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annamastorou's review against another edition
5.0
Quickest Dutch read. Very suspenseful, preferred picking up the book than my phone - that speaks volumes.
keirareading123's review against another edition
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
monikashim's review against another edition
dark
emotional
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
eslismyjam's review against another edition
5.0
A nail biter! I've never read any of the books in this series before but it didn't matter! This was a scary, suspenseful book. Read it in two days!
weaselweader's review against another edition
4.0
A successful continuation to the Rizzoli and Isles series
Despite the fact that ICE COLD is the 8th entry in the now mature Jane Rizzoli and Maura Isles series, Gerritsen has continued to keep her plotting fresh and exciting and allows her two protagonists to continue changing and evolving, presenting themselves as interesting, exciting and realistic, human characters that their fans will care about.
Medical examiner Maura Isles is unhappy. She has self-diagnosed her personality and her love life as staid, hidebound and unexciting, perhaps even futile. Seeing herself as falling into the moribund trap of utter predictability, she attends a medical conference in Wyoming and allows a friend to persuade her to take an impulsive, unscheduled side trip into the winter wilderness of the Wyoming mountain landscape. A massive winter snowstorm forces her and her companions to seek shelter in a creepy, deserted town called Kingdom Come.
Ironically, Maura Isles' feelings about her day to day behaviour being quite predictable, prove reasonably well-founded as her best friend, Boston homicide detective Jane Rizzoli, is worried when Isles fails to return home at her scheduled time. Casual inquiries into her friend's unlikely late arrival home soon turn into a full-fledged investigation into her best friend's death when she learns that Isles' badly burnt remains have been discovered by the ruins of their car deep in the Wyoming wilderness.
Gerritsen moves her story from interesting procedural into the realm of a compelling thriller as it soon becomes obvious that Rizzoli is prying open the doors of a cult and looking into the behaviour of its enigmatic but charismatic leader, Jeremiah Goode. ICE COLD is a topical thriller that sheds light onto the all too common real-life examples of cult brainwashing, religious programming, far right wing anti-government militarism, mass suicide and the courage it takes to effect an escape from such a group and undergo the extensive de-programming that is necessary to resume a normal life.
ICE COLD represents one more successful notch in Tess Gerritsen's gun and a continuation in a series that, quite clearly, still has plenty of legs. Highly recommended.
Paul Weiss
Despite the fact that ICE COLD is the 8th entry in the now mature Jane Rizzoli and Maura Isles series, Gerritsen has continued to keep her plotting fresh and exciting and allows her two protagonists to continue changing and evolving, presenting themselves as interesting, exciting and realistic, human characters that their fans will care about.
Medical examiner Maura Isles is unhappy. She has self-diagnosed her personality and her love life as staid, hidebound and unexciting, perhaps even futile. Seeing herself as falling into the moribund trap of utter predictability, she attends a medical conference in Wyoming and allows a friend to persuade her to take an impulsive, unscheduled side trip into the winter wilderness of the Wyoming mountain landscape. A massive winter snowstorm forces her and her companions to seek shelter in a creepy, deserted town called Kingdom Come.
Ironically, Maura Isles' feelings about her day to day behaviour being quite predictable, prove reasonably well-founded as her best friend, Boston homicide detective Jane Rizzoli, is worried when Isles fails to return home at her scheduled time. Casual inquiries into her friend's unlikely late arrival home soon turn into a full-fledged investigation into her best friend's death when she learns that Isles' badly burnt remains have been discovered by the ruins of their car deep in the Wyoming wilderness.
Gerritsen moves her story from interesting procedural into the realm of a compelling thriller as it soon becomes obvious that Rizzoli is prying open the doors of a cult and looking into the behaviour of its enigmatic but charismatic leader, Jeremiah Goode. ICE COLD is a topical thriller that sheds light onto the all too common real-life examples of cult brainwashing, religious programming, far right wing anti-government militarism, mass suicide and the courage it takes to effect an escape from such a group and undergo the extensive de-programming that is necessary to resume a normal life.
ICE COLD represents one more successful notch in Tess Gerritsen's gun and a continuation in a series that, quite clearly, still has plenty of legs. Highly recommended.
Paul Weiss
wendy_verbiest's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A
4.5
planetarypan's review against another edition
3.0
A little over the top for me on this one, but still well-written.
ETA: The more I think about it, the less I like this book. It feels so out of place in the R&I series. Maura is basically just thrown into this story that happens to her. The side characters are very two-dimensional, throw-away caricatures. They serve no purpose other than to get Maura into the situation and then make things worse. The mystery is underplayed and insubstantial. Even the twists at the end couldn't save the book (and one of them I had figured out in advance). The only likable/useful character is Rat, and the appearance of Jane and Gabriel cannot save the story. Additionally, parts were left hanging and/or unresolved. I almost feel like this book was sort of a "ripped from the headlines" novel that met a deadline for the next R&I book.
Disappointing. I'm not sure this one deserves even the three stars I gave it which really bothers me because I have pretty much enjoyed every other Gerritsen novel I have read.
ETA: The more I think about it, the less I like this book. It feels so out of place in the R&I series. Maura is basically just thrown into this story that happens to her. The side characters are very two-dimensional, throw-away caricatures. They serve no purpose other than to get Maura into the situation and then make things worse. The mystery is underplayed and insubstantial. Even the twists at the end couldn't save the book (and one of them I had figured out in advance). The only likable/useful character is Rat, and the appearance of Jane and Gabriel cannot save the story. Additionally, parts were left hanging and/or unresolved. I almost feel like this book was sort of a "ripped from the headlines" novel that met a deadline for the next R&I book.
Disappointing. I'm not sure this one deserves even the three stars I gave it which really bothers me because I have pretty much enjoyed every other Gerritsen novel I have read.
salene27's review against another edition
5.0
This book is a great example of why I love Tess Gerritsens's books so much. Just when you think you know what is going on and who did it, she completely changes it up on you! I couldn't believe it when Doug, Elaine, and Grace died, I had figured one of them would, but to completely kill off characters that we got to know is crazy and genius,
paolaarvelo's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
sad
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0