Read as part of CBR14Bingo “cold” for multiple reasons: it has “ice” in the title, the cover is a woman standing on a frozen body of water outside of an island covered in snow, and it’s set in Finland in November. All of this shouts: cold cold cold!
This is why book bingos are great.
I picked up this book in a Target of all places because I read good things about the author. But knowing it was the second in a series, and seeing as how I’m not the biggest fan of the dark Scandinavian crime books that have populated the shelves since Stieg Larsson’s Salander trilogy hit it big, it sat there for a while. It might have even been a candidate for my inevitable purges but I grabbed it for this and boy, am I glad I did.
I have a strong admiration for writers who know how to move a story along without consistently using tricks. Max Seeck is one of those writers. The plot is a little weighty, and it takes a few more turns than necessary (seriously, you only need one big reveal, maybe two) but it’s a quality thriller that I eagerly devoured. It also did a good job of making me care about the characters, particularly Jessica, who is messy in a readable way. This makes me want to go back and read the first book in the series, though I have a good idea of what happens. I’ll definitely keep an eye on Seeck’s stuff in the future.
