Ice Cold by Tess Gerritsen
While this wasn’t by any means a pleasant listen, it was a much welcome listen since the temperature outside my car was reading at over 100 as it was playing. Dr. Maura Isles decides to take a break from her life and take a short vacation with an old acquaintance and his friends after a pathology conference. After a horrible wrong turn (darn those GPS systems!) they are dealing with snow, freezing temperatures and hypothermia in the remote areas of Wyoming. When Maura misses her flight and is unreachable by cell phone her friends, including Detective Rizzoli, set off to Wyoming to track her down.
This is one of those books that you think you know where it’s going and then it takes a complete turn about. There is a completely deserted town (with dinners waiting for diners on the tables), a religious cult led by a charismatic preacher with a taste for young girls, and strange locals obsessed with protecting their land from trespassers. None of these elements play out as I assumed, which to me is a sign of a really good thriller.
I’m not squeamish, but there are some descriptions of the pain and suffering (and gangrene) an injured person is enduring that got a little rough to hear. Just another reminder that what you can skim in a book you can’t get away from in audio. Besides that though, it’s a great listen.
