes and a few other hostages, we constantly get a glimpse into what’s going on, which really added to the tension. I found myself desperately trying to figure out what the terrorists had in mind, while all the time hoping I’d never find myself in that position.
What an immensely thrilling journey this was. Action-packed from the word “go”, tense, totally addictive and a fantastic addition to this series, Die Cold may just leave you gasping for air. I absolutely can’t wait to see where Graham Smith takes Jake Boulder next. Although, I do hope it’s somewhere warmer.
sarahs_bookish_life's review
5.0
The story starts off well and truly in the thick of things with the hotel that Boulder is working in being taken over by terrorists. It's not often that stories start off like this so right away I was thrown back into my seat and right then I knew I was in for another thrilling read.
In Die Cold we have not one, but two strong female roles. I was literally in my element reading of both women. On one hand we have Sharon, like Boulder she is Scottish and there is no holding this lady back. She is strong minded and feisty and her bravery was out standing. She plays a major part in helping Boulder and was great to have a female in this role.
The other lady in question is Hannah. We don't get to know a lot about her but she seems to be in charge of the whole take over and was refreshing to have a lead female baddie. As much as I really disliked this cold and calculating woman, I also to some extent couldn't help but admire her.
This is a story that starts off running and is packed full of action, violence and thrills. It probably won't be for the more feint hearted of readers but for those among us that love to have an edge of your seat experience then this series is definitely one for you.
Die Cold is a story that will certainly grab you by the throat and send you hurtling at full speed through it. An absolute page turner of a read that will have the adrenaline coursing through your veins. Not sure how the author keeps managing to top the last but each one is as effortlessly brilliant as the last one.
My thanks to Bloodhound Books for an advanced readers copy of this book. All opinions are my own and not biased in anyway.
meggyroussel's review
4.0
So glad to be able to bring back Jake Boulder on Chocolate'n'Waffles!
Thank you so much to Emma at Bloodhound Books for inviting me to be part of the blog tour for this new installment of the series! This review is unbiased and based on my sole opinion.
It really is exciting to review a new book in a series you’ve been following and reading. Exciting and scary, as always. What if this time, I’m bored?
Ah ah. Jake Boulder doesn’t do boring. I’m pretty sure that even if he tried, he’d fail. His author always makes sure we get the best of this character. But even if Jake wants to avoid trouble, trouble always finds him...
I don’t like skiing. I love the cold as long as I can stay under a blanket in front of a good fire. I’d never book a holiday in the middle of nowhere with only a few escape paths. Being trapped by a snowstorm on a white top? NO WAY. This is probably why Graham Smith’s latest novel had me claustrophobic very early on! The setting, although beautiful I imagine, is described in such a detailed manner that you instantly understand the dangers, the issues. I mean, first, it’s cold! Then the snow is never your friend. But where in some other fiction, the setting would have only been brushed, in Die Cold, it is a character in itself. Something Jake Boulder has to fight against. As if he didn’t already have enough on his plate…
Because while snowflakes cut wealthy-people’s idea of a paradise holiday from the rest of the world, terrorists take over the place. I was skeptical when I read the word terrorist for the first time, dreading a religious side to the attack. Call it a scar from today’s society. But Graham Smith is smart, and he uses this fear to take it in another direction. A bunch of crazy but extremely professional and heavily armed people in charge for an unknown reason? My instinct was going crazy. I loved how the reader is not given access to every information. Like Jake, we are in the dark regarding the bad guys’ plans, the silence surrounding their mission being as deafening as the methods they use to get what they want. I could see the fear and rage on the hostages’ faces, the blood run cold in each body. Still, there is no respite in the narration. You witness events that trigger reactions, good and bad, from both sides.
Now, let’s chew the bigger piece of cake. Jake Boulder himself. A haunted man running from a past that he can’t make peace with, hoping his job as a bartender in the middle of nowhere will be enough to give him time to heal, or at least, to stop causing pain. But what broke my heart was the fact that Jake doesn’t realize he actually is the one in pain. Incapable of forgiving himself, forced to second-guess his thoughts and guts because of his past, Jake’s guilt follows him in the snow like a mosquito with a light. All that he wants is to forget, or at least pretend to. Be invisible. But can you really stay dead when lives are at stake and you can help? How do you help when your confidence is shattered? What do you rely on when you are not sure of anything anymore? The questioning going on throughout the novel makes it different from other adrenaline-fuelled novels. Jake doesn’t want to be James Bond. He is never sure his decisions are the right ones. He doesn’t want to kill. I was amazed at how Graham Smith uses guilt as a weapon against his own character, and how as minutes tick by, Jake’s train of thoughts evolves so that the fear of doing wrong is wiped out by the need and desire to make things right. You can SEE it happening. Jake doesn’t want to add a name to the list of dead bodies he’s responsible for, but how long can you spare the bad ones if they don’t play by the rules and are a real threat to innocent people? Would I stick to my shell and say ‘not my problem’? I don’t know, but exploring Jake’s mental fights was as captivating as the game between him and the terrorists.
Plot-wise, Graham Smith hits hard! We get a few characters’ perspective, all in a different situation. We get the shock of the attack, the tension of the never-ending moments when all you can do is wait for rescue, the stress of a plan being carried out step after step, the surprise you’d rather do without. I feared for my dear friend Sharon, a wonderful guest in this fab read (read her review here!)
Die Cold is a brilliantly freezing and addictive read that is not to be confused with an all-action-big-muscle-dull-characters fiction. Gripping and spot-on, it offers a heart-stopping look at what it takes to fight the big evil. One man against many. I cannot wait to meet Jake again!
jessicamap's review
5.0
This is the fourth installment in the Jake Boulder series! I’m always impressed with the books in this series and how they seem to improve as the series progresses. I would highly recommend picking up the other books in this crime series in order to really get a feel for Jake Boulder.
I couldn’t believe how quickly this book picked up. Terrorist taking over the hotel immediately and chaos ensues. This is a high-tension thriller with plenty to keep you fully absorbed. I loved the strong female leads in this novel, Sharon and Hannah, both are a force to be reckoned with but on opposite sides of the hostage situation. Sharon is strong willed and will do anything to help Boulder and the other hostages get away safely. Meanwhile, Hannah is one of the terrorists and makes a truly cold and calculating antagonist.
As expected, there’s some violence and gore in this thriller, including torture. So that’s something to keep in mind before diving into this book and the series. Overall, if you’re looking for a thriller that grabs you and doesn’t let go, then you need to check out Jake Boulder! I hope there’s more to come in this series.