I found Cold by John Smolens simply passable as a crime thriller. The author excelled at describing the harsh winter conditions in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula but the story felt dragged out and the characters didn’t feel authentic.

During a blizzard, Norman Haas walks away from his prison work detail completely undetected. He is on a mission to travel back home and back to the past in order to right some wrongs. He encounters a woman who tries to help him but he ends up leaving her alone in the snow, he reunites with his old girlfriend and her daughter and they travel even further north to her father’s wilderness lodge where secrets are buried and confrontations await. Tracking Norman, Constable Del Makki realizes that there is more going on here than simply a walkaway prisoner seeking freedom but by the time he puts all the pieces together, it’s too late to prevent tragedy.

Unfortunately I found Cold overly melodramatic. The narrative was uneven in style, irregular in quality and the ending was entirely too predictable. On the bright side, I did enjoy the snow clad setting. ( )

This started out fine. Most of the characters were not very likeable and there was a lot of violence between the men, some for no reason. A different kind of book than I am used to reading. ( )

Insightful look into sibling rivalry, compassion, and daily life in a remote rural town in Michigan's snowy Upper Peninsula. With limited education, and dead end jobs, drugs, sex, and drinking provide an escape from the boredom of day to day life for the 20 something residents. For the adults, who chose to live and work in this harsh environment, the outdoors, independence, and solitude are central to their souls, although some chose to profit by work outside the law. When one 20 something brother walks away from his offsite prison duty, his struggle to survive and return to a better time, before the crime, brings him to a new appreciation of life as he interacts with various characters along his journey home. ( )

Cold is perhaps Smolens' best known and most successful book. Although I have liked almost all of John's books, this one, about a sheriff in Michigan's Upper Peninsula in pursuit of an escaped prisoner is a particular favorite and considered by many to be his best. The dangerously polar feel of the UP winter is perhaps one of the most important 'characters' in the novel, but Sheriff Del Maki is a character you will remember for a long time. In fact, I keep hoping Smolens will bring him back in another novel. For now, however, COLD gets my very highest recommendation. ( )

Liesl lost her husband and daughter in an automobile accident during a blizzard. Another snowstorm years later brings back those memories. This storm will also change her life forever when she allows Norman, an escapee from the Marquette Prison, to warm up in her home and a series of unforeseen events is set into motion. In the process of taking him to the sheriff in town, Liesl falls, and Norman abandons her to the cold. She is found by the sheriff, and the manhunt for Norman continues. As the cold permeates a U.P. winter, so does the tension in this thriller. Norman returns to the scene of the crime as love, greed, and hope for another chance in life lead the characters back to their pasts as well as towards a future reckoning. ( )