A review by staticdisplay
Ice Cold by Tess Gerritsen

2.0

two stars because "ok" sums it up. I'm new to this series and never watched the show, although I had gotten the impression it was maybe a comedy about two very different people figuring out how to work together while solving crimes. sounds fun! this book is not fun; there's little humor - I can't remember any, off the top of my head. I actually read this in just a day, and the beginning was very interesting: a doctor attends a conference; makes an impulsive decision to go on a trip with an old friend who's also at the conference; they instead get stranded in some weird place with abandoned homes. it was very atmospheric, and the survival aspects and seemingly inexplicable details were compelling. (the medical gore was too much for me so I just skipped over it.) however, the story very suddenly shifts from this small, claustrophobic setting to a much more large-scale story.
Spoilerthe original characters are completely abandoned - some information vaguely suggests that they were found in a car crash, but we don't learn how or any other details about what happened to them, etc.
the polygamous cult angle introduced a bunch of gross details about sexual violence against women and children, which I would really prefer to avoid in my reading. some of the crime-solving aspects seemed entirely made up and unprofessional, which might fly in a cozy mystery but not when your characters are actually the police.