Tunxis Library at Tunxis Community College, Farmington, CT

Book on CD

By Sandra Brown

Read by: Stephen Lang

Review by: Paul McMahon

The story is set in Western North Carolina, miles from the Tennessee border, mountainous, and a brutal ice storm lays down an inch of ice and then feet of snow.  Every step on ice under snow.  My butt still hurts.  The first thing you feel is cold.  Then a little more information:  five women/girls have vanished without a trace — except for a blue ribbon left, supposedly by the abductor.  Now we meet the characters.  First there is Lilly Martin, a magazine editor who is with her ex husband finalizing the clearing out of their  cabin for the buyers they have sold it too.  Her ex husband happens to be the chief of police of a little town down in the valley.  He was a hot homicide cop in Atlanta, but got fired when he got a little pickled a little too often and shot a 9 year old because he thought the kid had a weapon.

The storm starts.  The chief goes down the mountain.  Lilly lays down on the bed and wakes up a couple of hours and a lot of ice and snow later.  She starts down the mountain and as she turns a corner someone jumps in front of  her and she hits him and runs her car into a tree where it stays.  The injured man is Tierney, a free lance writer who comes to town between projects.  They stumble the mile or so back to the cabin and Tierney starts survival actions.

The author describes the cold so well that at this point you are so cold you go get the long johns and put your feet on the radiator.

The author then proceeds introducing you to  the other major characters in the town and you begin to think that anyone or everyone could be abducting the women.  Soon it is clear that Tierney might be number one.  Lilly gets a broken up cell phone message onto the  chief’s voice mail mentioning the accident and that Tierney is the victim.

All this is on the first of many CDs.  The story continues in a believable fashion as a rescue effort is started by the chief resulting in the destruction of the town’s only sand truck as well as the destruction of the town’s alcoholic sand truck driver and the power line that feeds the town, the cabin and three counties.

I enjoyed it and I may take it out again when I am hot and  uncomfortable next July.

If you like mysteries with lots of subplots you will love this one.